SCOREBOARD
Thursday, April 19
Houston at Cincinnati (7:10 p.m. EDT). Woody Williams and Bronson Arroyo are both winless in three starts.
STARS
Tuesday
-Tom Gorzelanny, Pirates, allowed one run on four hits over 8 1-3 innings in a 6-1 victory over the Cardinals.
-Geoff Blum, Padres, doubled in the go-ahead run in the 14th inning and San Diego defeated the Chicago Cubs 4-3.
-Carlos Lee, Astros, hit a two-run homer and drove in two more runs to lead the Astros to a 6-1 win over Florida.
-Torii Hunter, Twins, hit a grand slam to help Minnesota to an 11-2 victory over the Mariners.
-Juan Pierre, Dodgers, doubled, tripled, and scored three runs to lead Los Angeles to a 6-4 victory over the Diamondbacks.
BROKEN WINGS
After losing 6-1 to Pittsburgh on Tuesday, St. Louis (6-7) is off to the worst start by a World Series winner since the 1998 Florida Marlins were 1-11. After going 49-31 last season – the NL’s second-best home record – the Cardinals are 1-6 at Busch Stadium.
STREAKS
David Wright extended his career-best hitting streak to 24 games in an 8-1 win over the Phillies on Tuesday night, tying the Mets’ franchise record. Hubie Brooks in 1984 and Mike Piazza in 1999 also had 24-game hitting streaks for New York. … Houston ace Roy Oswalt tied a career high by winning his ninth straight decision dating to August in a 6-1 win over Florida Tuesday night.
TRIBUTE
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Nationals wore Virginia Tech baseball caps during Tuesday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves as a tribute to the victims of the shooting rampage at the school. Nationals players wore a few different versions of the hats; most were burgundy with “VT” in orange or white.
SLUMPING
Kansas City lost its sixth straight, 7-6 at Detroit on Tuesday. The Royals are now 1-7 on the road.
BRUISED
inning. Hunter tumbled to the ground after failing to make a shoestring catch, then quickly got back to his feet and did not appear to be injured.
STRONG IN DEFEAT
David DeJesus had four hits with a homer and scored three runs for Kansas City in a 7-6 loss at Detroit.
SPEAKING
“That’s a big man on a horse.” – Houston’s Roy Oswalt on teammate Carlos Lee. Lee, nicknamed “El Caballo” or “The Horse,” received a stick horse from the fans who call themselves “Los Caballitos” before Tuesday’s game and rode it through the dugout after a 6-1 win over the Marlins.
SEASONS
April 19
1900 – The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Boston Braves 19-17 in 10 innings to set a major league record for most runs scored by two clubs on opening day. The Braves scored nine runs in the ninth inning to put the game into extra innings.
1920 – Al Schacht, who later became the “Clown Prince of Baseball,” was all business as he pitched the Senators to a 7-0 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics.
1938 – Emmett Mueller of the Phillies and Ernie Koy of the visiting Dodgers each homered in their first major league at-bats as Brooklyn defeated Philadelphia 12-5.
1956 – The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 in 10 innings at Roosevelt Stadium in the first major league game held in New Jersey.
1981 – In an International League night game, the Rochester Red Wings and Pawtucket Red Sox played to a 2-2 tie through 32 innings before play was suspended at 4:07 a.m. The game was completed later in the season with Pawtucket scoring the winning run in the 33rd inning of the longest game in professional baseball history.
1987 – Rob Deer hit a three-run homer to tie the score and Dale Sveum won the game with a two-run shot as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied for five runs in the ninth inning to beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 and set an American League record with their 12th straight victory to start the season.
1996 – Juan Gonzalez homered and drove in six runs as Texas beat Baltimore 26-7. The Rangers scored 16 runs in the eighth inning – one short of the modern major league mark – and scored the most runs by an AL team in 41 years.
Today’s birthdays: Ambiorix Burgos, 23; Zach Duke, 24; Joe Mauer, 24; George Sherrill, 30; Alberto Callaspo, 30; Dennys Reyes, 30; Joe Biemel, 30; Jose Cruz Jr., 33.
