Notes from Sunday’s games

 

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Red Sox-Rangers
BOSTON: RHP Mike Timlin will rejoin the Red Sox for their home opener Tuesday, but manager Terry Francona said he’s not sure if the reliever will be activated from the disabled list (strained left oblique). “We’ll see where he’s at. We need to talk to him also,” Francona said. “Getting Timlin back, not part of Timlin, will help us.” Timlin threw 11 pitches in a start for Triple-A Pawtucket on Saturday night. He gave up a double on the first pitch before getting three groundouts. … RHPs Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka flew back to Boston before the Red Sox played the finale of their three-game series at Texas on Sunday night. Beckett starts the home opener Tuesday against Seattle, and Matsuzaka pitches Wednesday.
TEXAS: RF Nelson Cruz wasn’t in the lineup, even though he was coming off a 2-for-4 game with three RBIs. Manager Ron Washington is still trying to protect the young outfielder, and didn’t make him face Curt Schilling. Cruz also didn’t play against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, and Angels RHP John Lackey. Washington said Cruz, who struck out in six of his first nine at-bats, will get his chance against those kinds of pitchers later. … 1B Mark Teixeira played in his 452nd straight game, 30 shy of the club record held by Alex Rodriguez. That is also the second-longest active streak in the major leagues behind Baltimore SS Miguel Tejada, who played in his 1,086th straight game Sunday.
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Orioles-Yankees
gs Sunday, lowering his ERA from 11.57 to 6.94.
NEW YORK: LF Hideki Matsui was put on the 15-day DL, a day after straining his left hamstring. New York planned to recall Kevin Thompson from Triple-A Scranton of the International League. “When you play baseball this long, these things happen. There’s nothing you can do about it,” Matsui said through a translator. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said an MRI exam showed blood near the injury. … Darrell Rasner and Kei Igawa are the first pair of rookie pitchers to start for the Yankees during the first five games of a season since John Gabler and Bill Short in 1960, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
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Blue Jays-Devil Rays
TORONTO: 3B Troy Glaus was out of the lineup with a sore left heel. Manager John Gibbons didn’t rule out Glaus playing Monday in the Blue Jays’ 31st home opener. … Ernie Whitt and Alan Ashby, who both played for the 1977 Blue Jays, will throw out ceremonial first pitches Monday before the game against Kansas City. … RHP Roy Halladay is 4-0 with a 2.21 ERA in his last five starts against Tampa Bay.
TAMPA BAY: LHP Scott Kazmir recorded his first eight outs on strikeouts. He became the first AL pitcher to do that since Ron Guidry got his first nine outs on strikeouts for the Yankees against Texas on May 10, 1986. … Manager Joe Maddon expects fifth starter Edwin Jackson to “be a little rusty” when he makes his first start of the season Monday at Texas. Jackson hasn’t pitched since his final spring training outing on March 29. “You don’t want to judge too harshly,” Maddon said. “I know he has high expectations for himself, but it will be difficult because of the layoff.”
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Tigers-Royals
DETROIT: C Ivan Rodriguez has homered in back-to-back games for the first time since Aug. 19-20, 2005, against Toronto. … RHP Jeremy Bonderman, who held the Royals to two runs and seven hits over six innings while striking out eight in a no-decision, has not lost to the Royals since Sept. 19, 2005, a span of seven starts. He went 4-0 with a 3.41 ERA in five starts last year against the Royals. … 3B Brandon Inge is still looking for his first hit. He is 0-for-17 with three walks and six strikeouts in the first five games.
0-game trip. Hudson, who threw a bullpen session indoors Sunday at Kauffman Stadium, has a sore right shoulder, while Elarton is recovering from shoulder surgery last August. … 2B Mark Grudzielanek is 0-for-20 since getting hits in his first three at-bats of the season.
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Athletics-Angels
hy of Ruben Sierra’s franchise record for switch-hitters.
LOS ANGELES: 3B-OF Chone Figgins, sidelined because of fractures in the middle and index fingers on his right (throwing) hand, will be re-examined on Monday by Dr. Steve Shin at the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic and then accompany the team to Cleveland for the start of a nine-game road trip. “The best-case scenario is that he’ll start doing some range-of-motion exercises in the fingers and start throwing in a handful of days,” manager Mike Scioscia said. … Angels INF-DH Shea Hillenbrand missed his fifth straight game because of tightness in his right groin. … Scioscia lost 34 pounds during the offseason and said he is trying to drop 20 more.
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Twins-White Sox
MINNESOTA: OF Rondell White, a late scratch Saturday with a strained right calf, did not play. “It’s better than yesterday but (my return) is still up in the air,” he said. “It’s still a little tight. But I think I’ll be fine.” … INF Jeff Cirillo’s left knee is improving after he received a cortisone shot Tuesday to reduce the pain caused by an old meniscus tear that flared up while he was running the bases during last Monday’s season opener against Baltimore. “Cirillo feels good today,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s better than yesterday.”
CHICAGO: LHP Mark Buehrle said the swelling on his bruised left forearm has gone down and he expects to start Wednesday at Oakland. Buehrle was hit by a line drive Thursday against Cleveland. “It’s a lot better,” he said. “The swelling has gone down, a lot more than it was yesterday. They are doing everything they can to get me out there.” … Backup C Toby Hall, expected to miss the first month with a torn right labrum, will start throwing on Monday. “It looks good so far,” said Hall, who was injured playing first base late in spring training. “I’m excited. … It burns, it feels fatigued. We’ll see how it goes when I grab that ball.” … Jose Contreras will get a chance to redeem himself Monday at Oakland, after getting chased by Cleveland in the second inning of the season opener. The right-hander had no control of his breaking ball, and wound up allowing eight runs (seven earned) and seven hits in a 12-5 loss. “He’s going to be facing the Oakland A’s, he has to throw strikes,” manager Ozzie Guillen said.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Phillies-Marlins
PHILADELPHIA: Pat Burrell is batting .800 (4-for-5) with runners in scoring position. The rest of the team is hitting .145 (8-for-55). … The slow start by the Phillies (1-5) is nothing new. They’ve gone 10-14 in April the past two years.
FLORIDA: 2B Dan Uggla went 2-for-3 Sunday, raising his average to .167. … LHP Dontrelle Willis (2-0) waited until June 2 last year for his second win. … With a win Sunday, LHP Scott Olsen improved to 2-4 against the Phillies and lowered his ERA against them to 5.51.
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Diamondbacks-Nationals
ARIZONA: CF Chris Young tweaked his groin when he hit an RBI single in the eight Sunday; he stayed in until leaving during the bottom of that inning. Young didn’t think it was serious; manager Bob Melvin said he’ll be re-evaluated Monday. … RHP Juan Cruz said his ribs were hurting; Melvin said the reliever is day to day. “We’ll re-evaluate it tomorrow,” Melvin said. Cruz threw two innings Friday, then sat out Saturday and Sunday. … The series against Washington was the fourth four-game road sweep in Diamondbacks history. … 3B Brian Barden made his first major league start and had his first hit – a fifth-inning single. … The Diamondbacks stole two bases on Sunday and have stolen six without being thrown out.
In their first six games, they trailed by at least 4-0, the first major league club since 1900 to do so. … Washington has yet to score in the first three innings of any game this season. … The Nationals have not attempted a stolen base in their first seven games. Opponents are 7-for-7 on steal attempts.
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Pirates-Reds
PITTSBURGH: Defending NL batting champion Freddy Sanchez went 2-for-4 with an RBI while starting his first game since being activated Saturday from the 15-day disabled list. The second baseman was sidelined on March with a right knee sprain he suffered while trying to turn a double play against Philadelphia. … Jack Wilson’s homer Sunday was his first of the season. He hit five of last season’s total of eight in April. … Pittsburgh RHP Matt Capps’ eighth-inning infield single was his first career hit. … The Pirates home opener Monday is their 31st against St. Louis, the most appearances by any Pittsburgh opponent, but the first since 1987.
up this morning. They want to be on the safe side. It’s a long season.”… Ken Griffey Jr.’s two RBI Sunday left him 21st on the career RBI list with 1,610. He passed Goose Goslin, who finished with 1,609. Harold Baines is 20th with 1,628. … Alex Gonzalez’s error Sunday was his first since last Sept. 21 for Boston against Minnesota.
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Mets-Braves
NEW YORK: RHP Mike Pelfrey is scheduled to move into the New York rotation on Friday, pushing Orlando Hernandez back one day. Pelfrey opened the season with Class A St. Lucie of the Florida State League because New York did not need five starters to open the season. He pitched six innings Friday night against Vero Beach, allowing five hits and three runs, two earned, with three walks and two strikeouts. He did not receive the decision in St. Lucie’s 7-6 win. … Keith Hernandez will throw out the first pitch in the Mets’ home opener on Monday.
ened the season as the No. 5 starter if healthy.
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Cubs-Brewers
CHICAGO: Wade Miller’s six earned runs in four-plus innings Sunday snapped a string of four consecutive quality starts by Cubs pitchers. … The Cubs return to Wrigley Field on Monday for the team’s 92nd opening day at the stadium. They’re 50-40-1 in home openers at Wrigley. … Derrek Lee and Alfonso Soriano have hit safely in all six of the Cubs’ games this season; four of Soriano’s six hits this year have been doubles.
MILWAUKEE: C Damian Miller made his first start of the season for the Brewers. … LF Geoff Jenkins’ two-run home run in the second inning was his second of the season and the 193rd of his career, putting him in fourth place on the Brewers’ all-time list. … LHP Chris Capuano’s second-inning single was the first hit by a Brewers pitcher in 2007, snapping an 0-10 streak. … The Brewers have homered in every game this season, but all but two have been solo shots.
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Cardinals-Astros
ace Carpenter for Tuesday’s game in Pittsburgh. … Scott Rolen hit his 17th double at Minute Maid Park on Sunday, the most by an opposing player in the ballpark’s 8-year history. … Pujols hit his 251st homer on Sunday. He needs four more to tie Ken Boyer for second on the Cardinals’ all-time list. Stan Musial is the franchise’s all-time leader, with 475 homers.
HOUSTON: Utility infielder Mark Loretta made his first start of the season at shortstop on Sunday. Loretta has played mostly second and third base in recent seasons and hadn’t seen time at shortstop since 2003. Astros manager Phil Garner said Loretta played shortstop during spring training and picked it up quickly. “He’s a very intelligent player,” Garner said. “If he gets caught one time, it won’t happen a second time.” … Craig Biggio made a rare Sunday start as Garner continues to give him as many home games as possible as he approaches 3,000 hits. The Astros open a six-game road trip Monday in Chicago and Garner said he’s laid out a “tentative” schedule to get the 41-year-old Biggio some days off. Garner said Loretta would likely start in Biggio’s place.
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Rockies-Padres
COLORADO: RHP Aaron Cook matched a career-high with nine innings pitched on Sunday, when the Rockies lost to San Diego, 2-1 in 10 innings. Cook previously had gone nine innings four times. … The Rockies will play their third opener of the season Monday, this time at Los Angeles. Besides their home opener last Monday against Arizona, they played the Padres in their home opener on Friday night. The scheduled starters are LHP Jeff Francis against RHP Jason Schmidt.
SAN DIEGO: San Diego’s bullpen got nine straight outs against Colorado on Sunday to extend its scoreless streak to 18 2-3 innings, the longest in club history to open a season. The bullpen is 3-0 after six games, with a victory each earned by Scott Linebrink – Sunday’s winner – Cla Meredith and Trevor Hoffman. … The Padres host San Francisco for three games starting Monday night, marking former manager Bruce Bochy’s return to Petco Park.
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Dodgers-Giants
the seventh against Brad Hennessey, with Pierre swiping his second bag and Martin his first of the year. … Jeff Kent’s ninth-inning double gave him 504 for his career, moving him out of a tie with Andre Dawson and into sole possession of 42nd place on the all-time list. Kent scored three runs and has a six-game hitting streak.
SAN FRANCISCO: CF and leadoff hitter Dave Roberts got his first day off with Todd Linden making his second straight start in the OF. SS Omar Vizquel returned to the lineup after a day off and batted in Roberts’ spot. … San Jose Sharks star Jonathan Cheechoo took batting practice before the game. “You can’t reciprocate this because you don’t want your players on ice,” Bochy said.