SCOREBOARD
Saturday, June 23
Boston at San Diego, (10:05 p.m. EDT). Chris Young makes his first start for the Padres since he was ejected for scuffling with Derrek Lee of the Cubs on June 16.
STARS
Thursday
-Felix Hernandez, Mariners, allowed six hits in eight scoreless innings to lead Seattle to a 3-0 win over Pittsburgh.
-Russell Martin, Dodgers, hit a bases-loaded double in the eighth inning, sparking a six-run rally, in an 8-4 win over Toronto.
EKED OUT
Pinch-hitters Kenny Lofton and Frank Catalanotto singled off the gloves of diving Cubs outfielders in the bottom of the ninth inning, producing the winning run in the Texas Rangers’ 6-5 victory over Chicago on Thursday. Catalanotto hit a one-out liner down the right-field line that Angel Pagan nearly caught, sending Lofton home with the winning run.
BLOWN CHANCE
Roger Clemens couldn’t hold on for his 350th win and the Colorado Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the New York Yankees with a 4-3 victory Thursday. Matt Holliday’s RBI single with one out in the fifth broke a 2-2 tie. Clemens (1-2) was trying to become the first major leaguer to win 350 games since Warren Spahn did it for Milwaukee on Sept. 29, 1963, when Yankees manager Joe Torre was the Braves’ catcher and Clemens had just celebrated his first birthday.
BLANKED
The hapless Pirates were shut out for the eighth time this season, 3-0, by the Mariners on Thursday night, the most in the major leagues. They haven’t scored since Jason Bay singled in a run in the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s 5-3 victory over Seattle, a span of 20 innings.
STREAKS
Ichiro Suzuki had two more hits for the Mariners in a 3-0 win over the Pirates Thursday night to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, the longest current one in the majors. He has at least one hit in 41 of his last 43 games.
SPEAKING
“I don’t want to see them again, how’s that?” – Yankees Manager Joe Torre after the Rockies denied Roger Clemens his 350th win and completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees with a 4-3 victory on Thursday.
SEASONS
June 23
1917 – In baseball’s greatest relief effort, Ernie Shore of the Boston Red Sox relieved pitcher Babe Ruth with nobody out and a man on first in the first inning. The baserunner was cut down stealing and Shore retired all 26 batters he faced to gain a 4-0 victory over Washington. Ruth walked Eddie Foster to open the game and was ejected after arguing with umpire Brick Owens.
1950 – Hoot Evers’ game-winning home run in the ninth inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 10-9 victory over the New York Yankees as the teams combined for 11 home runs, a major league record. The Yankees hit six and the Tigers five.
1963 – Jimmie Piersall, playing for the Mets in New York, hit his 100th career home run and celebrated by running around the bases backwards.
1971 – Rick Wise of the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds and hit two homers. Wise became the first pitcher to hit two homers while throwing a no-hitter.
1973 – Pitcher Ken Brett of the Philadelphia Phillies hit a home run in the fourth consecutive game that he pitched in June. He beat Montreal 7-2.
1984 – Chicago’s Ryne Sandberg hit two late-inning home runs off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Bruce Sutter to tie the game twice as the Cubs went on to win 12-11 in 11 innings. Sandberg led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to tie the game 9-9 then hit a two-run, two-out homer in the 10th to tie the game 11-11. Willie McGee hit for the cycle and drove in six runs for St. Louis.
2000 – Bret Boone had three home runs along and six RBIs in San Diego’s 10-7, 10-inning victory over Cincinnati.
2006 – Jose Contreras won his 16th straight decision, leading the Chicago White Sox past Houston 7-4. Contreras, 16-0 in his last 21 regular-season starts, last lost to Minnesota on Aug. 15, 2005. He surpassed the club mark for consecutive wins held by LaMarr Hoyt and Wilson Alvarez.
Today’s birthday: Mark Hendrickson 33.