Asdrubal Cabrera went deep in the first game of the doubleheader, and turned three all by himself in the nightcap.
Despite the strong play of Cabrera, who pulled off the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, and two stellar pitching performances by Fausto Carmona and Cliff Lee, the Indians could only manage a split with the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday.
Cabrera made a diving catch on a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base and then tagged out Marco Scutaro to quickly end the fifth inning of Cleveland’s 3-0 loss in 10 innings.
“That was pretty neat,” said Lee, who pitched nine scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.67 but failed to improve on his 6-0 record. “It doesn’t matter now, though. The bottom line is we’ve got to win.”
Carmona pitched a five-hitter and Cabrera hit a two-run homer in Cleveland’s 3-0 victory in the first game.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last team to have both starting pitchers throw nine scoreless innings in a doubleheader was Boston on Sept. 5, 1977, when Don Aase and Reggie Cleveland both won in Toronto.
In other games Monday night it was: Tampa Bay 7, New York 1; Minnesota 7, Boston 3; Texas 13, Seattle 12; and Los Angeles 10, Chicago 7.
It was the third time that the Indians have turned an unassisted triple play. They also have been victimized three such times. Amazingly Ron Hansen, who was the last player to accomplish the feat against Cleveland in 1968 when he played for Washington, was at Progressive Field to see Cabrera turn the trick. Hansen is an advanced scout for Philadelphia.
“First one I’ve ever seen from the stands,” Hansen said. “That kid is a real good fielder and has a great future.
“On a play like that, it’s just reaction and he reacted right.”
With Shaun Marcum and Lee both putting up zeros, the Blue Jays finally broke through in the 10th inning against Rafael Betancourt.
Shannon Stewart hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning and Aaron Hill added a two-run single.
“It’s nice to get one with nothing else going our way,” Hill said after Toronto snapped a 31-inning scoreless streak and won for just the second time in seven games.
Rays 7, Yankees 1
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Matt Garza pitched seven scoreless innings and the surging Rays beat nemesis Andy Pettitte and the Yankees for their fifth consecutive victory.
Garza (2-1) allowed five hits, walked one and struck out three. Only one baserunner, Alberto Gonzalez in the sixth, reached as far as second base against the right-hander.
Jason Bartlett and Dioner Navarro each drove in two runs for the Rays (22-16), who climbed six games over .500 for the first time in franchise history and also extended their home winning streak 10 games.
They did it by beating Pettitte (3-4), who was 8-1 at Tropicana Field before giving up five runs and eight hits in four innings.
Twins 7, Red Sox 3
At Minneapolis, Livan Hernandez won again, Craig Monroe contributed another big hit, and the Twins beat the Red Sox.
Manny Ramirez finally went deep, hitting career homer No. 498 in the first inning for the Red Sox. The two-run shot was his second home run in 20 games.
Hernandez (6-1) rebounded after a rough start to finish six innings for another quality outing. The Twins are 8-1 when he’s on the mound.
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz (2-3) didn’t make it out of the fifth, done in by control problems and timely hits by the Twins – who took three games from the Red Sox. Minnesota has won nine of its last 12 games and scored 74 runs in the process.
Rangers 13, Mariners 12
At Arlington, Texas, the only real fireworks between Texas and Seattle this time were the pyrotechnic displays after back-to-back home runs by Josh Hamilton and Milton Bradley, and then the 10th-inning game-winning shot by Ramon Vazquez as the Rangers rallied to win.
Only four nights after Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson charged the mound and flung his helmet at Texas pitcher Kason Gabbard to ignite a bench-clearing brawl, the AL West rivals met again. Sexson was with his team, but not playing while serving the third game of his five-game suspension for his actions. He’ll miss the entire Texas series.
Vazquez’s homer came in the 10th off Brandon Morrow (0-1), who struck out the other four batters he faced.
Seattle tied the game with four runs in the ninth, with Kenji Johjima capping that outburst with his first homer of the season, a three-run shot with two outs off closer C.J. Wilson that made it 12-12. Raul Ibanez had an RBI double earlier in the inning.
Doug Mathis (1-0), the sixth Rangers pitcher, threw a perfect 10th in his major league debut.
Angels 10, White Sox 7
At Anaheim, Calif., Vladimir Guerrero homered and drove in four runs, Nick Adenhart recorded his first major league victory and the Angels beat the White Sox to snap a four-game losing streak.
Adenhart (1-0) allowed four runs and nine hits in 5 2-3 innings, walking three and striking out one. Francisco Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Jermaine Dye had four hits for the White Sox, who scored two runs in the eighth against Chris Bootcheck and one in the ninth against Scot Shields before Francisco Rodriguez got the final two outs for his major league-leading 15th save.
Mark Buehrle (1-5) gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 5 2-3 innings with six strikeouts.
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