Halladay, Kazmir outpitch fellow aces

 

American League aces were on display, and Toronto’s Roy Halladay and Tampa Bay’s Scott Kazmir came out on top.
Halladay needed just 107 pitches to complete 10 innings in a 2-1 victory over Detroit and Jeremy Bonderman on Friday night, and Kazmir outpitched Johan Santana in a 4-2 win over the Twins.
Halladay allowed a run on six hits, walking none and striking out two. Bonderman was just as good, holding the Blue Jays to a run on six hits in nine innings.
Toronto broke through against Fernando Rodney (1-2) in the 10th, loading the bases with nobody out. Alex Rios lofted a fly ball to center field to score Aaron Hill from third for the game-winning run.
“Halladay showed why he’s won the Cy Young and Bonderman showed why he probably will win one,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. “That was a tremendous major league pitching duel between two outstanding pitchers. It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Halladay become the first pitcher with a 10-inning complete game since Mark Mulder pitched St. Louis to a 1-0 victory over Houston on April 23, 2005, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Kazmir allowed a run and six hits in eight innings against Minnesota, walking none and striking out six.
Santana (2-1), despite striking out 10 in seven innings, lost at home for the first time since Aug. 1, 2005. He was 17-0 during that stretch, and the Twins won all 24 games their two-time Cy Young Award winner pitched – one short of the major league record set in 1890-91 by Louisville with Scott Stratton, according to Elias.
“If it’s over, it’s over,” Santana said. “Then we’ll start another one. It’s that simple.”
Kazmir (1-1) doesn’t quite have the resume Santana has, but he’s a young All-Star left-hander himself with plenty of promise. Still, he appeared in awe of his accomplishment.
“I’m up for the challenge,” he said, smiling and shaking his head. “I always am. Just being alongside Santana is nice company.”
In other American League games Wednesday, it was: Boston 10, Los Angeles 1; Chicago 6, Cleveland 4; Baltimore 8, Kansas City 1; Texas 5, Seattle 2;
Bonderman thought he could match Halladay with another inning, and wasn’t happy when Leyland told him his night was done after the ninth. But he didn’t complain.
“It was fun but I would have liked to come out on the other end of it,” Bonderman said. “I wanted to go back out. You get in one of those battle modes and you want to fight, you want to do what you can to keep your team in it.”
Red Sox 10, Angels 1
David Ortiz and Mike Lowell drove in three runs each and Doug Mirabelli homered and drove in two to lead host Boston.
Tim Wakefield (1-1) allowed one run in seven innings in his second solid outing of the season.
Mirabelli hit his first homer of the season in the fifth off John Lackey (2-1) to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead. Boston added six runs in the eighth on two-run doubles by Ortiz and Lowell and a two-run single by J.D. Drew.
Orioles 8, Royals 1
Erik Bedard pitched six innings of five-hit ball, and host Baltimore’s struggling offense struck early and late.
The Orioles provided Bedard with a 4-0 lead after three innings, and Nick Markakis sealed the win with his first career grand slam in the eighth against Todd Wellemeyer.
Bedard (2-1) gave up one run, struck out nine and walked four in lowering his ERA from 6.94 to 5.09.
Brandon Duckworth (0-1) allowed four runs, two earned, nine hits and four walks in five innings for Kansas City.
White Sox 6, Indians 4
Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer, Jermaine Dye added a two-run shot off Fausto Carmona (0-1) and the White Sox spoiled Cleveland’s 107th home opener, which took seven days to get completed.
Chicago starter Javier Vazquez (2-0) struck out Travis Hafner with the bases loaded to end the fourth. Bobby Jenks worked the ninth for his third save.
Just getting the game in was a victory of sorts for the Indians, who haven’t been able to stay dry or warm for much of the early season. They had a four-game series against Seattle postponed by the nasty weather. On top of that, the Indians were forced to move a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels to Milwaukee earlier this week.
Rangers 5, Mariners 2
Eric Gagne returned to the major leagues with his second save in 22 months, and Ian Kinsler hit his third home run in four games for visiting Texas.
Rangers starter Kevin Millwood (2-1) allowed a run and seven hits in six innings. Akinori Otsuka worked the eighth and Gagne pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save since June 6 with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kinsler put the Rangers up 4-0 in the fifth with a two-run homer off Jarrod Washburn (0-1). Kinsler has a team-leading five home runs in nine games this season.
Athletics 5, Yankees 4, 11 innings
Travis Buck tripled and scored the winning run, beating New York first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz’s throw to the plate on Bobby Kielty’s fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Down 4-1 in the sixth, the Athletics clawed back with a two-run homer by Eric Chavez off Yankees starter Kei Igawa. In the seventh, Oakland tied the score on Nick Swisher’s solo homer off Kyle Farnsworth.
Huston Street (2-1) pitched the 11th for the win. Brian Bruney (0-1) was tagged with the loss.