Royals outduel the Indians
Cy Young winner Lee falls to 1-3 for Tribe
Brian Bannister and two relievers outpitched reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Indians, 2-0, last night in Cleveland.
Lee (1-3) allowed two runs and nine hits over eight innings, but matched his loss total of last season. A year ago, the lefthander went 5-0 against the Royals on the way to a 22-3 record and 2.54 ERA. He didn't get his third loss until Sept. 23 at Boston.
Bannister (1-0), recalled from Triple A Omaha Tuesday, improved to 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA in six career starts against Cleveland. The righthander allowed four hits and walked only one against an Indians offense that came in leading the majors with 76 walks in 14 games.
Cleveland had scored 53 runs in winning four of its previous six games.
Jamey Wright worked two scoreless innings and Joakim Soria pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
White Sox 8, Orioles 2 - Jim Thome hit his 545th career homer to back a superb pitching performance by John Danks, and visiting Chicago beat Jeremy Guthrie and Baltimore.
Danks (2-0) allowed one run, four hits, and no walks in seven innings. The lefthander has given up only two runs in 19 innings this season, both on solo homers.
Danks permitted two hits in the first inning, but picked off Brian Roberts after the first one. He retired 19 of the final 21 batters, the exceptions a fifth-inning homer by Luke Scott and a single in the seventh by Ty Wigginton.
Guthrie (2-1) gave up five runs and eight hits in six-plus innings.
Diamondbacks 2, Rockies 0 - Dan Haren pitched seven sharp innings for his first win this season and Ryan Roberts's pinch-hit single broke a scoreless tie, leading host Arizona over Colorado.
Haren and Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa matched shutout innings until the seventh, when Chris Young singled off De La Rosa, went to second on Chris Snyder's single and scored on Roberts's single.
It was the second major league RBI for Roberts, playing in his 26th career game.
Pirates 7, Marlins 4 - Florida went from being very hot to very cold during only three days in Pittsburgh.
Adam LaRoche had four hits and little brother Andy LaRoche drove in a pair of runs, leading the Pirates to a victory and a three-game sweep of the majors' hottest team.
Florida began the series with an 11-1 record, a seven-game winning streak and a 6-0 road record, only to be outscored, 18-6, while being swept in a three-game series by Pittsburgh for the first time since May 30-June 1, 2005.
Blue Jays 8, Rangers 7 - Kevin Millar singled home the winning run in the 11th inning and host Toronto beat Texas.
Vernon Wells walked to begin the 11th and went to second on Travis Snider's sacrifice bunt. Scott Rolen was walked intentionally and C.J. Wilson (0-2) was replaced by righthander Darren O'Day, who was claimed on waivers from the New York Mets earlier in the day.
O'Day landed in Toronto at 9:45 p.m. and went directly to the stadium. He pitched wearing Kason Gabbard's jersey because there wasn't time to get him one of his own.
Millar greeted O'Day with a single over the drawn-in outfield, scoring Wells.
Astros 6, Dodgers 5 - Ivan Rodriguez drove in the go-ahead run after a mishap on an intentional walk, and host Houston beat Los Angeles.
Hunter Pence doubled in the eighth inning before Los Angeles ran into some trouble trying to intentionally walk Geoff Blum. Ronald Belisario's throw to Russell Martin bounced off the edge of the catcher's glove, and Pence advanced to third as Martin rolled in the dirt trying to chase it down.
After Blum walked, Rodriguez singled to center, scoring Pence.
Giants 1, Padres 0 - Bengie Molina's pinch-hit double with two outs in the 10th drove in Andres Torres to give host San Francisco a win.
Braves 1, Nationals 0 - Kelly Johnson drew a bases-loaded walk from Mike Hinckley in the ninth inning, lifting Atlanta over host Washington.
Brewers 3, Phillies 1 - Braden Looper pitched six scoreless innings, Mike Cameron hit a two-run double, and Milwaukee beat host Philadelphia.
Cardinals 5, Mets 2 - Joel Pineiro carried a six-hitter into the ninth inning and Albert Pujols had two hits and two RBIs in host St. Louis's victory over New York.
Reds 3, Cubs 0 - Johnny Cueto pitched seven scoreless innings, Jay Bruce homered in the ninth inning, and visiting Cincinnati beat Chicago.
Rays 9, Mariners 3 - Carl Crawford had four hits and Evan Longoria had three to back the strong pitching of rookie Jeff Niemann as the Rays won in Seattle.
Tigers 12, Angels 10 - Curtis Granderson homered, Brandon Inge also went deep, and visiting Detroit used a five-run seventh inning to beat Los Angeles. 