BOSTON (AP) -With two homers in three games, David Ortiz just might be breaking out of his season-long slump.
The struggling slugger cleared the center field fence about 400 feet from home plate on Tuesday night to back Josh Beckett’s six innings of one-hit ball and lead the Boston Red Sox to a 7-0 victory over the New York Yankees.
“There’s no getting around how important he is to us,” said Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who broke into a wide smile when asked about Ortiz’s homer. “He’s an important guy to our lineup. When he does something like that, I think we fell better about ourselves.”
Ortiz, who hit 101 homers from 2005-06, hit his third of the year off A.J. Burnett (4-3) and then answered the fans’ chants of “Papi” with a two-handed, point-to-the-sky curtain call.
“He’s been swinging the bat better in the last 10 days,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. “He is still a dangerous hitter.”
Beckett (7-2) allowed only an infield hit in six innings, and Boston improved to 6-0 against New York for the first time since 1912. The Red Sox beat the New York Highlanders in 14 straight to start the 1912 season, including the first-ever game in Fenway Park.
uilt yet.
“They’ve taken it to us so far this year,” said Yankees – and former Red Sox – outfielder Johnny Damon. “But we have 13 more, and hopefully we’ll beat them sometime soon.”
Beckett noted that Alex Rodriguez was recovering from hip surgery for the first five losses, “so we’ll start counting after that.”
Beckett struck out eight and walked two before leaving with a 6-0 lead after six innings, having thrown 93 pitches in a steady drizzle. The only hit he allowed was Robinson Cano’s fourth-inning grounder to the left of second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who slid to come up with the ball but couldn’t make the throw.
Beckett struck out Jorge Posada to end the inning, then retired the last six batters he faced, fanning three of them, for his third consecutive victory. In all, only three batters hit the ball out of the infield against him.
Brett Gardner had the Yankees’ only other hit, off Manny Delcarmen in the eighth.
“Kind of hard to win with only two hits,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “Beckett pitched great. It’s always tough, every time we face him. He was hitting his spots and we didn’t get too many good swings.”
second, when Rodriguez double-clutched on a grounder for an error that gave Boston an extra out.
Tigers 7, White Sox 6, 10 Innings
At Chicago, Miguel Cabrera broke out of a slump with a solo homer in the 10th inning after the Tigers squandered a three-run lead in the ninth.
Cabrera homered off White Sox reliever Scott Linebrink (2-4), and Brandon Lyon (2-3) got out of a jam in the eighth before working a perfect 10th to secure the win.
Indians 8, Royals 4
At Cleveland, Mark DeRosa’s grand slam off reliever Jamey Wright in the seventh inning lifted the Indians out of last place in the Central Division.
The Indians loaded the bases off Juan Cruz (3-2) and DeRosa quickly cleared them.
Rafael Perez (1-1) pitched two-thirds of an inning for the win.
Orioles 3, Mariners 1
At Baltimore, rookie Brad Bergesen pitched eight innings of five-hit ball, Nolan Reimold homered and had two RBIs, and the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak.
Bergesen (3-2) set career marks for fewest runs allowed and most strikeouts (six). George Sherrill earned his 12th save despite giving up an RBI single to Jose Lopez.
Jason Vargas (2-1) allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 2-3 innings for Seattle.
Angels 4, Rays 3
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jered Weaver allowed two runs over six innings to win his third consecutive start for the Angels.
e up five hits before turning it to the bullpen, and Brian Fuentes pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 19 opportunities.
James Shields (5-5) allowed four runs and 10 hits in 6 1-3 innings for the Rays.
Blue Jays 9, Rangers 0
At Arlington, Texas, Brian Tallet and two relievers combined for a two-hitter, and Adam Lind homered for the Blue Jays.
Tallet (4-3) went seven innings to match the longest start of his career, while Doug Mathis (0-1) gave up five runs over five innings in his first start of the season.
Twins 10, Athletics 5
At Oakland, Calif., Jason Kubel and Justin Morneau each hit a home run, Scott Baker took a shutout into the ninth and the Twins ended a three-game losing streak.
Baker (4-6) remained undefeated against the A’s in four starts, while Brett Anderson (3-6) allowed five runs on a season-high 10 hits over 5 2-3 innings.
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