AMERICAN LEAGUE
Devil Rays-Blue Jays
TAMPA BAY: Closer Al Reyes surrendered a solo home run to Toronto’s Matt Stairs on Sunday but still earned his 11th save in as many chances, setting a club record for consecutive saves to begin a season. Reyes allowed a run for the first time since allowing one by Alex Rodriguez on April 23. … 1B Carlos Pena homered for the second straight game Sunday and has 93 career home runs. … Tampa Bay begins a three-game series against Texas at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando on Monday. It’s the 246th stadium to host a major league game.
day but is making progress, Gibbons said. Ryan Roberts started at third, batted ninth and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout. … Matt Stairs hit his first home run of the season Sunday off Tampa Bay closer Al Reyes. Stairs has now homered for nine major league teams.
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Orioles-Red Sox
BALTIMORE: Chris Ray had his third blown save of the season. The others: a grand slam by Wily Mo Pena on April 26 and a grand slam by Alex Rodriguez on April 7. … RHP Jeremy Guthrie reached a career high with 8 1-3 innings pitched. His previous best was six innings. .. SS Miguel Tejada played in his 1,118th consecutive game, passing Billy Williams and moving into fifth on the all-time list. Tejada’s streak is the longest among active players; Texas 1B Mark Teixeira is second at 483.
opening day.
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Royals-White Sox
KANSAS CITY: RHP Octavio Dotel threw a simulated game. He’s missed the entire season with a strained muscle on his side. … Royals RHP Zack Greinke threw three scoreless innings in relief during Saturday’s 5-4 loss in 10 innings. Greinke, a former first-round pick, is 1-5 with a 5.35 ERA after missing almost all of 2006 with social anxiety disorder. “The reason he’s in the bullpen is so he can get his stuff figured out,” manager Buddy Bell said. “We expect him at some point to be back in the rotation.” … Jorge De La Rosa, Gil Meche and Odalis Perez have combined for nine of Kansas City’s 12 wins … Kansas City’s 10-run margin of victory was its largest this season. Royals batters have been hit a major league leading 30 times in 2007. 2B Esteban German was the latest to be plunked on Sunday.
days in 2007. … C Toby Hall, currently on an injury rehab assignment in Charlotte, went 1-for-4 with a solo homer on Sunday. He dislocated his shoulder in the final week of spring training. … CF Ryan Sweeney went 0-for-3 Sunday, snapping his seven-game hitting streak. … Chicago has only one hit in its last 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
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Angels-Rangers
LOS ANGELES: Former Ranger Gary Matthews Jr. has seen both sides of the Angels-Rangers rivalry, and the current Angels CF thinks he knows why his current club dominates his former team. “It’s pitching … pitching and Vlad Guerrero,” Matthews said. … 3B Maicer Izturis (hamstring) is set to return from the DL Tuesday and 2B Howie Kendrick (broken left middle finger) is to start an injury-rehab assignment in Salt Lake City this week. … Manager Mike Scioscia said that if teams keep issuing intentional walks to Guerrero, the hitters behind him in the batting order must be productive. “We can’t control it, but if the guys in front of him keep getting on base, the guys behind him can make it more difficult,” Scioscia said. “We need the guys behind him to take advantage.” Texas issued two intentional passes to Guerrero on Saturday, giving him a league-high 12.
TEXAS: RHP Kevin Millwood (left hamstring) is set to come off the 15-day DL to make Monday’s start against the Angels, and OF Frank Catalanotto (right biceps tendinitis) is on schedule to be activated on Tuesday. Millwood missed two starts, and Catalanotto has been out since April 30. … Manager Ron Washington said he has no immediate plans to take RF Nelson Cruz out of the lineup despite Cruz’s season-long slump, which has kept his batting average under .200, Cruz hit a game-winning homer on Sunday but when Catalanotto is activated, Cruz or reserve OF Victor Diaz would become candidates to be demoted to the minors. “Hopefully, this can get him (Cruz) going,” Washington said. “He’s been battling and it was nice that he did that. The team needed it also.” … 1B Mark Teixeira played in his 483rd straight game, breaking the club mark held by Alex Rodriguez. Teixeira, who last missed a game on May 20, 2004, because of a bruised left hand, has the second-longest active streak in the major leagues behind Baltimore SS Miguel Tejada (1,118). Rodriguez played for the Rangers from 2001-2003 and missed only one game in his final week.
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Tigers-Twins
DETROIT: Manager Jim Leyland had good news about LHP Kenny Rogers, who was supposed to be out until at least the All-Star break following surgery to remove a blood clot from his left shoulder and repair arteries in the joint. “We’ll go through the process and we’ll play it out, but I think there’s a chance he’ll be back sooner than expected,” Leyland said. … The Tigers recalled RHP Virgil Vasquez from Triple-A Toledo before the game. He started Sunday night, but likely will be sent back after the game or Monday. RHP Jeremy Bonderman, who missed the start because of a problem with the middle finger on his pitching hand, is “coming along really good,” Leyland said, adding he was confident he’d pitch Friday. … Though Leyland was upset that Boston’s Josh Beckett was throwing inside in an exhibition game in which he hit Magglio Ordonez in the side of the head with a pitch, the manager dismissed any rift. Beckett isn’t scheduled to pitch when the Tigers play the Red Sox next week. Leyland said he’d pick Beckett to start the All-Star game for the AL if it was up to him.
batted ninth. Punto spent more than an hour after Saturday’s game in the batting cage, and he and hitting coach Joe Vavra persuaded Gardenhire to get him back in the lineup. … As for Gardenhire, his left knee was even more sore on Sunday as it heals following arthroscopic surgery on Friday, but he planned to manage the game from the dugout – instead of staying up in his office as he had the past two games.
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Indians-Athletics
CLEVELAND: LHP C.C. Sabathia, a native of nearby Vallejo, was given permission to stay in town after the game to watch the Golden State Warriors play the Utah Jazz in an NBA playoff game. The Indians are off Monday. … RHP Jason Davis, who had been designated for assignment earlier in the week, was traded to Seattle for a player to be named. … The Indians announced they hired Keith Woolner from Baseball Prospectus to fill the newly created role of manager of baseball research and analysis.
Esteban Loaiza will throw 40 pitches in an extended spring training game in Phoenix on Monday and could pitch in a minor league rehab game as early as Friday. Loaiza has been on the DL since March 25 with spasms in his throwing shoulder.
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Yankees-Mariners
NEW YORK: RF Bobby Abreu snapped one streak on Sunday. Abreu walked in the fourth inning, his first walk in 62 plate appearances. But he still hasn’t found his swing, and has one hit in his last 20 at-bats. “I feel I haven’t been doing my job,” he said. … 2B Robinson Cano is in a 1-for-20 slump and 3B Alex Rodriguez had five hits in 22 ABs. … RHP Matt DeSalvo celebrated his first major league victory by viewing a movie. “I couldn’t fall asleep. I watched `Happy Gilmore,”’ he said. DeSalvo threw 6 2-3 innings and allowed two runs in a 7-2 win over Seattle on Saturday. DeSalvo (1-0, 1.98 ERA) earned another start, Thursday against the White Sox in Chicago. … Torre has settled on his rotation for next weekend’s Subway Series against the Mets. Sunday’s starter, LHP Andy Pettitte will throw the opener on Friday. RHP Darrell Rasner will start Saturday and RHP Mike Mussina will start the finale on Sunday night.
SEATTLE: The Mariners acquired RHP Jason Davis from Cleveland for a player to be named during Sunday’s win over New York. Davis is 0-0 with a 4.76 ERA in eight games this season. The hard-thrower is expected to bolster Seattle’s bullpen. … RHP Miguel Batista thinks he has figured out why he pitched so poorly Saturday (2 1-3 innings, 10 hits, seven runs). He was tipping his pitches and after watching videotape is confidence he has fixed it. “The fact that they saw him five days earlier may give them an advantage,” pitching coach Rafael Chaves said. “It’s always a good idea to look at tape to eliminate that thought. They were on every pitch for 15, 20 in a row. It makes you wonder.” Manager Mike Hargrove added, “It’s entirely possible. Sometimes it’s obvious, sometimes it’s subtle. Sometimes you can see it from the bench but not when you’re at the plate. It’s different things that guys do.” … 1B Richie Sexson didn’t have a multihit game until May 9. He’s had two hits in three of his past four starts.
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NATIONAL LEAGUE
Brewers-Mets
hree scoreless innings of relief in Sunday’s 9-1 loss to the Mets. He struck out five, walked one and allowed two hits.
NEW YORK: RHP Mike Pelfrey was optioned to Triple-A New Orleans and OF Carlos Gomez was recalled. Pelfrey won the fifth spot in the rotation in spring training but went 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA in six starts for the Mets. He allowed four runs and eight hits in five innings in New York’s 12-3 loss to Milwaukee on Saturday. “I work so hard but when it came time to perform I didn’t do it,” Pelfrey said. … Gomez got the start against Milwaukee and went 2-for-4, scored two runs and stole a base in his first major league game. He also got one of the team’s customary buzz cuts. “I look young now,” the 21-year-old Gomez said, his hair cropped close to his head. “I feel lighter.” … 3B David Wright’s three stolen bases were a career high and the most by a Met in a game this season. New York swiped a season-best five bases in the 9-1 victory over the Brewers. … LF Moises Alou sat out with a strained left quadriceps and could be headed for the DL.
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Braves-Pirates
ATLANTA: INF Pete Orr hadn’t started a game all season, then started at 3B during each of the final two games of the weekend series. Orr played as Chipper Jones sat out due to sore wrists, thumbs and a quadriceps. Orr had a two-run throwing error in the 13-2 loss Sunday. … LHP Mark Redman (ingrown toenail) began a rehabilitation assignment Sunday at Triple-A Richmond. Also joining Richmond was 40-year-old LHP Rheal Cormier, who signed a Braves minor league contract following his release Wednesday by Cincinnati. The Braves have only one left-hander in their bullpen, Mike Gonzalez.
Castillo has the flexibility to play 2B, 3B or the OF.
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Marlins-Nationals
FLORIDA: 1B Mike Jacobs (sore right thumb), making his first start in six days, struck out twice and lost the grip on his bat as he went down swinging in the fourth inning. Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Jacobs will be re-evaluated Monday and could be headed for the DL. “It’s painful just knowing what kind of kid he is and what kind of competitor he is, and not be able to go out there 100 percent and battle through it,” Gonzalez said. “It hurts me just to see him do it.” … 3B Miguel Cabrera went 0-for-9 for the series. “They pitched around him a little bit, and they pitched him well,” Gonzalez said. “You can’t hit every time.” … All five of 2B Dan Uggla’s hits in the series were doubles. Nine of his 12 hits against the Nationals this season have gone for extra bases.
a pinch hitter for the time being. “We want to fully heel that Achilles,” Acta said. … Rookie C Jesus Flores (2-for-3 Sunday, .321 average) is becoming the team’s biggest surprise, even though he had never played above Class-A before this year. “He has handled himself like he’s been here before,” Acta said. “He’s not chasing bad pitches. He just really has that swagger about him, and if you ask him, he tell you that he’s ready to play here.”
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Cubs-Phillies
rror in the eighth inning snapped a streak of 26 straight games without an error.
PHILADELPHIA: SS Jimmy Rollins went 0-for-4 and is hitless in 12 at-bats on the homestand. … INF-C Chris Coste was recalled from Triple-A Ottawa, taking the roster spot of NL MVP Ryan Howard, who went on the 15-day DL with a left quadriceps strain. Coste, who played in the minors for 10 years before reaching the majors in 2006, became a fan favorite after hitting .328 with seven homers and 32 RBIs in 65 games with the Phillies last season. Coste wasn’t happy he was sent to Ottawa at the end of spring training. “I took it really rough for about a week down there, I felt like a nobody again,” he said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but will enjoy every day that I am here.” … Despite batting .357 over his last 37 at-bats, RF Shane Victorino was on the bench, giving way to Jayson Werth. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said he wanted to give Werth some at-bats and make sure to keep Victorino fresh.
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Diamondbacks-Astros
`We’ll see how he is on Tuesday.” The Diamondbacks are off on Monday. … When Orlando Hudson hit a home run in the ninth inning of Sunday’s loss to the Astros, he didn’t realize it was a homer and stopped at second base before continuing home. “I’m just trying to get on base,” he said. “I’m not looking at that. All that matters to me is getting on base.” … Arizona starter Doug Davis fell 3-11 overall against Houston and 0-9 in 10 career starts at Minute Maid Park.
t them with your focus and give them a battle with your eyes.” … Several Astros including Brad Ausmus, Berkman, Craig Biggio and Carlos Lee used pink bats on Sunday. The bats will be auctioned off and proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer.
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Cardinals-Padres
ST. LOUIS: The Cardinals have hit just one home run this month and have gone homerless in their last 92 innings covering 10 games. It’s the longest homerless streak since May 1993, when St. Louis went without a homer in 13 straight games. … In their six shutout losses, the Cardinals have been outscored 43-0.
SAN DIEGO: The Padres are 6-3 in the regular season against St. Louis, dating back to last season. But St. Louis has defeated San Diego twice in the NL division series the past two seasons, winning six of seven games. … The Padres rank first in the majors having allowed just 18 home runs. San Diego pitchers have not allowed a home run in its last eight games.
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Reds-Dodgers
ouisville to make room for Livingston on the 25-man roster. … 2B Brandon Phillips went 2-for-5, extending his hitting streak to 16 games. … All seven of Ken Griffey Jr.’s homers this season have come in his last 16 games, along with 16 of his 23 RBIs. In 11 games since being moved into the third spot in the batting order, he is 18-for-42 (.429) with five homers and 12 RBIs.
LOS ANGELES: Mothers everywhere received a huge endorsement on Mother’s Day from Grady Little, who is in his fourth season as a big league manager. “I think the job of being a mother is tougher than being a manager, probably,” Little said. “A lot of times when you’re a mother, if you don’t do something in the right way sometimes, you don’t have to read about it in the paper and hear about it on ESPN.” … With most of their players using pink bats to help raise awareness of the fight against breast cancer, the Dodgers got a season-high 18 hits against Cincinnati in a 10-5 victory that put them a season-best eight games over .500 (23-15) and three games ahead of San Diego atop the NL West. … Rafael Furcal’s four hits tied a career high and raised his average 26 points to .254. … Nomar Garciaparra’s three RBI singles raised his average with runners in scoring position to .485 (16-for-33.).
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Giants-Rockies
SAN FRANCISCO: Giants manager Bruce Bochy said rookie OF Fred Lewis would continue to get playing time after he hit for the cycle on Sunday. “This guy has some special talent,” Bochy said. “He will play center field against right-handed pitchers and Randy Winn will play against lefties.” … Lewis has only been playing organized baseball since 2002. “I chose baseball over football,” he said. “I had big-time college programs after me to play football, but they wanted me to concentrate only on football.” … Bochy said RHP Brad Hennessey would have his right shoulder examined Monday. Hennessey has been experiencing soreness in the shoulder.
COLORADO: 2B Kazuo Matsui (back spasms) leaves Monday for work in extended spring training in Arizona. … RHP Rodrigo Lopez (strained right elbow) will throw a bullpen session Tuesday. “I think we’ll have Lopez and (LaTroy) Hawkins back with us before the end of the homestand, and maybe Ramon Ramirez,” manager Clint Hurdle said. … The Rockies were denied winning their second home series of the season. … General manager Dan O’Dowd said the trade that sent RHP Byung-Hyun Kim to Florida for RHP Jorge Julio had been in the works for some time. “It’s a trade of one guy struggling for another guy struggling,” O’Dowd said. “We had been talking about it for a while.”
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