MLB Roundup: Sunday’s other games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 4

TORONTO — Frank Thomas broke a fifth-inning tie with his 11th career grand slam and Vernon Wells added a two-run homer as Toronto completed a three-game sweep of the World Series champions. Boston went 3-4 on its opening three-nation trip to Tokyo, Oakland and Toronto, a journey of nearly 16,000 miles, and is last in the AL East for the first time since April 10, 2005. Out since mid-March because of a strained lower back, Josh Beckett (0-1) was activated from the disabled list to face Roy Halladay (1-1). Beckett gave up five runs, three hits and four walks in 42‚Ñ3 innings, striking out six. Halladay allowed four runs and eight hits in eight innings. Jeremy Accardo pitched the ninth for his third save.

Yankees 2, Rays 0

NEW YORK — Chien-Ming Wang (2-0) pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning, Hideki Matsui hit a two-run homer in the fourth off James Shields (1-1) and Yankees manager Joe Girardi was back on the bench following an illness. Joba Chamberlain relieved with runners at the corners and no outs in the seventh, struck out Willy Aybar on three pitches and got Shawn Riggans on a liner that second baseman Robinson Cano caught with a backhand stab before doubling up Eric Hinske. Hitting 99 mph on the stadium radar gun, Chamberlain tossed a perfect eighth to set up Mariano Rivera, who fanned two in a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save — a total he didn’t reach last year until May 3.

Royals 3, Twins 1

MINNEAPOLIS — Brett Tomko (1-0) allowed six hits in five shutout innings and Alex Gordon hit a two-run single and scored after doubling in the seventh. Joakim Soria struck out the side in order in the ninth for his third save. Kansas City finished its opening trip to Detroit and Minnesota 4-2, its best start since 2004. The Royals had only three winning trips last season, none until May 11-20. Boof Bonser (0-2) gave up three runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Orioles 3, Mariners 2

BALTIMORE — Luis Hernandez singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth off Mark Lowe (0-1), who also threw a tying wild pitch. Nick Markakis led off the ninth with a double off Eric O’Flaherty and scored on a groundout by Aubrey Huff. Seattle, without injured closer J.J. Putz, wasted an outstanding performance by Felix Hernandez, who allowed five hits in eight shutout innings as a replacement for former-Oriole Erik Bedard, scratched Saturday because of an injured hip. Dennis Safate (1-0) pitched a perfect ninth for the Orioles, who have won four straight. Baltimore is 3-0 against the Mariners after going 2-7 against them last year.

Rangers 10, Angels 4

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Gerald Laird had four hits, homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs. Laird hit a three-run homer in the fourth off Jon Garland (1-1), his first RBIs of the season, then added an RBI single in the seventh against Darren O’Day and a two-run homer in the ninth off Jason Bulger. Ben Broussard hit a two-run homer for Texas, which took two of three in the Angels’ home-opening series. Vicente Padilla (1-0) gave up four runs — three earned — and nine hits in seven innings, allowing solo homers by Garret Anderson and Torii Hunter.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Reds 8, Phillies 2

CINCINNATI — Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 594th career homer, a two-run shot that powered Cincinnati over Philadelphia. Griffey’s first homer of the season, a drive off Brett Myers (0-1), left him six shy of becoming the sixth player in major league history to reach 600 homers. Jeff Keppinger homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, and Edinson Volquez (1-0) struck out eight in 51‚Ñ3 innings.

Brewers 7, Giants 0

MILWAUKEE — Ben Sheets (1-0) struck out eight, walked none and pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout, his first since a five-hitter against St. Louis on May 29, 2001. He retired his last 10 batters. Ryan Braun fell a triple short of the cycle, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs and Gabe Kapler homered for the second time in as many days as the Brewers scored in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings off Barry Zito (0-2), who allowed five runs — three earned — and eight hits in five innings. Zito has a 6.30 ERA.

Diamondbacks 5, Rockies 2

DENVER — Mark Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Manny Corpas and Stephen Drew hit a tie-breaking drive against Micah Bowie (0-1) leading off a three-run 10th as the Diamondbacks completed a three-game sweep against the team that beat them 4-0 in last year’s NL championship series. Colorado, which lost its fifth straight, led 1-0 before Reynolds homered. Matt Holliday homered in the ninth off Brandon Lyon (1-1), who blew his second save chance. Chad Qualls walked the first two batters in the 10th, then got his first save when Ryan Spilborghs grounded into double play and Troy Tulowitzki lined out.

Braves 3, Mets 1

ATLANTA — John Smoltz (1-0) allowed two hits over five scoreless innings in his season debut to beat Johan Santana (0-1) as Atlanta completed a two-game sweep of the rain-shortened series. Santana gave up only one run in seven innings — Yunel Escobar doubled in Mark Kotsay in the third — and Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer off Aaron Heilman in the eighth. Ryan Church hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth off Rafael Soriano, who completed a five-hitter and got his first save of the season when Teixeira made a diving stop of Brian Schneider’s sharp grounder to first.

Dodgers 3, Padres 2

SAN DIEGO — Trevor Hoffman (0-2) allowed Chin-Lung Hu’s tie-breaking RBI single in the ninth inning. Jonathan Broxton (1-0) pitched 11‚Ñ3 innings for the win, and Takashi Saito got three outs for his first save.

Cubs 3, Astros 2

CHICAGO — Derrek Lee hit a tie-breaking homer against Oscar Villarreal (0-2) in the seventh, Lee’s third homer of the season. He didn’t hit his first homer last season until the 21st game and finished the season with only 22. Carlos Zambrano (1-0) struck out seven in seven innings, allowing two runs and seven hits with no walks, and Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his third save. Alfonso Soriano was 1-for-24 this season when homered off Brandon Backe for a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Miguel Tejada hit his first homer with Houston leading off the seventh.

Cardinals 3, Nationals 0

ST. LOUIS — Kyle Lohse (1-0) allowed four hits in seven innings, Rick Ankiel homered and St. Louis completed a three-game sweep. Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his third save, helped by a leaping catch by Ankiel in center field on a Lastings Milledge drive. Rookie John Lannan (0-1) allowed two runs in 62‚Ñ3 innings for the Nationals, who have lost four in a row after a 3-0 start.

Associated Press