SCOREBOARD
Saturday, April 14
Kansas City at Baltimore (7:05 p.m. EDT). Odalis Perez allowed four runs on seven hits in 1 1-3 innings in his last start for the Royals.
STARS
Thursday
-Justin Morneau, Twins, led off the ninth inning with a home run off Brian Stokes to lift Minnesota over Tampa Bay 3-2.
-Jay Gibbons, Orioles, drove in Brian Roberts with two outs in the 10th inning, giving Baltimore a 2-1 victory over Kansas City.
-Travis Hafner, Indians, hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning to lift Cleveland over the Angels 4-2.
-Brandon Inge, Tigers, homered and drove in three runs in a 5-4 win over Toronto.
WALK-OFF
Justin Morneau led off the ninth inning with a home run off Brian Stokes to lift the Minnesota Twins over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 3-2 Thursday night. It was Morneau’s third homer this season and Minnesota’s first game-ending homer since Jason Kubel’s 12th-inning grand slam on June 13 against Boston.
SNAPPED
Ronnie Belliard hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning off John Smoltz, and Washington beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 Thursday night to stop a six-game losing streak. Their only previous win was April 4, when Dmitri Young hit a game-ending single that capped a three-run ninth inning in a 7-6 victory over visiting Florida.
REDEMPTION
Jay Gibbons atoned for an earlier missed opportunity by driving in Brian Roberts with two outs in the 10th inning, giving the Baltimore Orioles a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night. Gibbons, who fouled out with two runners on base in the eighth, lined an opposite-field single to left with the bases loaded in the 10th off Jason Standridge (0-1).
GREYBEARDS
the previous record holders (83 years, 299 days).
SPEAKING
“The first thing I heard right next to my ear was Ryan Church saying, ‘We got a lead!’ There was still a lot of game left, but that was refreshing to hear.” – Nationals manager Manny Acta after Washington beat the Atlanta Braves 2-0 Thursday night to stop a six-game losing streak. The Nationals had never before led a game this year entering Thursday.
SEASONS
April 14
1910 – William Howard Taft became the first U.S. president to throw out the first ball at a baseball opener in Washington.
1910 – Chicago’s Frank Smith pitched a one-hitter in the season opener to give the White Sox a win over the St. Louis Browns.
1915 – In the opening game at Philadelphia, left-hander Herb Pennock of the A’s blanked the Red Sox 5-0. He gave up only one hit – a scratch single by Harry Hooper with two outs in the ninth.
1917 – Ed Cicotte of the Chicago White Sox pitched an 11-0 no-hitter over the St. Louis Browns.
1925 – The Cleveland Indians opened the season with a 21-14 victory over the St. Louis Browns, the most runs scored by one club on opening day. The Indians scored 12 runs in the eighth inning when the Browns made five errors. Browns first baseman George Sisler had four errors in the game.
1967 – Boston rookie Bill Rohr lost a no-hit bid in his first major league start when Elston Howard singled in the ninth inning for the New York Yankees’ only hit in a 3-0 loss to the Red Sox.
1969 – The first major league game outside the United States was played in Montreal’s Jarry Park with the Expos defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7.
1999 – John Franco struck out the side in the ninth inning of the New York Met’s 4-1 win over the Florida Marlins, becoming only the second pitcher to reach 400 career saves.
1999 – Jose Canseco became the 28th player in major league history to reach the 400-home run plateau. He hit a 386-foot shot in the third inning of Tampa Bay’s 7-6 loss to Toronto.
2001 – The Cincinnati Reds set a modern National League record by scoring in their 175th consecutive game by shutting out the New York Mets 1-0.
2005 – Yankees outfielder Gary Sheffield got into a brief scuffle with a fan along the right-field fence at Fenway Park during New York’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
Today’s birthdays: Kyle Farnsworth 31; Greg Zaun 36; Brad Ausmus 38; Greg Maddux 41.
