Saturday, September 05, 2009
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American League roundup

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[September 05, 2009]  TORONTO (AP) -- Roy Halladay turned around a recent rough stretch by turning up his aggression. Halladay pitched a one-hitter to snap a three-start losing streak and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Yankees 6-0, ending New York's winning streak at seven games.

"We were only able to muster one hit and that just tells you how good he was," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi, whose team was shut out for the fifth time this season and the second time since June 23.

The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner, Halladay ackowledged feeling "a little bit tentative" after losing his past three starts, matching a career-high losing streak. He resolved to do things differently against the Yankees and succeeded, striking out nine and walking three to win the first time since Aug. 14 at Tampa Bay.

"That's something that's a big focus for me is going out and, you know, you just put it on the line," Halladay said. "Especially when things are going hard, that makes it tougher because you're trying to be so careful. You just need to get the mindset where you go out and you put it out there and I felt like we did that."

Aaron Hill doubled twice and had two RBIs and Adam Lind had three hits for the Blue Jays, who won for the first time in five games.

The AL East-leading Yankees lost for the first time on their current seven-game road trip. New York has won 14 of 18 away from home.

The complete game was the sixth of the season for Halladay (14-8), tying him with Kansas City's Zack Greinke for the major league lead, and the 46th of his career.

"He's just a cut above a lot of other people," Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said.

It was Halladay's second one-hitter; he also did it in his second career start, Sept. 27, 1998, against Detroit.

Halladay was sharp from the get-go in this one. The right-hander was perfect through the first 4 2-3 before walking Jorge Posada on a 3-2 pitch in the fifth. Unbothered, Halladay struck out Robinson Cano to end the inning.

Shortstop Ramiro Pena broke up Halladay's no-hit bid in the sixth, doubling into the right field corner on an 0-1 curveball.

"I thought it was a decent pitch early in the count," Halladay said. "It was down. You can second guess yourself on things like that. Knowing he's going to be aggressive you can probably be down with it even more."

New York right-hander Joba Chamberlain (8-5) allowed three runs and six hits in three innings and has not won in five starts. He threw 59 pitches, walked two and struck out two.

Rangers 5, Orioles 1

In Baltimore, Scott Feldman matched the Texas club record for road wins in a season, earning No. 11 with a dominant performance.

Feldman (15-4) gave up one run and four hits in 6 2-3 innings to improve to 11-1 on the road. Nelson Cruz hit his 31st home run for the Rangers, who have won four straight.

Tigers 4, Rays 3

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Justin Verlander got his 16th win, Adam Everett hit a tiebreaking RBI single during a three-run ninth and AL Central-leading Detroit beat Tampa Bay.

Verlander (16-7) tied New York Yankees left-hander CC Sabathia for the AL lead in victories after allowing one run and four hits over eight innings. He has won three consecutive starts.

Detroit closer Fernando Rodney allowed two runs in the ninth before nailing down his 32nd save.

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White Sox 12, Red Sox 2

In Chicago, Mark Kotsay homered and had three RBIs against his former team, Chris Getz went 4 for 5 and Chicago had 20 hits to rout Boston.

The White Sox batted around in the third and fourth innings, scoring five runs in each, to take a 12-1 lead. Chicago had 16 hits by the end of the fourth.

Freddy Garcia (1-2), in his fourth start since rejoining the rotation last month, allowed seven hits and a run over six innings as the White Sox won their third straight. It was Garcia's first win since Sept. 17 of last season, when he beat Texas while pitching for Detroit.Paul Byrd (1-1) was driven out after 2 1-3 innings in his second start for Boston.

Pharmacy

Indians 5, Twins 2

In Cleveland, Jeremy Sowers pitched six strong innings, rookie Michael Brantley had two hits and his first career RBI, and Cleveland took advantage of Minnesota's season-high four errors.

Sowers (6-9) allowed two runs, six hits and didn't walk a batter. The left-hander is 4-2 with a 3.62 ERA in his last eight starts. Kerry Wood pitched the ninth for his 18th save in 23 chances.

Carl Pavano (11-11), traded by the Indians to the Twins last month, allowed four runs in six innings, including a three-run third. The right-hander is 2-3 in six starts with Minnesota.

Angels 2, Royals 1

In Kansas City, Mo., Vladimir Guerrero got the Angels' third hit - a two-run single in the eighth inning off Kansas City's beleaguered bullpen.

Jered Weaver (14-5) kept it close early against Royals fill-in starter Robinson Tejeda, scattering nine hits.

Robinson Tejeda allowed a hit in 5 1-3 scoreless innings, then had to watch another bullpen meltdown.

The Royals walked eight in three innings - three by Jamey Wright (1-5) - and dodged two jams before Guerrero came through with the run-scoring single in the eighth. Kansas City had 11 hits.

Mariners 6, Athletics 3

In Oakland, Calif., Ichiro Suzuki took another step toward baseball history, getting two hits to get within four of 2,000 in his career.

He's likely to become the second-fastest player in history to reach that plateau. Al Simmons did it in 1,390 games while Suzuki has played in 1,391. George Sisler is second in 1,414 games.

Ryan Rowland-Smith (3-2) pitched eight innings for his first win since Aug. 9 and the Mariners moved eight games over .500 for the first time since 2007.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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