SCOREBOARD
Friday, May 11
St. Louis at San Diego (10:05 p.m. EDT). Jake Peavy, who has 56 strikeouts in 46 1-3 innings, starts for the Padres.
STARS
Thursday
-Adam Dunn, Reds, hit a three-run homer, a triple and a double, coming up one single short of hitting for the cycle in Cincinnati’s 9-5 victory over Houston.
-Jose Contreras, White Sox, pitched a five-hitter for his second career shutout and Chicago beat Minnesota 3-0.
-Josh Willingham, Marlins, hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth, leading Florida to a 3-0 victory over the Dodgers.
-Dan Johnson, Athletics, hit two homers and finished 4-for-4 with two walks, four RBIs and four runs scored in Oakland’s 17-3 rout of Kansas City.
-Kevin Millar, Orioles, homered and drove in four runs in an 11-6 victory over Tampa Bay.
-Kelvim Escobar, Angels, pitched a seven-hitter and struck out nine, leading Los Angeles to a 8-0 win over Cleveland.
SIDELINED
Blue Jays closer B.J. Ryan will miss the season after having Tommy John surgery on his left elbow Thursday, a major blow to Toronto’s hopes. Ryan, who signed a $47 million, five-year contract before the 2006 season, is expected to be ready for spring training next year. He was 0-2 with three saves and a 12.46 ERA in five games this season after finishing last season 2-2 with a 1.37 ERA and 38 saves.
CLOUD NINE
Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 569th career homer Thursday to tie Rafael Palmeiro for ninth place on the career list, helping helped Cincinnati beat Houston 9-5. Griffey, who also had a sacrifice fly in addition to his two-run shot, has been on a tear since moving back into his accustomed third spot in the batting order. The 37-year-old outfielder has hit safely in seven of those eight games, with four of his six homers.
DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK
Kelly Johnson came through with a two-out, bases-loaded double in the sixth inning of Atlanta’s 5-3 victory over San Diego on Wednesday. The Braves have scored a major league-leading 88 runs with two outs – more than half of their overall production.
STREAKS
Boston beat Toronto 8-0 Thursday night to send the Blue Jays to their ninth straight loss.
SNAPPED
Torii Hunter went 0-for-4 in a 3-0 loss to Chicago on Thursday to end his 23-game hitting streak. He received a standing ovation after he flied out to lead off the ninth inning.
NIGHTMARE WEAVER
Jeff Weaver gave up six runs in five innings and has lost each of his six starts this season after a 7-3 loss to Detroit on Thursday. It’s the longest losing streak of his career.
STREAKING
Detroit won for the ninth time in 10 games with a 7-3 victory at home against Seattle on Thursday.
SLUGGING
Oakland routed Kansas City 17-3 on Thursday and improved to 29-7 at Kauffman Stadium since the start of the 2000 season. The A’s set season highs for homers (6), runs and hits (18).
TRIBUTE
Every member of the Cleveland Indians will wear Larry Doby’s No. 14 on Aug. 10 to honor the AL’s first black player, who followed Jackie Robinson in breaking baseball’s color barrier.
SPEAKING
“It’s an easy difference. He pitched well then, not so well today.” – Detroit’s Brandon Inge said about Seattle’s Jeff Weaver after the Tigers 7-3 victory over the Mariners on Thursday night. Weaver who beat Detroit in the clinching game of the 2006 World Series, gave up six runs in five innings, and has lost each of his six starts this season. It’s the longest losing streak of his career. He left the game with a 14.32 ERA.
SEASONS
May 11
1904 – Cy Young’s 23-inning no-hit string ended. The streak included two innings on April 25, six on April 30, a perfect game against the Philadelphia A’s on May 5, and six innings today.
1919 – Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators pitched 12 scoreless innings in a duel with Jack Quinn of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds. The Big Train allowed only two hits and retired 28 batters in a row. Future football star George Halas, batting leadoff for the Yankees, went 0-for-5, striking out twice.
1919 – Hod Eller of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a no-hitter to beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-0. Eller struck out eight and walked three.
1923 – Setting several Pacific Coast League records, Pete Schneider of Vernon hit five homers and a double to knock in 14 runs in a 35-11 romp over Salt Lake City.
1955 – Ernie Banks’ grand slam – the first of five on the year – led the Chicago Cubs to a 10-8 victory that snapped the Brooklyn Dodgers’ 11-game winning streak.
1963 – Sandy Koufax pitched the second of four career no-hitters to help Los Angeles beat San Francisco 8-0.
1971 – Cleveland pitcher Steve Dunning became the last American League pitcher to hit a grand slam. Dunning’s homer off Diego Segui of the Oakland A’s gave the Indians a 5-0 lead, but Phil Henningan got the victory as the Indians won 7-5.
1996 – Al Leiter, the wildest pitcher in the American League the previous season, pitched the first no-hitter in Florida’s brief history as the Marlins beat the Colorado Rockies 11-0.
1998 – Kerry Wood of the Chicago Cubs set the major league record for strikeouts in consecutive games (33) by fanning 13 Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2 victory. The record for strikeouts had been 32, set by Luis Tiant in 1968 and matched by Nolan Ryan (1974), Dwight Gooden (1984) and Randy Johnson (1997).
2000 – The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs 14-8 in the longest nine-inning game in National League history – 4 hours, 22 minutes. The teams tied the major league record set by Baltimore and the Yankees on Sept. 5, 1997.
2003 – Rafael Palmeiro of Texas became the 19th player to join the 500-homer club. In a 17-10 win, Palmeiro hit a full-count fastball into the right field stands off Cleveland right-hander David Elder.
Today’s birthday: Francisco Cordero, 32.