Associated Press
The AL roundup …
NEW YORK ó Phil Humber has been on more teams than he has victories.
His most impressive outing came against the ballclub that first recognized he had the talent to do something special.
Humber held the Yankees hitless until Alex Rodriguez grounded a single up the middle with one out in the seventh inning Monday night and the Chicago White Sox made the effort stand up with a 2-0 victory over New York.
ěWhen I was young I had big dreams. I thought I was going to go out there and dominate every time,î Humber said. ěIt hasnít worked out that way to this point.î
Humber was making the sixth start of his career for his fifth team and had a career record of 3-3. Orginally drafted by the Yankees in 2001 ó he turned them down to go to Rice ó Humber never expected this kind of success against the All-Star lineup.
ěYou donít expect to hold an offense like that down especially just giving up one hit but you got to make pitches and not worry about whoís up there at the plate,î he said.
The White Sox won for only the second time in 12 games. Chicago snapped a 23-inning scoreless drought in the fourth when Carlos Quentin doubled and scored on Adam Dunnís grounder, and added a run in the ninth after a popup fell behind the mound, in front of charging shortstop Derek Jeter.
Sergio Santos got the four outs for his first save and Chicagoís second save in eight chances this season. He gave the White Sox a scare, though, allowing a leadoff single to Curtis Granderson. But Mark Teixeira hit into a double play. Rodriguez struck out to end the three-hitter.
Blue Jays 6, Rangers 4
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Corey Patterson and Jose Bautista homered on consecutive pitches, tough-luck starter Kyle Drabek finally got another victory and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 6-4 Monday night.
Pattersonís three-run shot off Colby Lewis (1-3) with two outs in the fifth was followed by Bautistaís 405-foot blast to left ó his majors-leading eighth homer. After pitching coach Mike Maddux visited the mound, Adam Lind drew a walk and Juan Rivera followed with his first homer of the season for a 6-0 lead.
Drabek (2-0), a 23-year-old rookie and Texas native, had gotten a no-decision in three consecutive starts that the Blue Jays won after he had pitched into at least the sixth. The right-hander gave up three runs and five hits in six innings against the Rangers.
Texas designated hitter Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an RBI double off the right-field wall that made it 6-3 in the sixth. Ian Kinsler also had a run-scoring double in the inning.
Toronto entered the four-game series having lost 10 of 14 games overall, but is now 12-1 in its last 13 series openers dating to last season.
Jon Rauch worked the ninth, giving up a leadoff homer to Nelson Cruz, before closing out his fourth save in four chances.
The Blue Jays were coming off a 2-0 loss to Tampa Bay and had gone 15 consecutive innings without a run until their three-homer barrage in the fifth.
Yorvit Torrealba homered in the bottom of the inning for Texas.
Lewis gave up six runs and seven hits while throwing 95 pitches in five innings, with three strikeouts and four walks.
The postseason ace last season when Texas went to its first World Series, Lewis has lost his last three starts and has an 6.95 ERA this season. He has lost both starts since returning last week from being the first player ever to go on Major League Baseballís paternity leave list.
The Rangers had three double plays and got a run-saving catch from left fielder David Murphy, but only the fans can grab the long balls that went into the stands.
Toronto had two on and no out in the fourth when Lind hit a flyball slicing toward the left-field line. Murphy made a running catch with his glove fully extended, and both runners had to scurry back to the bases. Patterson was then thrown out trying to steal third.
Murphy made another nice catch in the seventh on a flyball by Patterson that turned into a double play when the relay through shortstop Elvis Andrus got Yunel Escobar before he could get back to first.
Each of Torontoís first five innings ended on grounders to Andrus, who was back in the lineup after a day off following errors in three consecutive games. Andrus went deep in the hole toward third and made strong throws to get Bautista ending the first and leadoff hitter Escobar ending the third.
Notes: Toronto most previously hit three homers in an inning last Aug. 7 against Tampa Bay. Lind, Aaron Hill and Edwin Encarnacion had those. … Toronto reliever Frank Francisco received his World Series ring from the Rangers before the game. Francisco spent his first six major league seasons with Texas. He made 56 appearances last year before missing the final month of the regular season and all the postseason with a muscle strain. He was traded to Toronto in January for catcher-first baseman Mike Napoli. … Texas is 6-2 in series openers this season.
The Associated Press
04/25/11 23:07