Guerrero slams door open
1st-inning blast gets Angels going in win
Vladimir Guerrero hit a first-inning grand slam and the surging Los Angeles Angels held on to beat the reeling Royals, 7-5, last night in Kansas City, Mo., for their 10th victory in 12 games.
The Royals, who became the first team to finish the month of April 10 games under .500 three straight years, lost for the seventh time in nine games.
Guerrero, whose two-run double in the first inning Monday night led the Angels to a 3-1 win, has driven in 27 runs in 25 games.
Tigers 5, Orioles 4 -- Pinch hitter Sean Casey hit a tiebreaking single with one out in the eighth inning to lift host Detroit.
Craig Monroe also homered for Detroit, and Placido Polanco went 4 for 5 with two RBIs.
Twins 9, Devil Rays 1 -- Sidney Ponson pitched seven impressive innings and Michael Cuddyer drove in two runs before leaving with a back injury, leading visiting Minnesota.
Ponson (2-3) gave up five hits. Both of his wins this season have come against the Devil Rays.
Indians 12, Blue Jays 4 -- Rocked for three homers in the first inning, C.C. Sabathia buckled down to stay unbeaten and Jhonny Peralta had a career-high five RBIs as host Cleveland rolled.
Sabathia (4-0) found himself trailing, 3-0, five batters into the game. But the lefthander settled in and held the Blue Jays to one hit over the next five innings, retiring 16 of the final 17.
Mariners 5, White Sox 2 -- Richie Sexson hit a two-run home run and Jarrod Washburn allowed two singles and two solo home runs in seven innings to lead host Seattle to its sixth victory in seven games.
Reds 11, Astros 2 -- Bronson Arroyo got his first win of the season and Adam Dunn hit a three-run homer to help visiting Cincinnati beat struggling Houston.
In his sixth start, Arroyo (1-2) retired the first nine batters before walking Craig Biggio to start the fourth. Mike Lamb singled and Biggio scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Scott later in the inning.
Marlins 5, Mets 2 -- Josh Willingham drove in a career-high five runs and Florida made three great defensive plays to stifle the Mets in New York.
Ricky Nolasco (1-0) came off the disabled list and allowed one run and six hits in five innings for the Marlins.
Phillies 6, Braves 4 -- At Turner Field, Cole Hamels bounced back from a rough start to pitch into the eighth inning and Philadelphia finally beat Atlanta.
Hamels (3-1) fell behind, 3-0, in the first, giving up a two-run homer to Chipper Jones. He allowed only four more hits, sending the Phillies to their first win over Atlanta in five meetings this season.
Brewers 12, Cardinals 2 -- J.J. Hardy tied a career-high with four hits and Tony Graffanino hit a three-run homer to cap a seven-run sixth inning as Milwaukee beat St. Louis at Miller Park.
Padres 3, Nationals 0 -- Slumping rookie Kevin Kouzmanoff drove in a run with his first big league triple and Chris Young pitched eight strong innings, leading San Diego at Petco Park.
Dodgers 2, Diamondbacks 1 -- Pinch hitter Olmedo Saenz singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning as host Los Angeles snapped Arizona's six-game winning streak.
Rockies 9, Giants 7 -- Matt Holliday homered, hit a three-run double, singled, and scored two runs and reliever Alberto Arias pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings to win his major league debut for Colorado in San Francisco.
Alfonso Soriano hit his first homer for the Cubs and Cliff Floyd had a go-ahead, two-run shot during a four-run rally in the seventh inning that left Chicago leading the Pirates, 6-5, in Pittsburgh, when the game was suspended because of rain.
After a delay of 2 hours 18 minutes, the game was suspended with the Pirates about to bat in the seventh. It will be finished at 12:35 this afternoon before the teams play their regularly scheduled game. 