SCOREBOARD
Sunday, July 8
Atlanta at San Diego (8:05 p.m. EDT). Padres right-hander Greg Maddux tries for career win number 341 at the expense of his former team.
STARS
Friday
-Justin Morneau, Twins, homered three times in the second game of a doubleheader to help Minnesota sweep Chicago 20-14 and 12-0.
-Adrian Beltre, Mariners, finished 5-for-5 with two homers in Seattle’s 7-1 win at Oakland.
-Kyle Lohse and Ken Griffey Jr., Reds. Lohse took a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning and Griffey Jr. tied Frank Robinson for sixth place on the career home run list in a 8-1 win over Arizona.
-Wandy Rodriguez, Astros, threw a four-hitter and Houston beat the Mets 4-0.
-Marcus Thames, Tigers, hit a grand slam to help Detroit beat Boston 9-2.
-Ryan Braun, Brewers, homered twice to lead Milwaukee to a 6-2 win over Washington.
-Buddy Carlyle, Braves, pitched a career-best eight innings, leading Atlanta past San Diego 7-4.
SOXED
Justin Morneau became the fourth Twins player to hit three home runs in a game, and Minnesota hit six in all in the nightcap to complete the sweep of a day-night doubleheader at Chicago on Friday. He became the first Twins player to hit three in a game since Tony Oliva against Kansas City on July 3, 1973, and he joined a group that also includes Bob Allison and Harmon Killebrew. The Twins won 20-14 in the opener behind Jason Kubel’s seven RBIs. The 34 runs were the most since May 19, 1999, when Cincinnati beat Colorado 24-12, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
SIDELINED
Atlanta placed pitcher John Smoltz on the 15-day disabled list on Friday after an MRI found inflammation – but apparently no structural damage – in his right shoulder. Smoltz, 40, was placed on the disabled list retroactive to July 3. He will be eligible to come off the DL on July 18. He will miss Tuesday’s All-Star game in San Francisco as well as Saturday’s scheduled start at San Diego. … Minnesota catcher Mike Redmond suffered a large gash on his head and left the second game of Friday’s day-night doubleheader after the Chicago White Sox’s Jim Thome accidentally hit him with his bat.
SUSPENDED
Tigers infielder Neifi Perez became the first player penalized for testing positive for a stimulant under Major League Baseball’s drug program Friday. Perez’ 25-game suspension will cost him about $400,000 of his $2.5 million salary.
STREAKING
Paul Maholm improved to 4-0 in his career- 2-0 this season- against the Cubs after an 8-4 win on Friday. … Vernon Wells homered and drove in three runs from the leadoff spot in Toronto’s 8-6 win over Cleveland. He’s batting .354 (17-for-48) with seven homers and 15 RBIs in 11 games at the top of the order. … Milwaukee has homered in 15 consecutive games after going deep three times in a 6-2 win over Washington. It’s the Brewers longest streak since a 19-game run in 1996. … Eric O’Flaherty pitched a scoreless sixth inning for the win in Seattle’s 7-1 win at Oakland, setting a Mariners record with six consecutive victories to start his career.
SLUMPING
The Angels have lost seven of 10 after a 14-9 setback to the New York Yankees on Friday.
SNAPPED
Texas’ Eric Gagne blew his first save of the season in a 4-3, 10 inning win over Baltimore on Friday, snapping his overall streak at 30 in a row. His last blown save was on Aug. 18, 2004, against Florida as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Andruw Jones homered in Atlanta’s 7-4 win at San Diego on Friday. It was Jones’ ninth at Petco Park, the most by any visiting hitter at the downtown ballpark, which opened in 2004.
BOOTED
Oakland third baseman Marco Scutaro tied an AL record with four errors in a 7-1 loss at Seattle on Friday.
SPEAKING
“I think he needs a couple of days off. He didn’t look like he was moving too good and I definitely think he needs tomorrow and Sunday off to get ready for the All-Star game.” – Angels manager Mike Scioscia joking about Alex Rodriguez on Friday night. A-Rod rejoined the Yankees’ lineup a day after a strained left hamstring forced him to miss his only game this year, hit career homer No. 493 that tied him with Lou Gehrig on the all-time list and helped New York to a wild 14-9 win over Los Angeles.
July 8
1912 – Rube Marquard’s 19-game winning streak was stopped as the New York Giants lost 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs.
1935 – The AL extended its All-Star winning streak to three with a 4-1 victory at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. New York Yankee Lefty Gomez went six innings, which prompted the NL to have the rules changed so that no pitcher could throw more than three innings, unless extra innings.
1941 – Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox hit a three-run, two-out homer in the ninth to give the AL a dramatic 7-5 victory in the All-Star game at Detroit’s Briggs Stadium. Up to that point Arky Vaughn of the Pittsburgh Pirates was the NL hero with two home runs, the first player to do so in All-Star play. Joe and Dom DiMaggio both played for the AL, marking the first time that brothers appeared in the same All-Star game.
1947 – Frank Shea became the first winning rookie pitcher in the first 14 years of All-Star play as the AL nipped the NL 2-1 at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
1952 – The NL edged the AL 3-2 in the first rain-shortened All-Star game. The five-inning contest, at Philadelphia’s Shibe Park, featured home runs by Jackie Robinson and Hank Sauer of the Nationals.
1958 – The 25th anniversary All-Star game, at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, went to the AL, 4-3 in a game that only produced 13 singles. This was the first All-Star game in which neither team got an extra-base hit.
1970 – Jim Ray Hart of San Francisco hit for the cycle and became the first NL player in 59 years to drive in six runs in one inning as the Giants beat Atlanta, 13-0.
1994 – Shortstop John Valentin made the 10th unassisted triple play in baseball history in the sixth inning and then led off the bottom of the inning with a homer to lead Boston to a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.
1997 – Cleveland Indians catcher Sandy Alomar hit a two-run homer to give the American League a 3-1 victory over the National League in the All-Star game. Alomar, the first player to win the All-Star MVP in his own ballpark, broke the tie in the seventh inning off San Francisco’s Shawn Estes.
2000 – Dwight Gooden and Roger Clemens teamed up to shut down the Mets, giving the Yankees identical 4-2 victories in the first double-ballpark doubleheader in the majors since 1903. After the opener, many in the sellout crowd of 54,165 at Shea Stadium immediately headed for Game 2, which drew 55,821 at Yankee Stadium.
2003 – Cleveland rookie Billy Traber pitched a one-hitter for his first complete game, beating the Yankees 4-0. Traber retired 27 of 28 batters, including 21 in a row after John Flaherty’s single in the third inning.
Today’s birthday: Renyel Pinto, 25.