fferent part of the ballpark – and for the first time this season he is hitting like the slugger he once was.
Talk about bad timing.
The Red Sox left Boston after completing their three-game sweep of the New York Yankees on Thursday night and headed to Philadelphia, where the designated hitter will have to pick up a glove or sit on the bench. Manager Terry Francona said he hadn’t decided how to deal with the dilemma yet – that’s what the plane ride is for.
“We’re playing good right now,” Ortiz said after the Red Sox rallied to beat the Yankees 4-3 and improve to 8-0 against New York this season. “When things are happening, you’ve got to keep them rolling.”
J.D. Drew hit an RBI single to spark an eighth-inning rally, then he scored the go-ahead run on Mike Lowell’s fly ball to give the Red Sox their third straight sweep over New York. The teams don’t meet again until Aug. 6.
“We don’t play them for a while, and that’s not so bad, either,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “I know the fans probably love it. Good for them; they should. We just want to win every game.”
It’s the first time the Red Sox have opened the season with eight straight wins against their New York rivals since they helped christen the brand-new Fenway Park by winning the first 14 matchups against the Highlanders in 1912. Counting the last time they met last season, Boston has won nine straight.
nitely didn’t envision this when we started off the three-game road trip. We came in here expecting to win some games,” Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon said. “We’ve got over 100 games to go. Our day will come.”
Drew’s single made it 3-2 and chased Sabathia after a season-high 123 pitches.
“It definitely stings a lot,” Sabathia said. “We lost a ball game we probably should have won. But the bottom line is we have a lot of games left.”
Athletics 4, Twins 3
At Oakland, Calif., Rajai Davis slapped an RBI single in the ninth inning and the Athletics rallied from a late three-run deficit.
Adam Kennedy hit a tying two-run homer in the three-run eighth for the A’s, who finally solved Minnesota starter Nick Blackburn to split the four-game series.
Brad Ziegler (1-1) pitched two scoreless innings of relief for Trevor Cahill, who gave up an early three-run homer to Joe Crede.
Rangers 1, Blue Jays 0
At Arlington, Texas, Kevin Millwood threw 7 2-3 excellent innings and the Rangers for just their fourth 1-0 victory in 16 seasons since moving into Rangers Ballpark.
Texas got its run when Marlon Byrd hit a sacrifice fly off Ricky Romero (3-3).
Millwood (6-4) gave up five hits with one strikeout and hit a batter while throwing 105 pitches to end the Blue Jays’ win streak at three.
White Sox 4, Tigers 3
Joel Zumaya with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning after Detroit’s Curtis Granderson hit a tying, two-run homer off closer Bobby Jenks (1-2) with two outs in the top half.
The White Sox took advantage of Zumaya’s throwing error – he slipped and threw wildly on a bunt – and loaded the bases with no outs.
The White Sox finished 4-8 on their 12-game homestand.
Rays 11, Angels 1
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Pena hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs, and Dioner Navarro homered and had three RBIs for Tampa Bay.
Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford both hit solo homers as the Rays moved to .500 (31-31).
Ervin Santana (1-3) allowed six runs and eight hits over 4 2-3 innings.
Grant Balfour (3-1) got the win in relief of starter David Price, who lasted four innings.
Indians 4, Royals 3
At Cleveland, Shin-Soo Choo lined a single off a low-flying sea gull, driving in Mark DeRosa from second base in the 10th inning.
DeRosa opened the inning with a single off Kyle Farnsworth (1-4).
Victor Martinez then walked and Choo lined a 1-0 pitch over the second-base bag. Center fielder Coco Crisp came in to try and make a play, but the ball clipped the wing of one of the hundreds of birds that have been buzzing the ballpark the past couple of weeks. The ball bounced past Crisp and DeRosa scored easily.
allowing one hit.
Mariners 6, Orioles 3
At Baltimore, Russell Branyan hit his tem-leading 14th homer and drove in three runs to lead Seattle.
Adrian Beltre went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run while Ichiro Suzuki doubled, tripled and scored two runs to help the Mariners win their fourth straight series.
Baltimore starter Koji Uehara (2-4) gave up four runs on seven hits through five innings.
Seattle starter Garrett Olson (1-1) went five innings to earn his first victory of 2009.
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