Rangers 4, Athletics 1
Yu Darvish keeps on rolling. The Japanese star continued his winning ways last night, pitching 7 2/3 innings to get the victory as the Rangers defeated the A's 4-1.
"He was very efficient and made them swing the bat," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "Broke his cutter out tonight and moved his fastball around the zone."
Darvish improved his record to 6-1 after leaving his native Japan to sign a $107 million contract with the Rangers.
Angels 7, White Sox 2
A change in scenery hasn't helped Albert Pujols much, but maybe a change in hitting coach will. One day after replacing hitting coach Mickey Hatcher with Jim Eppard, Pujols hit a go-ahead three-run home run to power the Angels to a 7-2 win.
Vernon Wells also hit a two-run homer. The Angels have struggled mightily at the plate this season and are towards the bottom of the league in most offensive categories.
Rays 2, Red Sox 1 The Rays beat the Blue Jays behind a strong outing from Jeremy Hellickson. But his performance was overshadowed by an injury to second baseman Will Rhymes. In the eighth inning Rhymes was hit by a pitch near his elbow. While standing on first base, he took a few steps towards the dugout and collapsed. According to the Rays, he briefly fainted but is fine and was not taken to the hospital. Blue Jays 8, Yankees 1 While the Yankees were having trouble getting runners in from scoring positions, the Blue Jays found no difficulty pounding Yankees pitching. Edwin Encarnacion, J.P. Arencibia, Kelly Johnson and Jose Bautista all hit home runs while New York was 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. Indians 9, Mariners 3 Ubaldo Jimenz outpitched Felix Hernandez to earn his fourth victory, while Travis Hafner hit his fifth home run. Twins 11, Tigers 6 Nick Blackburn struggled, giving up six runs in two innings before being pulled. But the Minnesota bullpen stepped up and allowed the Twins to surge ahead. Orioles 4, Royals3 Adam Jones broke the tie and cleared the stadium with his solo shot in the 15th inning. Teams combined to use 11 pitchers who threw over 400 pitches.
