American League roundup

[September 01, 2009]  BALTIMORE (AP) -- The irony of Andy Pettitte's no-hit bid against the Baltimore Orioles was that the one time he wanted to miss the strike zone, he couldn't.

Other than that one pitch, the New York Yankees left-hander was nearly flawless over seven innings in a 5-1 victory Monday night.

Pettitte retired his first 20 batters before a lamentable sequence spoiled both his perfect game and no-hitter, but the 37-year-old had no complaints after becoming the third-winningest pitcher in Yankees history.

Pettitte (12-6) was poised to finish the seventh without allowing a baserunner, but former Oriole Jerry Hairston Jr. let a two-out grounder by Adam Jones slip through his legs for an error. Hairston was playing in place of Alex Rodriguez, who was given the night off.

Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field single inside the third-base line, ending the no-hitter.

"I had him 0-2 and I was really just trying to throw a ball," Pettitte said. "I was trying to throw a ball up and out of the zone. I haven't seen the replay, but I guess I left it too much on the plate."

After Melvin Mora led off the eighth with a home run, Pettitte completed his masterful effort by getting three straight outs.

Pettitte took his dominance of the Orioles to a new level with a vintage pitching gem that enabled him to break a tie with Lefty Gomez on the Yankees career wins list. Only Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231) have more wins in a New York uniform than Pettitte (190).

Pettitte allowed one run and two hits, struck out eight and walked none to improve to 4-0 in his last seven starts. He's 26-6 lifetime against the Orioles, including 16-4 in Baltimore.

"Pettitte pitched a tremendous, terrific, exceptional, outstanding, superb, however you want me to say it, ballgame," Orioles manager Dave Trembley said.

Pettitte didn't get the perfect game, but he found the ideal way to console Hairston afterward.

"He was kind of funny," Hairston said. "He was like, 'You took the pressure off me.' He goes, 'If I haven't thrown a no-hitter by now, then I'm not going to do it.' He was probably the best. He said he didn't want to throw nine innings anyway. That's what type of attitude he has."

Pettitte threw 104 pitches, 73 for strikes. It was the first time he went eight innings since July 20, 2008.

Brian Bruney gave up a walk and a single in the ninth before Mariano Rivera got two outs for his 37th save -- and career-best 33rd in a row.

Baltimore starter Jeremy Guthrie (9-13) allowed two runs and four hits in six innings. The right-hander was good, but on this night he needed to be near perfect to outpitch Pettitte.

Rays 11, Tigers 7

At Detroit, Carlos Pena hit his AL-best 38th homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay to a split of the four-game series.

James Shields (9-10) pitched seven innings and Jason Bartlett added a solo homer as the Rays moved within five games of idle Boston in the wild-card race. Tampa Bay hosts the Red Sox on Tuesday night, the start of a three-game series.

Twins 4, White Sox 1

At Minneapolis, Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel homered in the third inning to lift Nick Blackburn and the Twins.

The Twins crept within 3 1/2 games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central, leaving the White Sox six games back. Minnesota has won 15 of 17 against Chicago in its soon-to-be-vacated dome, while the White Sox have lost eight of nine overall.

Blackburn (9-9) matched his career high with seven strikeouts in seven strong innings. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his 35th save.

Blue Jays 18, Rangers 10

At Arlington, Texas, Adam Lind and Rod Barajas each homered twice for the Blue Jays, including Lind's first career grand slam.

Lind had a career-high eight RBIs, matching the most in the majors this season. He hit a solo homer and a three-run double in Toronto's seven-run ninth after Texas clawed all the way back from an 11-run deficit to make it 11-10.

The Rangers (72-58) dropped four games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race.

Angels 10, Mariners 0

At Seattle, Vladimir Guerrero hit two home runs and Juan Rivera added a three-run homer for the Angels.

Joe Saunders (11-7) threw seven scoreless innings and is 3-0 with a 0.43 ERA in three starts against Seattle this season.

Athletics 8, Royals 5

At Oakland, Calif., Ryan Sweeney had a two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on Adam Kennedy's bases loaded fielder's choice grounder in the sixth inning for the A's.

Rajai Davis added two hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which won only its fifth in 13 games.

David DeJesus homered and Alberto Callaspo drove in three runs for the Royals, who played without manager Trey Hillman, who left the team to be with his family following the death of his father-in-law.

[Associated Press; By DAVID GINSBURG]

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