BOSTON — Embattled starter Josh Beckett did nothing to help restore his reputation Thursday night, getting booed off the field at Fenway Park in the third inning of Boston’s 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians. BOSTON — Embattled starter Josh
BOSTON — Embattled starter Josh Beckett did nothing to help restore his reputation Thursday night, getting booed off the field at Fenway Park in the third inning of Boston’s 8-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians.
Jack Hannahan hit a two-run homer, and Jason Kipnis had a solo shot off Beckett, who was already in hot water with Red Sox fans for playing golf last week a day after he was scratched from his scheduled start with a sore lat muscle in his back.
His return to the rotation couldn’t have gone much worse. Beckett (2-4) gave up seven runs on seven hits and walked two in 2 1/3 innings as Cleveland teed off en route to a 7-1 lead. Michael Brantley went 4-for-5 with two RBIs for the Indians.
Derek Lowe (5-1) pitched six effective innings against his former team, allowing two runs and nine hits.
Dustin Pedroia homered for the last-place Red Sox.
YANKEES 5, RAYS 3
NEW YORK — CC Sabathia outpitched David Price for the first time in six career matchups between the All-Star lefties, Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson homered, and New York beat Tampa Bay.
The Yankees overcame a pair of early errors by third baseman Eduardo Nunez to take the series and send Tampa Bay to its fourth loss in five games.
Sabathia (5-0) struck out 10, punctuating his outing by fanning B.J. Upton with two runners on base to end the seventh inning. The burly pitcher allowed two unearned runs in eight innings — the fourth straight start he’s gone exactly that long.
Rafael Soriano gave up a run in the ninth for a save in his first try of the season.
Price (5-1) gave up 11 hits, many of them well tagged. He was trying to win five consecutive starts for the first time in his career.
ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 5
RANGERS 7, ORIOLES 3
BALTIMORE — Josh Hamilton hit his major league-leading 15th homer, Derek Holland pitched six innings of four-hit ball, and Texas beat Baltimore for a doubleheader split.
In the opener, the Orioles set an AL record by hitting home runs in their first three at-bats and launched five in all against Colby Lewis (3-2), who struck out a career-high 12. That made him the first pitcher since 1918 to give up five home runs and have at least 10 strikeouts in the same game.
The five home runs yielded by Lewis were the only hits he allowed over seven innings.
Hamilton entered the doubleheader coming off a four-homer game Tuesday and had five home runs in his previous six at-bats. After going 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts in the first game, he resumed his assault on Baltimore pitching by hitting a two-run shot in the first inning off former Rangers right-hander Tommy Hunter (2-2).
Hamilton went 1-for-4 in the nightcap, dropping his batting average to .395 but increasing his major league-leading RBI total to 38.
Holland (3-2) allowed three runs, none earned, to earn his first win in four starts since April 18.
In the first game, Ryan Flaherty, J.J. Hardy and Nick Markakis opened the bottom of the first inning with homers to give Baltimore a lead it did not relinquish.
Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (3-0) gave up two runs in 7 2/3 innings.
BLUE JAYS 6, TWINS 2
MINNEAPOLIS — Henderson Alvarez pitched seven strong innings to win his third straight start in Toronto’s victory over Minnesota.
Alvarez (3-2) stretched his scoreless streak to 17 innings before second baseman Kelly Johnson’s throwing error allowed the Twins to score in the third. Josh Willingham homered in the sixth, but the 22-year-old Venezuelan didn’t give up any more than that.
Yunel Escobar scored three times and hit four singles. Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie each drove in two runs against Jason Marquis (2-2). The Twins are a major league-worst 8-23.
TIGERS 10, ATHLETICS 6
OAKLAND, Calif. — Miguel Cabrera broke out of a slump with two RBI hits in Detroit’s eight-run third inning against Oakland.
Cabrera, who came into the game hitless in his previous 14 at-bats, finished with four hits, including an RBI double and a run-scoring single in the third. He also had an RBI single in the fifth.
Alex Avila added a two-run double in the third as the Tigers knocked out Bartolo Colon (3-3) early. Colon allowed eight runs — seven earned — and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings, dropping to 0-7 in his last 12 starts against Detroit with a 7.67 ERA.
Max Scherzer (2-3) struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings to end a three-start winless streak.
The one bright spot for Oakland came in the eighth when former Tiger Brandon Inge hit his second grand slam in three games.
Nationals 4, Pirates 2
PITTSBURGH — Stephen Strasburg struck out a season-high 13 over six innings, and the Nationals snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Pittsburgh.
Roger Bernadina and Adam LaRoche both homered in the sixth off Pittsburgh’s Kevin Correia (1-3) to erase a two-run deficit. Henry Rodriguez pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
Strasburg improved to 3-0 while trimming his ERA to 1.64 by overpowering the punchless Pirates. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up two runs, one earned, on five hits in six innings.
