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    Pro Sports
    Wednesday, May 08, 2024

    Baseball Roundup

    Josh Hamilton of the Rangers connects for a solo home run in the sixth inning of Saturday's game against the Angels at Arlington, Texas. The homer was Hamilton's major league-leading 18th of the season and ninth this week. The Angels won 4-2.

    American League

    Angels 4, Rangers 2

    Kendrys Morales had a pinch-hit, tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning to lead Los Angeles to a victory over Texas Saturday.

    C.J. Wilson worked into the sixth for the Angels after becoming the first major leaguer in 11 seasons to start consecutive games. He had faced only five batters against his former team in the rain-interrupted series opener.

    Mark Trumbo launched a towering two-run homer for the Angels off Matt Harrison (4-3).

    Josh Hamilton hit his majors-leading 18th homer - the ninth in six games for the Rangers slugger.

    The second game of the series was the earliest ever at the 18-year-old Rangers Ballpark. The 12:07 p.m. start came only 12 hours after Friday night's game ended.

    David Carpenter (1-1) faced only two batters after replacing Wilson before the Angels took the lead in the seventh. Ernesto Frieri, acquired from San Diego on May 3, worked 1 2-3 innings and Scott Downs got the final out for his third save.

    After Trumbo walked and Howie Kendrick reached on a bunt single to chase Harrison, Peter Bourjos bunted for a hit to load the bases. Morales then hit a flyball to left for a 3-2 lead, John Hester had an infield single and Mike Trout added another sac fly.

    In his return to Texas, Wilson threw only 22 pitches Friday night before a one-hour, 56-minute rain delay in the first inning of the Rangers' 10-3 victory. The left-hander was charged with four runs after allowing three infield singles and a walk, but didn't return once the rain stopped.

    Wilson, who left the Rangers after consecutive World Series appearances to sign last winter as a free agent with his hometown Angels, walked his first two batters Saturday before Hamilton struck out and Adrian Beltre hit into a double play.

    But Wilson bounced an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the fifth that hit Napoli, the catcher whose phone number Wilson put on Twitter as a prank during spring training. Brandon Snyder and Craig Gentry followed with consecutive singles to cut the gap to 2-1.

    Hamilton, who hit two homers Friday night, struck out again in the fourth before his solo homer in the sixth. The slugger leads the majors with a .402 batting average, 18 homers and 41 RBIs.

    Wilson struck out four and walked three, while allowing two runs and five hits on 93 pitches in 5 2-3 innings.

    The last major leaguer to start consecutive games was Aaron Myette for Texas on Sept. 3 and 4, 2002, at Baltimore. Myette was ejected from the first game after only two pitches. It was the first time an Angels pitcher started back-to-back games.

    Harrison had five strikeouts and two walks.

    In the fourth, Trumbo pulled a 420-foot blast off the facade of the second deck of seats in left field. His fifth homer came after Torii Hunter drew a two-out walk.

    Trumbo played first base while Albert Pujols was in the lineup as the designated hitter. It was the second Saturday in a row Trumbo homered while playing first base.

    Pujols was 1 for 3 with a walk. He is hitting .195 in his 33 games in Los Angeles, with one homer and 11 RBIs.

    Orioles 5, Rays 3

    Baltimore capitalized on five errors by Tampa Bay and got two hits and two RBIs from Adam Jones.

    The Orioles were outhit 7-6 and struck out 12 times but scored three unearned runs to forge their second straight win in this series between the two top teams in the AL East. Baltimore leads second-place Tampa Bay by two games and on Sunday will seek to complete its first three-game home sweep of the Rays since July 2007.

    Bill Hall, summoned from the minors earlier in the day, hit a solo homer in the eighth to give the Orioles a two-run cushion.

    Orioles starter Brian Matusz (2-4) gave up three runs, two earned, and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings.

    Blue Jays 2, Twins 1

    Jose Bautista homered for the third time in two nights and Drew Hutchison threw six strong innings for his second career win and Toronto beat Minnesota.

    Bautista has just nine hits over his past 53 at-bats, but five of them have been home runs. He hit two in Friday night's loss, and his sixth-inning solo shot against Twins starter P.J. Walters (0-1) was the game-winner on Saturday.

    In just his fifth appearance above Double-A, Hutchinson (2-1) allowed three hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Minnesota's run came in the fourth on a bases-loaded walk.

    Francisco Cordero, Jason Frasor and Luis Perez combined for two innings of scoreless relief, and Casey Janssen picked up his second save in as many chances since taking over as closer for Cordero earlier in the week.

    National League

    Padres 2, Phillies 1

    Edinson Volquez pitched six effective innings, pinch-hitter Jose Guzman drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly and San Diego beat Philadelphia and ace Roy Halladay for the second time this season.

    Volquez (2-2) escaped a few jams early in the game and then again in the fifth inning. The righty won his second straight start. He allowed one run and six hits, walked two and struck out five.

    Halladay is winless in his last five starts, the longest stretch in his Phillies career. His last win was at San Francisco on April 16.

    The righty allowed two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out a season-high 10. It was his 15th career double-digit strikeout game.

    Brewers 8, Cubs 2

    Shaun Marcum pitched seven strong innings and Edwin Maysonet hit his first career grand slam to lead Milwaukee to a win over Chicago.

    It was the second straight win for the Brewers, who beat the Cubs in 13 innings Friday in a 5-hour game that ended just past midnight. Saturday's start remained at noon because it was a nationally televised game.

    Marcum (2-1) gave up just one run on three hits and had six strikeouts. After giving up a run in the first he did not allow a runner past second, retiring 10 of the last 11 he faced.

    Chris Volstad (0-5) pitched six innings for the Cubs, giving up six runs on nine hits. It was the 18th straight start that Volstad did not record a victory. His last win was July 17, 2011, for Florida.

    The Cubs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when David DeJesus scored on Starlin Castro's double-play groundout.

    The Brewers tied it in the bottom half as Nyjer Morgan came home when Ryan Braun got caught in a rundown while trying to steal second base.

    Milwaukee broke the game open in the sixth inning. Jonathan Lucroy, who led off with a double, scored on Aramis Ramirez's fielder's choice. Corey Hart doubled to the left field wall and the Cubs walked Travis Ishikawa to load the bases.

    Maysonet then hit the second pitch from Volstad into the second level in left field for this first home run of the season and just the second of his career. His first homer came for Houston in May 2009 against Pittsburgh.

    Maysonet was in the lineup because Brewers starting second baseman Rickie Weeks was resting his sore wrist. Weeks was hit on the left wrist in the 13th inning Friday. X-rays were negative and Weeks is listed as day to day.

    Tony Campana's RBI double in the eighth inning cut it to 6-2 for the Cubs, but Norichika Aoki's suicide squeeze and Jonathan Lucroy's RBI single in the bottom of the inning pushed the Brewers ahead 8-2.

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