Sunday American League Capsules.
TORONTO 1, TAMPA BAY 0
TORONTO This time, David Purcey got the better of Matt Garza.
Eleven days after Purcey suffered a heartbreaking loss to Garza and the Tampa Bay Rays, the Toronto Blue Jays rookie lefthander reversed the trend, shutting down the Rays for a 1-0 victory.
It was the Blue Jays season-high eighth win in a row, marking the franchises longest winning streak since April 14-22, 1999. The Rays, on the other hand, have now dropped five of their last six as their grasp on the American League East grows more and more tenuous.
The last time he saw the Rays, Purcey (3-5) was the hard-luck 1-0 loser despite striking out 11 and giving up just one run in eight innings – his only mistake being a solo home run to Carlos Pena as Garza came out on top in the pitchers duel. The Tampa Bay righthander was effective once again on Sunday, giving up only Rob Barajas sacrifice fly over seven strong innings. But that was just enough to hand Garza (11-9) the loss.
In three previous starts against Toronto this season, Garza had given up just one run, including a five-hit shutout on July 29.
Purcey recovered from an awful start in his previous outing, in which he went lasted just three innings – giving up five runs and seven hits – in Tuesdays meeting with the Minnesota Twins.
His biggest spot of trouble came in the eighth, as he walked Pena to load the bases with two outs. However, he got Rocco Baldelli to fly out weakly to left field to end the threat.
After Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan gave up three runs in the ninth inning on Saturday, fellow southpaw Jesse Carlson took the hill in the ninth on Sunday. He sent down the Rays in order to pick up his second save of the season.
B.J. Upton had three hits for the Rays, but was caught stealing by Purcey in the fourth when he took off for second just a shade too early. Willy Aybar was also picked off of first base by Toronto catcher Rod Barajas after singling in the second inning.
BOSTON 7, TEXAS 2
ARLINGTON, Texas David Ortiz snapped a 19-game homerless drought with a two-run blast and Paul Byrd pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers.
Coco Crisp scored two runs and Jason Bay added a solo homer for the Red Sox (84-58), who moved to within 1 1/2 games of the Tampa Bay Rays (85-56) in the American League East while pushing their wild card advantage over the Minnesota Twins (78-65) to 6 1/2 games.
Ortizs 18th blast in the fifth gave Boston a 4-0 lead. The slugger drove an 0-2 pitch from Brandon McCarthy deep over the right field wall, ending a drought that matched his longest since joining the Red Sox prior to the 2003 season.
Byrd (11-11) allowed three hits and walked three while striking out four to move to win his fourth consecutive start.
DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 5
MINNEAPOLIS Chris Lambert earned his first career victory and fellow rookie Dusty Ryan hit his first career homer as the Detroit Tigers topped the Minnesota Twins, 7-5.
Ryans two-run homer opened the scoring for Detroit, which rallied for the second straight day to take the deciding game of this three-game series. Lambert (1-1) went five innings in his third career start to earn the win.
Miguel Cabrera added his 32nd home run for his 1,000th career hit.
The loss dropped Minnesota (78-65) three games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. The Twins have gone 4-11 since winning the first two games against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on their two-week road trip due to the Republic National Convention.
Lambert, who was recalled from Class AAA Toledo on August 26, allowed four runs – three earned – and seven hits. The righthander struck out three.
CLEVELAND 3, KANSAS CITY 1
KANSAS CITY, Missouri Cliff Lee won his 10th straight decision and Victor Martinez drove in three runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Kansas City Royals, 3-1.
Lee (21-2) pitched 7 1/3 solid innings, allowing one run, seven hits and a walk while striking out five to record his major league-leading 21st win. The lefthander, who won for the seventh consecutive start, improved to 4-0 with a 2.15 ERA against Kansas City this season.
Cleveland jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-RBI single by Martinez. He also added an RBI double in the sixth.
Zach Greinke (10-10) allowed three runs and five hits over six innings, walking two and striking out eight. Alberto Collapso had the lone RBI for the Royals with a run-scoring single in the sixth.
LA ANGELS 3, CHI WHITE SOX 2
CHICAGO Francisco Rodriguez moved within two of the single-season saves record after Garret Anderson snapped a tie with a sacrifice fly as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim avoided a sweep with a 3-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Rodriguez, who blew a save opportunity in Saturdays 15-inning setback, redeemed himself with a scoreless ninth to earn his 55th save in 61 opportunities on Sunday. He needs two more to tie Bobby Thigpens record of 57 set for the White Sox in 1990.
With one out and the bases loaded in the eighth, Anderson lifted a long foul fly down the right field line. Instead of letting the ball drop for a harmless strike, Jermaine Dye made the catch, allowing Gary Matthews Jr. to tag and score the go-ahead run.
Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera added RBI hits for the Angels (86-56), who avoided a sweep of the three-game series and moved one-half game ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays (85-56) for the best record in the American League.
SEATTLE 5, NY YANKEES 2
SEATTLE Jose Lopez belted two homers and Adrian Beltre added a blast as the Seattle Mariners posted a 5-2 victory over the fading New York Yankees.
Ryan Feierabend (1-2) hurled seven solid innings for the Mariners, who took two out of three from the Yankees this weekend.
Lopez delivered solo shots in the fourth and eighth innings, and Beltre slammed a two-run shot in the fourth to support Feierabend, who allowed two runs and five hits. The lefthander struck out four and walked three and gave way to relievers Miguel Batista and J.J. Putz, who notched his 12th save by striking out Wilson Betemit – representing the tying run – to end the game.
Mike Mussina (17-8) allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings while striking out seven and walking one. He failed in a bid to pick up his 18th win for the Yankees, whose playoff hopes are strictly mathematical.
