Red Sox continue mastery of Yankees

BOSTON - Mike Lowell homered off struggling Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang, and Kevin Youkilis also connected to help the Boston Red Sox win, 6-5, last night and improve to 7-0 against New York this year.

The Red Sox have beaten the Yankees eight straight times dating to the last game of last season - their longest winning streak against their longtime rivals since 1912.

Tim Wakefield (8-3) beat the Yankees for the second straight time after losing to them in nine of his previous 10 decisions. Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 15th save.

Mark Teixeira went 4 for 5 for New York, including his AL-leading 19th homer. Wang (0-4) lasted just 22/3 innings - the second straight Yankees starter to get just eight outs.

Wang was restored to the rotation after two scoreless relief appearances, but his troubles soon returned. He gave up five runs over 42/3 innings in a no-decision against Texas last Thursday, and gave up four runs and six hits against Boston; his ERA dropped from 14.46 to 14.34.

Wakefield allowed eight hits in six innings and improved to 5-0 at Fenway Park in five starts this year.

The Red Sox are 7-0 against the Yankees to start the season for the first time since 1912, when the New York franchise was known as the Highlanders. Boston, led in that era by Smoky Joe Wood and Hall of Famer Tris Speaker, won the first 14 matchups that year for a 17-game winning streak, when combined with the last three of the 1911 season.

New York 010 110 200 – 5 11 0

Boston 121 200 00x – 6 9 0

New York AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Boston AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Jeter ss 5   0   0   0   .295      Pedroia 2b 5   0   1   1   .310

Damon lf 5   1   1   1   .291      J.Drew rf 2   2   1   0   .262

Teixeira 1b 5   2   4   1   .296      Youkilis 1b 4   1   1   2   .350

A.Rodriguez 3b 3   0   0   0   .231      Bay lf 4   0   1   1   .278

2-R.Pena pr 0   0   0   0   .243      Lowell 3b 4   1   1   1   .296

Cano 2b 5   0   0   1   .293      D.Ortiz dh 2   0   0   0   .196

Posada c 5   1   2   1   .297      Kotsay cf 4   0   1   0   .286

H.Matsui dh 3   1   2   0   .253      N.Green ss 4   1   1   0   .278

Swisher rf 2   0   1   0   .256      Kottaras c 4   1   2   1   .212

1-Gardner pr-cf 0   0   0   0   .267      Totals 33   6   9   6      

Me.Cbrera cf-rf 3   0   1   1   .293

Totals 36   5   11   5      

1-ran for Swisher in the 8th. 2-ran for A.Rodriguez in the 9th. LOB: New York 10, Boston 9. 2B: Teixeira 2 (17), H.Matsui (12), Pedroia (17), Kottaras 2 (7). 3B: J.Drew (2). HR: Posada (9), off Wakefield; Damon (13), off R.Ramirez; Teixeira (19), off R.Ramirez; Lowell (10), off Wang; Youkilis (10), off Hughes. RBIs: Damon (35), Teixeira (52), Cano (35), Posada (28), Me.Cabrera (24), Pedroia (24), Youkilis 2 (37), Bay (56), Lowell (39), Kottaras (6). SB: R.Pena (3). S: Me.Cabrera. RLSP: New York 6 (Cano 2, Jeter, Damon 2, Posada); Boston 5 (Kotsay 2, Bay, Kottaras, Youkilis). RA: A.Rodriguez, Cano, J.Drew. DP: Boston 1 (N.Green, Youkilis).

New York walks (5): A.Rodriguez 2, H.Matsui, Swisher 2.

Boston walks (6): J.Drew 3, Youkilis, D.Ortiz 2.

New York strikeouts (7): Jeter, Damon, Cano 2, Posada, H.Matsui, Swisher.

Boston strikeouts (8): Youkilis, Bay 3, Kotsay, N.Green 2, Kottaras.

New York IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Wang (L) 22/3   6   4   4   3   3   69   14.34

Hughes 32/3   2   2   2   2   5   63   5.26

Coke 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   9   4.13

Aceves 1   1   0   0   1   0   17   2.59

Boston IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Wakefield (W) 6   8   3   3   3   2   87   4.50

R.Ramirez (H) 2/3   3   2   2   0   1   22   1.86

Okajima (H) 11/3   0   0   0   1   3   24   2.42

Papelbon (S) 1   0   0   0   1   1   21   2.08

W: Wakefield, 8-3. L: Wang, 0-4. S: Papelbon, 15. H: Okajima, 10. H: Ramirez, 8.

IR-S: Hughes 1-0, Okajima 1-0. Balk: Hughes. Umpires: Home, Gerry Davis; first, James Hoye; second, C.B. Bucknor; third, Mike Everitt. T: 3:23. A: 38,121 (37,373).

Mariners 4, Orioles 1

BALTIMORE - Jose Lopez homered twice, Felix Hernandez pitched seven solid innings, and Seattle beat Baltimore.

Lopez finished with three hits, raising his batting average over the last 11 games to .372 (16 for 43). He hit a solo drive in the second inning and a two-run shot in the sixth for his third career multihomer game.

Hernandez (6-3) allowed just one run and seven hits to improve to 4-0 for his career at Camden Yards. Hernandez has a 0.95 ERA over his last four starts this season.

Seattle 010 102 000 – 4 7 0

Baltimore 000 010 000 – 1 7 1

Seattle AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Baltimore AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

I.Suzuki rf 3   0   1   0   .359      B.Roberts 2b 4   0   3   1   .287

Branyan 1b 4   0   0   0   .314      Ad.Jones cf 3   0   0   0   .335

Beltre 3b 4   2   2   0   .250      Markakis rf 3   0   1   0   .288

Griffey Jr. dh 4   0   0   0   .208      A.Huff 1b 4   0   0   0   .258

Jo.Lopez 2b 4   2   3   3   .245      Mora 3b 4   0   1   0   .258

Y.Betancourt ss 4   0   0   1   .243      Scott dh 4   0   0   0   .308

En.Chavez lf-cf 4   0   0   0   .265      Reimold lf 4   0   0   0   .280

J.Burke c 4   0   1   0   .167      Wieters c 4   1   2   0   .229

F.Gutierrez cf 1   0   0   0   .261      Andino ss 3   0   0   0   .237

Balentien lf 3   0   0   0   .226      Totals 33   1   7   1      

Totals 35   4   7   4      

E: Mora (4). LOB: Seattle 5, Baltimore 7. 2B: I.Suzuki (11), Beltre (14), B.Roberts (18), Markakis (18), Wieters (2). HR: Jo.Lopez 2 (8), off Guthrie 2. RBIs: Jo.Lopez 3 (35), Y.Betancourt (18), B.Roberts (23). RLSP: Seattle 3 (Branyan, En.Chavez, Y.Betancourt); Baltimore 4 (Mora 2, A.Huff 2). RA: Griffey Jr. 2, Y.Betancourt, A.Huff. GIDP: Reimold. DP: Seattle 1 (Y.Betancourt, Branyan).

Baltimore walks (2): Ad.Jones, Markakis.

Seattle strikeouts (4): Branyan, Jo.Lopez, En.Chavez, Balentien.

Baltimore strikeouts (7): B.Roberts, Ad.Jones, Mora, Scott 2, Wieters 2.

Seattle IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

F.Hernandez (W) 7   7   1   1   2   5   103   3.06

White (H) 1   0   0   0   0   1   10   1.48

Aardsma (S) 1   0   0   0   0   1   9   1.84

Baltimore IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Guthrie (L) 6   6   4   3   0   2   104   5.52

Baez 2   1   0   0   0   2   24   3.41

Albers 1   0   0   0   0   0   13   4.57

W: Hernandez, 6-3. L: Guthrie, 4-6. S: Aardsma, 10. H: White, 6.

HBP: by Baez (I.Suzuki). Umpires: Home, Jim Wolf; first, Brian O'Nora; second, Fieldin Culbreth; third, Gary Cederstrom.

T: 2:25. A: 12,770 (48,290).

Royals 9, Indians 0

CLEVELAND - Gil Meche tied a career high with 11 strikeouts over seven innings, and Kansas City hit three home runs in an easy win over Cleveland.

Alberto Callaspo had a career-high four hits, including his first career grand slam, for Kansas City. The Royals also got two-run homers from Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo to win for only the fourth time in their last 19 games.

Meche (3-5) allowed four hits and three walks in winning for the first time in seven starts. Since beating Minnesota on May 3, the righthander had gone 0-3 with a 4.02 ERA.

Kansas City 010 440 000 – 9 13 1

Cleveland 000 000 000 – 0 4 0

Kansas City AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Cleveland AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

DeJesus lf 5   0   2   0   .235      BFrancisco cf-rf 4   0   1   0   .255

Bloomquist cf-rf 5   0   1   0   .288      J.Carroll 2b 4   0   0   0   .323

Butler 1b 5   2   1   0   .277      V.Martinez 1b 3   0   0   0   .339

J.Guillen rf 3   2   2   2   .263      Crowe cf 1   0   0   0   .196

a-Maier ph-cf 1   0   0   0   .231      Choo rf 3   0   0   0   .290

Teahen 3b 2   2   1   0   .277      Gimenez lf 1   0   0   0   .333

Lu.H'ndez 3b 1   0   0   0   .208      DeRosa lf 2   0   0   0   .264

Callaspo 2b 4   2   4   4   .311      Garko 1b 1   0   0   0   .248

B.Pena dh 3   0   0   1   .267      Hafner dh 4   0   1   0   .256

Olivo c 3   1   1   2   .246      Jh.Peralta 3b 3   0   1   0   .258

Pena Jr. ss 4   0   1   0   .087      Valbuena ss 4   0   1   0   .197

Totals 36   9   13   9         Shoppach c 2   0   0   0   .204

Totals 32   0   4   0      

a-struck out for J.Guillen in the 7th. E: Teahen (6). LOB: Kansas City 3, Cleveland 8. 2B: DeJesus (11), Butler (18), Pena Jr. (1). HR: J.Guillen (7), off Pavano; Olivo (7), off Pavano; Callaspo (3), off Pavano. RBIs: J.Guillen 2 (27), Callaspo 4 (20), B.Pena (2), Olivo 2 (19). SB: Valbuena (1). CS: Callaspo (1). SF: B.Pena. RLSP: Kansas City 2 (J.Guillen, Butler); Cleveland 4 (J.Carroll 4). RA: DeJesus, Bloomquist 2, B.Pena. GIDP: Pena Jr.. DP: Cleveland 2 (Choo, Choo, Shoppach), (J.Carroll, Valbuena, V.Martinez).

Kansas City walk (1): Teahen.

Cleveland walks (3): DeRosa, Jh.Peralta, Shoppach.

Kansas City strikeouts (6): DeJesus, Bloomquist, Butler, Maier, Olivo, Pena.

Cleveland strikeouts (12): J.Carroll, V.Martinez 2, Choo 2, DeRosa 2, Jh.Peralta, Valbuena 2, Shoppach 2.

Kansas City IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Meche (W) 7   4   0   0   3   11   115   3.70

Mahay 1   0   0   0   0   0   7   4.05

Farnsworth 1   0   0   0   0   1   7   3.00

Cleveland IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Pavano (L) 42/3   11   9   9   1   1   92   5.40

J.Lewis 31/3   1   0   0   0   4   46   4.88

Jo.Smith 1   1   0   0   0   1   12   6.14

W: Meche, 3-5. L: Pavano, 6-5.

HBP: by J.Lewis (Olivo). Umpires: Home, Laz Diaz; first, Eric Cooper; second, Mike Reilly; third, Chuck Meriwether.

T: 2:38. A: 16,257 (45,199).

Rays 9, Angels 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Carlos Pena and Willy Aybar homered, helping Tampa Bay stop a three-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles and nemesis John Lackey.

Pena hit a solo homer in the third inning, and Aybar added a two-run shot off Lackey (1-2) for a 9-5 lead in the fifth. Aybar also had a RBI single during Tampa Bay's five-run second against the Angels starter, who had won nine of 10 previous decisions against Tampa Bay.

"Kind of everything that could happen wrong happened. Good pitches, they managed to get infield hits," Lackey said.

Los Angeles 030 200 000 – 5 10 1

Tampa Bay 052 020 00x – 9 11 2

Los Angeles AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Tampa Bay AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Figgins 3b 4   1   2   2   .315      B.Upton cf 4   1   1   0   .217

Abreu rf 4   0   1   1   .295      Crawford lf 4   0   2   1   .324

J.Rivera lf 5   0   2   1   .310      Longoria 3b 4   0   0   0   .307

Guerrero dh 5   0   2   0   .272      C.Pena 1b 4   2   2   1   .227

K.Morales 1b 5   0   0   0   .261      Zobrist 2b 3   3   2   0   .311

M.Izturis ss 1   1   0   0   .259      W.Aybar dh 3   2   2   3   .261

Napoli c 4   1   1   0   .264      Gross rf 4   1   1   1   .255

Matthews Jr. cf 4   1   1   1   .246      Navarro c 4   0   0   1   .197

Kendrick 2b 3   1   1   0   .236      Brignac ss 4   0   1   0   .222

Totals 35   5   10   5         Totals 34   9   11   7      

E: Figgins (6), Gross (2), Brignac (2). LOB: Los Angeles 9, Tampa Bay 3. 2B: Abreu (13), Matthews Jr. (6), Kendrick (7), Gross (5). 3B: Figgins (3), Guerrero (1). HR: C.Pena (18), off Lackey; W.Aybar (5), off Lackey. RBIs: Figgins 2 (18), Abreu (28), J.Rivera (27), Matthews Jr. (16), Crawford (28), C.Pena (43), W.Aybar 3 (19), Gross (17), Navarro (14). SB: M.Izturis (6), B.Upton (18), Zobrist (7). SF: Abreu. RLSP: Los Angeles 6 (Napoli 3, Guerrero, J.Rivera, K.Morales); Tampa Bay 2 (B.Upton 2). RA: Navarro. GIDP: Longoria. DP: Los Angeles 1 (Kendrick, M.Izturis, K.Morales).

Los Angeles walks (4): Figgins, M.Izturis 2, Kendrick.

Tampa Bay walks (2): Zobrist, W.Aybar.

Los Angeles strikeouts (8): Figgins, Abreu 2, J.Rivera, Guerrero, K.Morales, Napoli, Kendrick.

Tampa Bay strikeouts (7): B.Upton 2, C.Pena, Zobrist, Gross, Brignac 2.

Los Angeles IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Lackey (L) 5   11   9   8   2   2   98   6.61

R.Thompson 2   0   0   0   0   3   22   1.29

J.Speier 1   0   0   0   0   2   16   4.84

Tampa Bay IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Niemann 32/3   7   5   4   3   3   91   4.12

Cormier (W) 21/3   2   0   0   1   2   46   2.06

Isringhausen 1   0   0   0   0   2   22   2.45

J.Nelson 11/3   0   0   0   0   0   11   5.26

Wheeler 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   14   5.30

W: Cormier, 1-1. L: Lackey, 1-2. IR-S: Cormier 1-1. HBP: by Isringhausen (M.Izturis). WP: Lackey. Umpires: Home, Rob Drake; first, Jeff Kellogg; second, Tim Timmons; third, Mark Wegner.

T: 3:00. A: 15,658 (36,973).

Tigers 2, White Sox 1

CHICAGO - Justin Verlander pitched a six-hitter for his first victory ever at U.S. Cellular Field as Detroit defeated Chicago.

Jim Thome hit his 552d career home run, and John Danks pitched 71/3 strong innings, but the White Sox still fell 61/2 games behind Central-leading Detroit.

Adam Everett homered for the Tigers, who have won five of their last six games.

Verlander (7-2) struck out nine and walked one in his second complete game this year. He has a 7-0 record and league-low 1.10 ERA since April 27.

White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko left the game in the eighth inning with a jammed right thumb.

Detroit 000 001 100 – 2 5 0

Chicago 000 000 100 – 1 6 0

Detroit AB   R   H   BI   Avg.      Chicago AB   R   H   BI   Avg.   

Granderson cf 4   0   1   0   .258      Podsednik lf 3   0   0   0   .296

Polanco 2b 3   0   0   0   .249      Al.Ramirez ss 4   0   0   0   .257

Ordonez rf 4   1   1   0   .279      Dye rf 4   0   0   0   .276

Thomas rf 0   0   0   0   .245      Thome dh 3   1   1   1   .250

Mi.Cabrera 1b 4   0   1   0   .335      Konerko 1b 3   0   0   0   .291

J.Anderson lf 0   0   0   0   .261      Fields 1b 1   0   0   0   .235

Thames dh 4   0   1   0   .278      Pierzynski c 3   0   1   0   .291

Inge 3b 2   0   0   0   .279      Beckham 3b 3   0   1   0   .100

Raburn lf-1b 3   0   0   1   .227      Getz 2b 3   0   2   0   .247

Everett ss 3   1   1   1   .269      Bri.Anderson cf 2   0   1   0   .239

Sardinha c 3   0   0   0   .097      Totals 29   1   6   1      

Totals 30   2   5   2      

LOB: Detroit 5, Chicago 4. 2B: Thames (3), Bri.Anderson (5). HR: Everett (2), off Danks; Thome (11), off Verlander. RBIs: Raburn (13), Everett (24), Thome (37). SB: Getz (7). CS: Granderson (3), Beckham (1). S: Podsednik, Bri.Anderson. RLSP: Detroit 3 (Raburn, Sardinha 2); Chicago 3 (Podsednik, Dye, Al.Ramirez). RA: Thames, Podsednik. GIDP: Ordonez, Konerko. DP: Detroit 1 (Inge, Polanco, Mi.Cabrera); Chicago 1 (Al.Ramirez, Getz, Fields).

Detroit walks (3): Polanco, Inge, Raburn.

Chicago walk (1): Thome.

Detroit strikeouts (9): Ordonez, Mi.Cabrera, Inge, Raburn 2, Everett 2, Sardinha 2.

Chicago strikeouts (9): Al.Ramirez 2, Dye 2, Thome 2, Konerko, Fields, Pierzynski.

Detroit IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Verlander (W) 9   6   1   1   1   9   122   3.02

Chicago IP   H   R   ER   BB   SO   NP   ERA   

Danks (L) 71/3   5   2   2   2   7   101   4.81

Dotel 12/3   0   0   0   1   2   17   2.35

W: Verlander, 7-2. L: Danks, 4-5.

IR-S: Dotel 1-0. HBP: by Danks (Inge). Umpires: Home, Brian Runge; first, Derryl Cousins; second, Bill Miller; third, Jim Joyce.

T: 2:12. A: 28,079 (40,615).