Baseball roundup: Saturday's action on the diamonds

Published Sunday July 6th, 2008

THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Toronto Blue Jays are used to getting strong games from Roy Halladay. Vernon Wells' recent success is more of a surprise.

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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Chris Carlson

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Roy Halladay throws to the Angeles Angels during the third inning of a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Saturday, July 5, 2008.

Wells' two-run homer helped the Blue Jays beat the error-plagued Los Angeles Angels 7-5 on Saturday night. The two-time all-star is batting .293 with four homers and 15 RBIs in 23 games since coming off the DL on June 8.

Wells, who missed 25 games after fracturing his left wrist while making a diving catch May 9 at Cleveland, is in the first season of a US$126-million, seven-year deal. He's coming off a subpar season in which he batted a career-worst .245, but he doesn't feel the need to live up to the big contract.

"There's no more pressure on me than what I put on myself on a regular basis," the 10-year veteran said. "I expect myself to go out and perform each night, and I want to succeed every time I go up to the plate. Obviously, it's not going to happen because it's baseball and you're going to fail sometimes."

Roy Halladay (10-6) gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings, struck out seven and recorded only three of his outs on flyballs to the outfield. The 2003 AL Cy Young Award winner allowed only one runner past first base after giving up a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero in the fourth.

"I thought we mixed pitches pretty well," Halladay said. "They're a pretty good offensive club, so we had to do a good job of trying to work both sides of the plate and change speeds as much as we could."

Alex Rios went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and three stolen bases for the Blue Jays. The AL West-leading Angels committed four errors, matching their season high on June 20 at Philadelphia.

In other American League action Saturday, it was: N.Y. Yankees 2 Boston 1; Chicago White Sox 6 Oakland 1; Texas 5 Baltimore 3; Minnesota 9 Cleveland 6; Tampa Bay 3 Kansas City 0; and Seattle 3 Detroit 2.

At Anaheim, Calif., Guerrero had three RBIs, including a run-scoring double in the eighth against Scott Downs. Closer B.J. Ryan, pitching for the first time in five days, came on in the ninth with a 7-3 lead before giving up an RBI single to Howie Kendrick. Gary Matthews Jr. scored on a double-play grounder by Mike Napoli, but Ryan retired Casey Kotchman on a flyball to end it after giving up a double by Chone Figgins.

John Lackey (6-2) gave up six runs - five earned - over six innings with seven strikeouts. The right-hander yielded more than three runs for the first time in 10 starts after missing the first 1 1/2 months of the season with a strained biceps.

Guerrero ended a 10-game home run drought with his 14th of the season after a single by Kotchman, trimming Toronto's lead to 3-2. The homer, which came on a pitch about a foot off the ground, was Guerrero's first at Angel Stadium since June 11.

"He's got that knack of hitting pitches like that," Halladay said. "I think with him, if the pitch is down there like that one, it's got to be more in or it's got to be up. I mean, it's not a normal swing path, but it's a ball that he gets to. He's obviously a different type of hitter and he can hurt you at almost any time."

Wells restored Toronto's three-run margin with a two-run shot for his ninth of the season after a double by Marco Scutaro.

"I didn't manage the third inning very well at all," Lackey said. "I had a couple of guys 0-2 and couldn't put them away. I should have never given Vernon Wells something to hit with a base open."

The homer was Wells' first in 21 career at-bats against Lackey to that point.

"He was throwing his breaking ball a lot tonight and getting a lot of strikeouts with it, so my goal was just to try and put the bat on the ball and I was able to do it that time," Wells said.

Yankees 2 Red Sox 1

At New York, Mike Mussina pitched six shutout innings and Mariano Rivera escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth to save the Yankees' win over Boston.

White Sox 6 Athletics 1

At Chicago, Gavin Floyd pitched 7 1-3 scoreless innings to get his 10th victory and Nick Swisher, Brian Anderson and Alexei Ramirez homered as the White Sox routed Oakland.

Rangers 5 Orioles 3

At Baltimore, Ian Kinsler homered, German Duran and Michael Young had three hits apiece, and Texas used a sharp pitching performance by substitute starter Scott Feldman to beat the Orioles.

Twins 9 Indians 6

At Minneapolis, Joe Mauer homered, walked three times and scored three runs to help Kevin Slowey and streaking Minnesota rally past Cleveland.

Rays 3 Royals 0

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Andy Sonnanstine pitched seven strong innings, Ben Zobrist homered for the third game in a row and Tampa Bay won its sixth straight.

Mariners 3 Tigers 2

At Seattle, Jeff Clement's second home run of the game, a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth inning, propelled the Mariners past Detroit.

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