American League roundup

[May 19, 2009]  SEATTLE (AP) -- The Los Angeles Angels' lead dog was back.

And this time, for more than two pitches.

John Lackey, the ace who returned from a strained forearm only to get ejected for throwing behind and hitting Texas' Ian Kinsler on his only two pitches Saturday, threw 80 more Monday. They weren't his best ones, but Torii Hunter hit a three-run double in a five-run fifth inning and Kendry Morales homered twice, rallying Lackey and Los Angeles to a 10-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

"Maybe his command wasn't as sharp or fine as it will be," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said after Lackey allowed five runs -- four earned -- on seven hits in five slogging innings.

"John's a guy who likes to set the tone," he added. "He takes a lot of pride in doing that. ... It's nice to have a lead dog."

And Lackey was barking -- at himself and his defense's alignment after Ken Griffey Jr. beat an infield shift on an RBI single in the fifth to cut the Angels' lead to 6-5. His night ended soon after that, yet Lackey (1-0) was pleased to say he could have gone longer.

"My last pitch was down and away. That's a pretty good location for me," he said. "That's a pitch that gets elevated when I'm tired."

Even though he allowed four earned runs in five innings, Lackey's ERA dropped -- from infinity for allowing an earned run with no outs recorded, to 9.00.

"Yeah, it was definitely a different week," he said. "It will be nice to have a regular work week and pitch again in five days."

Noticeably few of his pitches were inside, and none was near a hitter. There was not even a dirty look from Seattle's batters. They've had their own problems while losing 11 of 14.

"If you'd told me we would get 10 hits and six runs, we'd win this game," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said.

Searching for a spark, Seattle benched slumping cleanup hitter Adrian Beltre for the first time this season. His replacement, Wladimir Balentien, hit a sacrifice fly in the first and later doubled. Wakamatsu wouldn't say if Balentien will remain the No. 4 hitter when Beltre returns to the lineup Tuesday night.

Russell Branyan hit his 10th homer, second in two days, off Lackey to begin the fourth.

But Los Angeles banged around former teammate Jarrod Washburn, Brandon Morrow and Denny Stark to tie a season high for runs, giving Lackey his first win since Sept. 21 and ending the Angels' three-game skid.

With two runs already in, Hunter unloaded the bases in the fifth by hacking a high fastball to the opposite-field gap, away from lunging right fielder Ichiro Suzuki.

Morales hit his seventh homer in the sixth, a two-run shot to straightaway center off Morrow after Seattle closed to within a run. Morales added a solo shot in the eighth off Stark for his first multihomer game.

Washburn (3-3) blew leads of 3-0 and 4-1. He allowed seven hits and six runs in five innings.

Rays 13, Athletics 4

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Jason Bartlett drove in a career-high five runs and Tampa Bay beat struggling Oakland for a season-best four-game winning streak.

Rookie Jeff Niemann (4-3) allowed four runs and eight hits in eight innings to win for the fourth time in his last five decisions. He struck out three and walked none in the longest outing of his career.

Bartlett went 3 for 3 with a walk to raise his batting average to .384. He had a two-run single off Sean Gallagher (1-2) in the first, as well as a run-scoring triple in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth.

The A's have been outscored 47-13 during a four-game losing streak in which their starting pitchers have yielded 31 runs -- 23 earned -- in 13 innings.

Yankees 7, Twins 6

At New York, Mark Teixeira homered from both sides of the plate, combining with Alex Rodriguez for back-to-back drives in a six-run first inning to help New York complete a four-game sweep of Minnesota.

After stringing together three straight walk-off wins for the first time since 1972, the Yankees overcame a 2-0 first-inning deficit and hung on to extend their winning streak to a season-high six.

Andy Pettitte (4-1) allowed four runs and 12 hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Justin Morneau had four hits and Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span homered for the Twins.

Glen Perkins (1-3) lasted just nine batters and got two outs, allowing six runs and seven hits. Minnesota dropped to 4-12 on the road but is 14-9 at home.

Blue Jays 3, White Sox 2

At Toronto, Alex Rios hit a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning as the Blue Jays completed a four-game sweep of Chicago.

Jim Thome tied it in the top of the eighth with a two-run homer, the 548th of his career, but Toronto rallied against Octavio Dotel (1-1).

Chicago lost its season-high fifth straight and has dropped 10 in a row at Toronto.

Jesse Carlson (1-2) got the win despite allowing Thome's homer. Scott Downs earned his fifth straight save.

[Associated Press; By GREGG BELL]

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