SCOREBOARD
Friday, May 18
San Francisco at Oakland (10:05 p.m. EDT). Barry Zito returns to Oakland after signing with the Giants in the off season.
STARS
Thursday
-Fausto Carmona, Indians, allowed four hits for his first career shutout and complete game, a 121-pitch performance that beat Johan Santana and Twins 2-0.
-Delmon Young, Devil Rays, hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning and drove in five runs to lead Tampa Bay to an 8-6 victory over Texas.
-Gabe Gross, Brewers, homered twice to lift the Brewers over Philadelphia 3-2.
-Jermaine Dye, White Sox, homered and drove in four runs, powering Chicago to a 4-1 win over New York.
POWER STROKE
Delmon Young’s second homer of the night, a two-run shot in the 10th inning, helped the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 on Thursday night and extend their season-high winning streak to four games. Young drove in five runs in the game.
STREAKING
Fausto Carmona is 5-0 in his last five starts and hasn’t given up a run in 15 straight innings after a 2-0 win over Minnesota on Thursday. … Boston won for the eighth time in 10 games, 2-1 win in the opener of a doubleheader with Detroit.
STRUGGLING
Minnesota has lost eight of its last 10 after a 2-0 loss at Cleveland on Thursday.
DEMPSTER DIVE
The Mets pulled off their biggest ninth-inning comeback since 1999 by scoring five runs off Cubs reliever Ryan Dempster on Thursday. Carlos Delgado’s one-out, two-run single off Scott Eyre capped the rally, which set off a wild celebration at home plate.
ODDITIES
The Pittsburgh Pirates used four sacrifice flies and took advantage of five Florida Marlins errors in a sloppily played 7-2 win Thursday night. The Pirates, who committed two errors of their own, tied a club record set Sept. 9, 1988, against Philadelphia with four sacrifice flies. The Marlins tied a club record for errors.
SOUTHPAW PLIGHT
Kansas City beat a left-handed starter for the first time this year, winning 7-4 over Dallas Braden and Oakland on Thursday. The Royals had been 0-10 when opponents started lefties.
SPEAKING
“It’s not normal. He’s not even human. It was so scary, I thought I was hung over.” – Minnesota’s Torii Hunter of Fausto Carmona and his sinker after the Cleveland right-hander shutout the Twins 2-0 on Thursday.
SEASONS
May 18
1912 – Detroit players went on strike to protest Ty Cobb’s suspension. To avoid a forfeit and fine, manager Hugh Jennings recruited college players and others; they lost to the Philadelphia A’s 24-2. Joe Travers gave up all 24 runs on 26 hits.
1929 – The Brooklyn Dodgers outslugged the Philadelphia Phillies for a 20-16 victory in the first game of a doubleheader. Brooklyn’s Babe Herman and Johnny Frederick each had five hits. Frederick scored five times to give him a major league record eight runs in two games. The Phillies won the second game 8-6. The teams combined for a record 50 runs in a doubleheader.
1957 – Dick Williams of the Orioles hit a ninth-inning, game-tying solo home run against Chicago’s Paul LaPalme seconds before 10:20 p.m. – the curfew set so the White Sox could catch a train out of Baltimore. If Williams had done anything else, Chicago would have won. The game was later replayed from the beginning and Baltimore won.
1968 – Frank Howard hit his 10th home run in a six-game span to power the Washington Senators to an 8-4 victory over Detroit at Tiger Stadium.
1990 – The Baltimore Orioles tied an AL record with eight consecutive singles in a seven-run first inning against Bobby Witt to beat the Texas Rangers 13-1. The eight straight singles equaled a record set by the Washington Senators against Cleveland in 1951 and matched by the Oakland Athletics against Chicago in 1981.
1999 – Edgar Martinez hit three home runs – tying a major league record with five homers in two games – to give the Seattle Mariners a 10-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. He homered twice in the opener of the series.
2000 – Mark McGwire homered three times and had a career-high seven RBIs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Philadelphia Phillies 7-2.
2003 – The Texas Rangers swept three games at Yankee Stadium for the first time in the franchise’s 43-year existence, winning 5-3.
2004 – Randy Johnson became the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, retiring all 27 hitters to lead the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Atlanta Braves 2-0. It was the 17th perfect game in major league history and the first since the New York Yankees’ David Cone did it against Montreal on July 18, 1999.
Today’s birthdays: Joakim Soria 23; Luis Terrero 27; Marcus Giles 29; Eric Young 40; Reggie Jackson 61; Brooks Robinson 70.