Sunday American League Capsules.
TORONTO 15, BOSTON 4
BOSTON Josh Beckett is supposed to be the Boston Red Sox ace. Someone forgot to tell the Blue Jays.
Alex Rios tied a career high with five hits and Adam Lind drove in four runs as the Blue Jays pounded the Red Sox, 15-4.
Led by Rios and Lind, Toronto scored six times in the first inning and twice more in the third, chasing Beckett (11-9) after just 2 1/3 innings, his shortest outing in more than two years.
The righthander threw just 55 pitches, giving up eight runs and eight hits before being pulled by manager Terry Francona. Though he left the mound without incident, Beckett appeared to try to talk Francona into allowing him to stay in the game.
Maybe that would have been better for the Red Sox.
The Blue Jays kept the pressure on the Boston bullpen, scoring single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh before tacking on three in the eighth.
Rios tied a club record with four doubles, scoring three times as well. Seven of Torontos nine offensive starters finished with multiple hits and five scored at least two runs. The Jays tied a season high with 22 hits.
It was the second time in a week that Bostons pitching staff gave up 20 or more hits, having yielded 20 hits to the Texas Rangers on Monday night. Toronto tied a decade-old franchise record with 12 extra-base hits.
While the Blue Jays looked to be taking batting practice off the Red Sox staff, Shaun Marcum (8-5) was effective against the suddenly punchless Sox lineup. He allowed just one run and five hits over five innings for his eighth win.
Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis both hit solo home runs and Jed Lowrie had three hits for the Red Sox.
NY YANKEES 15, KANSAS CITY 6
BRONX, New York Alex Rodriguez, Xavier Nady and Jason Giambi homered as the New York Yankees rolled to a 15-6 rout of the Kansas City Royals on Sunday to win their first series victory in three weeks.
Mike Mussina (16-7) allowed three runs – all in the first inning – and gave up six hits over six innings for his 16th victory. He struck out five, walked none for his third consecutive victory and 266th in his career.
Rodriguez had a season-high five RBI and Derek Jeter collected four hits and scored three times as the Yankees posted their highest output since an 18-7 win over Texas on July 2.
The Yankees won for just the fifth time in 13 games and scored 15 unanswered runs after the Royals took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first. They won a series for the first time since taking two of three from the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park from July 25-27.
CLEVELAND 4, LA ANGELS 3
CLEVELAND Jeremy Sowers pitched 6 2/3 strong innings and the Cleveland Indians held on to defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 4-3.
Franklin Gutierrez had three hits, including a two-run single, to pace the Cleveland offense.
It was the first time Anaheim had lost a series to an American League opponent since being swept in a three-game set by the Tampa Bay Rays in May. The Angels had been 16-0-4 in their previous 20 series against teams from the AL.
Sowers (2-6) started slowly, allowing two runs in the first inning, but settled in afterwards. The lefthander held the Angels to three runs – two earned – and eight hits for his first win since July 19 at Seattle.
Rafael Perez relieved Sowers and struck out three of the four batters he faced and Jensen Lewis escaped a jam in the ninth for his third save in four chances.
BALTIMORE 16, DETROIT 8
DETROIT Melvin Mora and Luke Scott each homered twice, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 16-8 rout of the Detroit Tigers.
Mora connected for a solo home run in the fourth inning to snap a 5-5 tie and added a two-run blast in the eighth for his 20th homer of the season. The third baseman finished with five hits and six RBI.
Scott hit a three-run homer in the fourth inning to give the Orioles a 9-5 lead, then later clubbed a solo shot in the seventh inning for his 21st home run of the season.
Fernando Cabrera (2-1) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn the victory.
MINNESOTA 11, SEATTLE 8
MINNEAPOLIS Jason Kubel had four hits and drove in three runs as the Minnesota Twins held on for an 11-8 triumph over the Seattle Mariners to complete a three-game sweep.
The Mariners scored eight runs in a late three-inning span to cut their deficit to 10-8 and loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but closer Joe Nathan came on to wiggle out of the jam. He stranded three runners in the ninth for his 33rd save of the season after Denard Span knocked in a key insurance run in the top of the frame.
Minnesota jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first inning against Seattle starter Ryan Feierabend (0-1). Justin Morneau opened the scoring by lacing an RBI single and Kubel followed with a two-run double. Randy Ruiz capped the rally by plating two off an extra-base hit.
Adrian Beltre, Wladimir Balentien and Kenji Johjima all homered in the sixth against Twins starter Glen Perkins (10-3) to pull within 8-4.
CHI WHITE SOX 13, OAKLAND 1
OAKLAND, California Javier Vazquez pitched eight outstanding innings and was backed by a four-homer barrage as the Chicago White Sox hammered the Oakland Athletics, 13-1, to win the rubber game of a three-game series.
Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam, Carlos Quentin and Juan Uribe each had two-run blasts and Jermaine Dye added a solo shot as the White Sox (70-53) remain tied with the Minnesota Twins atop the American League Central Division.
Vazquez (10-10) allowed one run and four hits and had extended his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 15 before Daric Barton broke up his shutout bid with an RBI single in the eighth inning. He struck out eight and did not walk a batter.
Quentin also had a two-run single to give him four RBI as Chicago built an 8-0 lead after four innings. Ramirez punctuated the rout with his second career grand slam in a five-run seventh inning.
TAMPA BAY 7, TEXAS 4
ARLINGTON, Texas B.J. Upton homered and drove in three runs, leading the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-4 victory over the Texas Rangers.
Carlos Pena hit his 25th homer and also drove in three runs for the Rays, who have won seven of their last nine contests.
After Gabe Gross opened the third with a double, Upton plated him two batters later to open the scoring. Following a single from Ben Zobrist, both players scored on Penas three-run blast to move out to a 4-0 advantage.
Even though Josh Hamilton hit an RBI double to cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the frame, Upton followed a run-scoring single by Jason Bartlett in the fourth with his eighth home run of the year – a two-run shot off Texas starter Dustin Nippert (1-3).
Scott Kazmir (9-6) overcame four walks with seven strikeouts, allowing two runs and four hits over six frames to end his four-game winless streak.
