Bautista’s blast frays Sox
TORONTO – Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista gave Toronto starter Drew Hutchison an early lead by blasting a threerun homer in the first inning.
It was more than enough support for the rookie righthander, who held the Boston Red Sox to five hits over seven innings as Toronto avoided a sweep with a 5-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre.
“Hutch continues to mature right in front of our eyes,” said Blue Jays manager John Farrell. “Staked to a five-run lead, he kept going out and putting up zeroes and keeping the momentum on our side.”
The Blue Jays added two more runs in the second inning to chase Daniel Bard from the game.
Toronto (28-26) ended a twogame skid with the victory and moved into a tie with fourthplace Boston (28-26). Both clubs are three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.
Yankees 5 Tigers 1
DETROIT – Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez each homered off Justin Verlander, and Phil Hughes pitched a four-hitter to lead the New York Yankees to a victory over the Detroit Tigers.
Jeter homered on the first pitch of the game, and Rodriguez hit a long solo shot in the third inning.
Hughes (5-5) didn’t need much support in throwing his first career complete game of nine innings. Hewent all six innings in a rain-shortened win over the White Sox on Aug. 2 last year.
Hughes struck out eight and walked three. He threw a career-high 123 pitches.
Rangers 7 Angels 3
ANAHEIM, CALIF. – Matt Harrison won his third straight start, Nelson Cruz hit a long two-run homer and the Texas Rangers beat the streaking Los Angeles Angels to avoid a three-game sweep.
The victory ended a fourgame skid by the two-time defending AL champions, who lead the Angels by 4-1/2 games in the West.
Twins 5 Indians 3
CLEVELAND – Scott Diamond allowed three unearned runs over seven innings for the Minnesota Twins.
Joe Mauer hit an RBI single in the first inning off Justin Masterson (2-5). The Twins star left in the ninth with a
sprained right thumb.
Royals 2 Athletics 0
KANSAS CITY, MO. – Alex Gordon and Brayan Pena combined on a play at the plate to preserve a shutout for Vin Mazzaro and three Royals relievers.
Rays 8 Orioles 4
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. – B.J. Upton hit a tiebreaking tworun double and Matt Moore won for the first time after losing four straight decisions as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Braves 3 Nationals 2
WASHINGTON – Tommy Hanson shook off an agonizing start to outpitch Gio Gonzalez as the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals to end a six-game skid against their National League East rivals.
Giants 2 Cubs 0
SAN FRANCISCO – Barry Zito pitched 8-1/3 scoreless innings for his 150th career win and Joaquin Arias snapped an 18 atbat hitless stretch with an RBI single to lead the San Francisco Giants to a win over the Chicago Cubs.