Dontrelle Willis figured the worst when his knee gave way and he fell on a damp mound. And why not? It’s been that kind of bad season for the Detroit Tigers.
“I thought initially I blew it out, but that’s not the case,” he said. “I’m able to put pressure on it now. As long as they give me a lot of Advil, I can go back out there.”
Willis was pulled in the first inning Friday night with a hyperextended right knee, and the Tigers relied on their bullpen to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2.
It was uncertain when Willis would be able to pitch again. The Tigers said he would be re-evaluated.
The victory at Chicago gave the Tigers a 2-8 record, still the worst in the majors. Yet the way they regrouped impressed manager Jim Leyland.
“We get in 3, 4 o’clock in the morning. Terrible weather. We’re going tough,” he said. “Things haven’t been going good and we come out and get an effort like that. … That can put to rest anybody that thinks this club doesn’t bust every day.”
In other AL games, New York beat Boston 4-1, Oakland downed Cleveland 9-7, Tampa Bay topped Baltimore 10-5, Minnesota beat Kansas City 5-0, Seattle stopped Los Angeles 8-5 and Toronto defeated Texas 8-5.
Willis made his Tigers debut last week against Chicago and walked seven in five innings. The start of this game was delayed a few minutes by rain, and it was wet when Willis walked leadoff Carlos Quentin.
On his first pitch to Orlando Cabrera, Willis’ knee buckled and he slipped. Leyland and a trainer checked on Willis and left him in, but after another walk and wild pitch, he was gone.
“I was just driving on the mound and the cleat missed and I hyperextended my knee. I feel positive. It just feels stiff right now,” Willis said.
“After it happened, I tried to continue to throw but my leg just felt numb all the way up,” he said.
Yankees 4, Red Sox 1
At Fenway Park, Chien-Ming Wang won with a two-hitter in this season’s first game of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry.
Wang (3-0) gave up a home run to J.D. Drew that grazed the glove of right fielder Bobby Abreu in the fifth inning and a bunt single to Coco Crisp with two outs in the ninth.
Jason Giambi hit a tiebreaking home run in the seventh against Mike Timlin (0-1). While New York’s slugger connected, Boston’s big bopper did not – David Ortiz was hitless in three at-bats, dropping him to 3-for-39 (.077) this year.
Athletics 9, Indians 7
At Cleveland, C.C. Sabathia lasted only 3 1-3 innings as Oakland roughed up the reigning AL Cy Young winner.
Sabathia (0-2) was tagged for nine runs and 12 hits in his shortest start since going 2 1-3 innings against the Chicago Cubs on June 21, 2006.
Joe Blanton (1-2) pitched into the eighth inning and Huston Street worked 1 1-3 innings for his third save.
Rays 10, Orioles 5
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Pena homered twice and drove in six runs to lead Tampa Bay over Baltimore.
Pena drew a bases-loaded walk off Dennis Sarfate (2-1) in the eighth inning to put the Rays ahead 6-5.
Al Reyes (1-1) won in relief. He turned 38 Thursday and was shocked with a stun gun and arrested early Friday at a Tampa bar on a charge of being in a fight that disturbed the peace.
Tampa Bay prospect Evan Longoria was promoted from Triple-A Durham late Friday and will make his much-anticipated major league debut Saturday at third base.
Twins 5, Royals 0
At Kansas City, Mo., Livan Hernandez was sharp over seven innings as Minnesota beat Kansas City.
Hernandez (3-0) is off to his best start since 2002 with San Francisco. Gil Meche (0-2) left with a 7.13 ERA.
Justin Morneau hit a solo homer off Meche. Last Saturday, Morneau hit a three-run homer that led the Twins over Meche.
Mariners 8, Angels 5
At Seattle, Raul Ibanez once again picked on Jered Weaver as Seattle defeated Los Angeles.
Ibanez homered twice and drove in three runs, making him 12-for-21 (.571) with four home runs lifetime against Weaver.
Felix Hernandez (1-0) struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings. Mark Lowe pitched the ninth for his first career save.
Blue Jays 8, Rangers 5
At Arlington, Texas, Lyle Overbay hit a three-run double and Toronto stopped a three-game losing skid.
Vernon Wells drove in two runs to support Jesse Litsch (2-0). Scott Downs got his first save of the season.
Josh Hamilton homered and had a career-high four RBIs for the Rangers. Vicente Padilla (1-1) took the loss.
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