The Boston Red Sox and New York
Yankees remain one game apart for the American League East
title after both were crushed last night by teams near the
bottom of the league’s rankings. The Red Sox fell 15-4 to the
Oakland Athletics while the Baltimore Orioles spanked the
Yankees 12-5.

Hurricane Irene, which is battering the East Coast as it
moves through the mid-Atlantic today and into New England
tonight, forced the Yankees to cancel today’s doubleheader
against the Orioles. One game will be played tomorrow in a
doubleheader at Camden Yards, while the second is scheduled for
Sept. 8.

The Boston Red Sox canceled tomorrow’s home game, and will
instead play a doubleheader today.

At Fenway Park in Boston, Scott Sizemore drilled a two-run
homer and Josh Willingham added a second in Oakland’s six-run
fourth inning as the Athletics took an 8-1 lead last night at
Fenway Park in Boston. Five Athletics blasted doubles.

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz hit back-to-back home runs
in the bottom of the fourth for Boston (80-51).

At Camden Yards in Baltimore, A.J. Burnett (9-11) gave up
nine hits and nine runs in five innings to the Orioles, who are
at the bottom of the five-team AL East division.

Mark Reynolds, J.J. Hardy and Matt Wieters hit home runs
for the Orioles, who had a 7-0 lead by the fourth inning.

Jorge Posada put the Yankees’ first run on the board with a
home run in the fifth, followed by homers by Alex Rodriguez and
Nick Swisher in the seventh.

Robinson Cano extended his hitting streak to 17 games with
a single in the seventh inning.

The Yankees (78-51) trail the Red Sox by a game, with the
Orioles (52-77) 27 games off the lead. Oakland (60-71) is three
games ahead of cellar-dwelling Seattle in the four-team American
League West.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Nancy Kercheval in Washington at
nkercheval@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Sillup at
msillup@bloomberg.net

BOSTON – Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield kept the Blue Jays batters off balance as Boston scored a 6-4 win over Toronto at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-run double in the fourth was the Red Sox fifth consecutive hit in the inning and capped a four-run rally with two outs that gave Boston a 6-3 lead.

“The biggest thing there was no giving at-bats away, knowing we can continue an inning with two outs,” Ellsbury said.

The Blue Jays tallied a run in the first and two in the third inning while solo homers by Ellsbury and Kevin Youkilis in the first two innings kept the game tight.

“I was just trying to get a pitch I could drive early in the count,” Ellsbury said. “Fortunately he gave me something I was looking for over the plate.”

Wakefield spread nine hits across seven innings and had tremendous control of his floater, striking out seven batters and walking just one.

“Early on I thought there were some balls that were up, and normally with Wake when they’re up, they get hit a little bit,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “Settled down and gave us what we needed. He has a way of doing that.”

Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero allowed all six Boston runs on nine hits, walking three and striking out two before exiting the game with one out in the fifth inning.

“I just don’t know what it is about this team,” said a rueful Romero, who is 2-6 lifetime against the Red Sox.

“I don’t know if they see the ball well off me, I don’t know if I tip something.”

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon gave up a run in the ninth inning before striking out the side for his 19th save of the season. - Reuters

MLB

Posted: June 6
Updated: Today at 10:24 PM

Crawford, Gonzalez hit homers to lead Boston past Oakland

The Associated Press

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox managed to preserve this big lead.

Carl Crawford hit a three-run homer and Adrian Gonzalez added a two-run shot, powering John Lackey and the Red Sox to a 6-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

After blowing a four-run lead in the ninth the day before and needing 14 innings to win, the Red Sox welcomed the wire-to-wire victory that completed a three-game sweep of the A’s.

“When you score first and you score more than one, that’s a good formula for winning,” manager Terry Francona said.

It didn’t work Saturday when Boston carried a 7-3 lead into the ninth and blew it before winning the game in 5 hours, 17 minutes. Sunday’s victory was quick and clean, keyed by Crawford’s drive in the second and Gonzalez’s shot in the fourth.

That was plenty of offense for Lackey (3-5), who was coming off a stint on the disabled list with a strained elbow. The right-hander gave up three runs and three hits, walked two and hit three batters in 5 2-3 innings.

“He had better velocity on his fastball. The ball was coming out better,” catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said. “Early he cut a few that you could kind of tell he was a little rusty, but for the most part his cutter was back to where I remember it being.”

Saltalamacchia and David Ortiz had three hits apiece, accounting for half of Boston’s dozen on Sunday. Saltalamacchia finished the day with his second career triple, lumbering around the bases before making an exhausted dive into third in the eighth.

Boston swept the A’s to salvage a split of a six-game homestand that started with three losses to the White Sox.

Matt Albers, Tommy Hottovy and Dan Wheeler combined for 2 1-3 innings of two-hit ball before Daniel Bard worked the ninth for his first save of the season — one day after regular closer Jonathan Papelbon blew a save opportunity and was ejected in the ninth inning of Boston’s 9-8 victory.

Kevin Kouzmanoff homered for the Athletics, who have lost six straight. Brett Anderson (3-6) allowed five runs and nine hits in five innings.

“Today was pretty much terrible. It’s pretty much as bad a job as I can do,” Anderson said. “My stuff was pretty bad. I need to get my breaking ball to where it was. It’s kind of rolling in there.

Boston now heads to New York for a three-game series with the first-place Yankees beginning on Tuesday.

The Red Sox got off to a fast start Sunday behind Crawford, who hit his fifth homer after David Ortiz and Jed Lowrie started the second inning with consecutive singles.

It was Crawford’s first homer at Fenway Park as a member of the Red Sox.

“I was starting to wonder for a while, you know,” he said.

Kouzmanoff led off the third with his fourth homer and Daric Barton added a run-scoring single in the fourth, but Boston responded in the bottom half.

Gonzalez’s drive into the Green Monster seats above left field made it 5-2 and gave him 50 RBIs just 59 games into the season. It was the second homer in as many games for the big first baseman, who has 12 for the season after hitting just one in his first month with the Red Sox.

Lackey had some control problems in his first start since May 11. His last hit batter was Conor Jackson, who stole second and scored when Barton doubled off Albers to get Oakland within two in the sixth.

But Francona wasn’t worried about the hit batters after watching Lackey’s return, which ended after 93 pitches.

After a stint on the 15-day disabled list, that was as far as Francona wanted to push his starter.

“Lack knows how to pitch,” Francona said. “We didn’t want to undo what we had done the past few weeks.”

Fautino De Los Santos, who struck out the only batter he faced in his major league debut on Saturday, had a more difficult time in his second appearance. Jacoby Ellsbury singled off De Los Santos with one out in the sixth, then advanced on two wild pitches and scored on Dustin Pedroia’s single to left.

That put Boston up 6-3 and the bullpen held it, something it failed to do the day before when Oakland erased a 7-3 deficit in the ninth.

The A’s East Coast tour that started with three wins in Baltimore ended with consecutive sweeps in New York and Boston.

“We swung the bats better this series,” second baseman Mark Ellis said. “We ran into a couple of good teams and they beat us up pretty good.”

Notes: Francona said before the game that Clay Buchholz has been pushed back in the rotation in order to give his back some more rest. Tim Wakefield with take Buchholz’s spot on Wednesday against the Yankees and Buchholz will start Friday at Toronto. … Oakland manager Bob Geren gave slumping DH Hideki Matsui the day off. Matsui broke a career-worst 0-for-19 slump with an 11th-inning single Saturday. … The Red Sox last swept the A’s in August 2008.

 

BOSTON (AP) — Carl Crawford blooped a go-ahead, two-run single to center field in the seventh inning and the Boston Red Sox ended a four-game losing streak with an 8-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night.

Boston rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the first and were trailing 6-5 when lefty Brian Fuentes came in to face lefty Crawford, who came through with a broken-bat hit just beyond second base. Joey Devine (0-1) loaded the bases in the seventh on a double by Adrian Gonzalez and then he hit Kevin Youkilis and walked David Ortiz.

Bobby Jenks (2-2) got the win and Jonathan Papelbon pitched a perfect ninth for his 11th save in 12 opportunities. Jarrod Saltalamacchia added a solo homer, his fifth of the year, for the Red Sox in the eighth.

The Red Sox ended their longest losing streak since they began the season 0-6. The A’s dropped their fourth straight after winning four in a row.

Before his hit, Crawford was batting just .103 (7 for 68) against lefties this season. And of his 21 RBIs before Friday, only
six were at Fenway Park although two came from walkoff hits. The A’s ripped Clay Buchholz for four runs and five hits in the first, but the Red Sox came back to take a 5-4 lead after the third. Oakland tied it with a run in the fourth before taking a 6-5 lead on Daric Barton’s RBI single in the fifth.

David DeJesus started the first-inning rally with a single, took second on a single by Josh Willingham and scored when Hideki Matsui grounded into a fielder’s choice for the second out. Then Buchholz have up three straight hits — a single by Kurt Suzuki that sent Matsui to second, an RBI single by Barton and a two-run single by Mark Ellis.

The Red Sox began chipping away at the 4-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the first. Jacoby Ellsbury led off with a single, took second on his 20th stolen base of the season and third on a wild pitch then scored on Gonzalez’s groundout. Youkilis followed with a double and scored on Ortiz’s single.

Ellsbury’s sacrifice fly made it 4-3 in the second and Boston took the lead in the third when Ortiz doubled in one run and Jed Lowrie singled in another off starter Josh Outman. After retiring the next batter, Outman was replaced by Guillermo Moscoso, who pitched 2 1-3 scoreless innings.

Oakland tied the score at 5 when Kevin Kouzmanoff singled, took second on a wild pickoff throw by Buchholz and third on a wild pitch before scoring on Coco Crisp’s groundout.

Buchholz kept struggling in the fifth. Willingham led off with a double, moved up on a flyout by Matsui and scored on a single by Barton that drove Buchholz from the game.

Notes: The Red Sox transferred RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka from the 15- to the 60-day DL and placed LHP Rich Hill on the 15-day DL. Both are likely to have major surgery on their pitching elbows. … The Athletics placed RHP Grant Balfour on paternity leave and recalled RHP Fautino De Los Santos from Triple-A Sacramento. … In his other appearance this season against Oakland, Buchholz allowed one run in 5 1-3 innings in a 5-3 win on April 20. … Tommy Hottovy, a 2004 draft choice by Boston, made his major league debut, retiring the only batter he faced to end the sixth. … Fuentes was 0-4 with two saves in his previous seven appearances.

(© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

CBSSports.com wire reports
May 30, 2011

BOSTON — Jake Peavy said he struggled throughout this start. The results certainly didn’t show it.

Peavy, making just his fourth start after working back from season-ending shoulder surgery last July, scratched through seven solid innings to help the Chicago White Sox rebound from a pair of tough losses with a 7-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night.

“It was just a grind. I really had nothing,” Peavy said after his 112-pitch effort of the eve of his 30th birthday. “A start like that can make or break your season. I think my arm’s still getting stronger on a daily basis.”

Alexei Ramirez and Carlos Quentin each had a pair of RBI in a four-run sixth inning as the Chicago White Sox snapped Jon Lester’s seven-game winning streak.

Chicago lost at Toronto in 14 innings on Saturday and 13-4 on Sunday. The White Sox won for the fifth straight time at Fenway Park, the first time they’ve done that since 1982.

“We did a great job,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “We had one the best lefties on the mound and made him through [a lot] of pitches.”

But it was Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner, that was able to work his way through a challenging lineup on a night that he didn’t feel right from the beginning.

“I think I’m going to have to alter my program on the day’s I pitch, throw a little longer to see if I can get loose,” he said. “I kind of felt looser as we got later in the game.”

Paul Konerko added a solo homer for the White Sox, who halted a three-game losing skid and won for the 11th time in their last 13 games against the Red Sox.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo homer for Boston, which lost its second straight but only its fourth in its last 17 games.

Peavy (2-0) held Boston to three runs, six hits, striking out two and not walking anyone.

Jesse Crain got two outs, but was hit on the side by Gonzalez’s hard grounder, and Matt Thornton recorded the final four outs.

With the score tied at 3 in the sixth, Chicago chased Lester (7-2) with four runs. Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham, back in the lineup after missing the previous two games after getting hit below the left eye with a relay throw, singled. Juan Pierre walked to load the bases before Ramirez’s bloop fell in behind first baseman Gonzalez for a two-run double. Dan Wheeler relieved and Quentin singled in two more, making it 7-3.

Right-handed hitting Ramirez said through a translator that he was surprised that Lester, a lefty, faced him with Wheeler, a right-hander, throwing in the bullpen.

Lester gave up seven runs, eight hits, walked and struck out four apiece in 5 2/3 innings, halting his eight-game unbeaten stretch. He gave up eight runs in his only career start against the White Sox last season.

Lester didn’t look sharp at the start either, allowing a pair of runs in the first as he struggled with his control.

“He was scattering a lot of pitches,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Lester agreed that he was fighting with his control.

“It was just one of those nights where I just battled myself and couldn’t get in a rhythm,” he said. “The ball was up. When I actually did throw it over the plate, it was up.”

Chicago had increased its lead to 3-1 in the third when Konerko homered off an advertisement above the Green Monster seats before Boston tied it with two runs in the bottom of the inning. It was his 376th career homer, tying him for 66th all-time with former White Sox and Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, who was in Fenway Park and shown on the center field video board as a one of Boston’s legends.

Dustin Pedroia’s two-run single tied the game. The former AL MVP had been just 3 for 30 with three RBI with runners in scoring position and less than two outs.

The White Sox had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first. Ramirez singled and Quentin was hit by a pitch, the first of two times that Lester hit him in the game. After Konerko singled to load the bases, A.J. Pierzynski drove in a pair with a single up the middle.

Gonzalez homered into the White Sox bullpen to cut it to 2-1 in the bottom of the inning.

“I was telling everybody in the world about Adrian,” Peavy said about his former teammate in San Diego.

Notes

• Quentin entered the game with nine hit by pitches, leading the AL.
• White Sox DH/1B Adam Dunn , hitless in 38 at-bats against left-handed pitching this season, was taken out of the lineup against lefty Lester. But Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen was sticking by him. “I know he’s had a tough year,” Guillen said. “I hope he’s not thinking, ‘They paid me all this money.’ I talked to him in Toronto and told him don’t worry about it. As long as he’s healthy he’s going to be in the lineup.” Dunn signed a $56-million, four-year contract as a free agent during the offseason.
• Boston manager Terry Francona said RHP Bobby Jenks , who made his second rehab appearance with Triple-A Pawtucket on Sunday, is expected to be activated off the 15-day DL Tuesday. He was sidelined with a right biceps strain.
• rancona also said Red Sox LHP reliever Franklin Morales , acquired from Colorado on May 19, had an MRI Monday on his strained left forearm.
• Guillen switched Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s starters. Gavin Floyd , who took the loss in relief of Saturday’s 14-inning game in Toronto, will now go in Wednesday’s series finale. Phil Humber was moved up to Tuesday.

David Ortiz(notes) has been steadily producing all month, and both of the Boston
Red Sox’s big offseason acquisitions have joined him.

With Ortiz in the midst of a hitting streak, Adrian Gonzalez(notes) thriving and
Carl Crawford(notes) coming around, the red-hot Red Sox open a four-game road set with
the Detroit Tigers on Thursday.

Boston’s 0-6 start seems like a distant memory, as the club has won 10 of 12
while outscoring opponents 74-41. The Red Sox (27-22) pounded Cleveland 14-2 on
Wednesday, scoring seven runs in the first inning.

Gonzalez had two hits and is 14 for 28 over his last six games, while
Crawford went 4 for 4 and hit his second homer in three days.

“I definitely feel better than I did before,” said Crawford, batting .308 in
May after hitting .155 in April. “It feels nice to contribute to a game where
everyone contributes.”

Ortiz continued his torrid pace this month, going 2 for 6 and hitting his
eighth home run in May. He is batting .406 with three homers during a
season-best seven-game hit streak.

Ortiz has batted .375 with four home runs and 14 RBIs in his last eight
games against Detroit (25-23). Two of those homers came off Max Scherzer(notes) (6-1,
2.98) last season.

Scherzer allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings and suffered a 6-2 loss at
Pittsburgh on Saturday. The right-hander had given up two earned runs in his
three previous starts combined.

Scherzer looks to get back on track at Comerica Park, where he is 3-0 with a
0.77 ERA in five starts this season. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in the last
three, a span of 23 innings.

Scherzer’s two career starts against the Red Sox came last season. He gave
up six runs in five innings of a 7-2 home loss last May 14, and the Tigers sent
him to Triple-A the next day to work out mechanical issues.

Scherzer bounced back to pitch 6 1-3 innings of one-run ball in a 5-4 defeat
at Fenway Park on July 31, and didn’t get the decision. He has gone 17-8 with a
2.61 ERA in 33 starts since that first outing versus Boston.

While Ortiz has excelled against Scherzer, Gonzalez is 1 for 7 while
Crawford has gone hitless in five at-bats.

The Tigers, winners of three straight overall and seven of eight at home,
had Wednesday’s series finale against visiting Tampa Bay postponed due to rain.

Detroit has scored 13 runs in its last two games and will look to continue
its hot hitting against Alfredo Aceves(notes) (1-0, 2.42).

The right-hander, moved into the rotation due to injuries to John Lackey(notes) and
Daisuke Matsuzaka(notes), held the Chicago Cubs to one run and three hits over five
innings Saturday in his first start of the season. He didn’t get the decision in
the 9-3 loss.

“I felt comfortable with my body,” Aceves, who missed most of last season
with the New York Yankees due to injury, told MLB.com. “I walked two guys and I
hit two, so you don’t want that.”

Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis(notes) sat out Wednesday with a sore left hand
but is likely to be back in the lineup for this game.

The Tigers have lost four straight to Boston, most recently dropping two
meetings at Fenway Park last week. They had lost seven of eight at home to the
Red Sox before taking the two most recent matchups there.