Baseball roundup: Tuesday's action on the diamonds
Another near miss for Gavin Floyd. Toying with a no-hitter for the second time in a month, the Chicago White Sox's right-hander watched his latest effort sail away with one out in the ninth.
Joe Mauer hit a high drive into the gap in left-centre for a double, ending Floyd's no-hit bid and his outing Tuesday night.
What was he thinking as the ball left Mauer's bat?
"I hoped that it was an out," Floyd said calmly after ended a six-game losing streak with a 7-1 victory.
"I wasn't really looking at the ball and then I turned back and I saw Swish and Carlos coming after it. Swish made a great effort - you know, Superman."
But the ball was too far between left-fielder Carlos Quentin and centre fielder Nick Swisher, who made a diving attempt but didn't really get close to the ball.
"Not close enough. I didn't make the catch, but you knew I was going for it," Swisher said.
"Unfortunately for Gavin, Mauer hit a ball that was just in a perfect spot," White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said.
Floyd (3-1) was taken out to a standing ovation after Mauer's double, and Bobby Jenks came on to get the final two outs.
"It motivated me to keep making pitches and just attack," Floyd said of the crowd support. "Hopefully throw a no-hitter. It didn't happen today, but we got a win."
Elsewhere in the AL it was: Tampa Bay 5 Toronto 4; Boston 5 Detroit 0; Cleveland 5 New York 3; Los Angeles 5 Kansas City 3; Oakland 4 Baltimore 2; and Texas 10 Seattle 1.
At Chicago, Floyd, who held Detroit hitless for 7 1-3 innings on April 12 before Edgar Renteria singled, walked three and struck out four. The only run the Twins could muster was aided by an error on Chicago left fielder Carlos Quentin in the fourth inning.
With the spirited crowd of 23,480 at U.S. Cellular Field cheering loudly, Brendan Harris struck out looking at a curveball to start the ninth inning. As the tension built, Mauer put an end to the suspense.
Manager Ozzie Guillen then popped out of the dugout and went to get Floyd, his 25-year-old right-hander, who threw 105 pitches.
"I was just trying to get on base and get a hit," Mauer said. "I got a pitch that was up a little bit up and tried to drive it to the gap. ... His ball was moving, his slider was cutting."
After Floyd walked Mauer to lead off the fourth, Justin Morneau of New Westminster, B.C., hit a slicing liner to left that Quentin got his glove on but couldn't hold for an error. One out later, Jason Kubel's sacrifice fly gave the Twins a run without a hit and cut Chicago's lead to 3-1.
After Morneau, who's from New Westminster, B.C., reached on the error, the 6-foot-5 Floyd got stronger and appeared on his way to pitching the second-no hitter at U.S. Cellular Field in just more than a year. Mark Buehrle pitched the 16th no-hitter in White Sox's history on April 18, 2007 against Texas.
Asked if he was destined to throw a no-hitter, Floyd said: "Who knows? It's out of your control."
Pierzynski, who caught Buehrle's no-hitter and has been behind the plate for both of Floyd's flirtations, said it's so rare and so difficult to retire 27 men without giving up a hit.
"So many things can go wrong. He came close tonight. He had a great shot," Pierzynski said.
Floyd is a former first-round pick of the Phillies whose career never took off in Philadelphia where he was 7-5 with a 6.96 ERA from 2004-06 when he made 19 starts. He joined the White Sox along with Gio Gonzalez in a trade for Freddy Garcia in December, 2006.
He was 1-5 a year ago when he made 10 starts for the White Sox while splitting time between the majors and Triple-A. But he has found his confidence and his stuff this season as the White Sox's No. 5 starter.
Floyd took his first loss of the season in his previous outing against the Twins in the Metrodome on April 29 when he gave up five hits and three runs in six innings.
He survived a shaky first Tuesday night, walking two of the first three batters before escaping the threat.
And on a comfortable 70-degree night, he kept the Twins in check for most of the night. His only career complete game was a five-inning win over the Mets almost two year ago on May 11, 2006.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire missed his fourth straight game following the death of his brother last Thursday. He is expected to rejoin the team Wednesday.
Jermaine Dye hit his fourth homer of the season leading off the bottom of the sixth off Nick Blackburn (2-2), who gave up six hits and four runs in six innings. That put the White Sox and Floyd up 4-1. Quentin added a two-run single off Jesse Crain in the bottom of the seventh.
Rays 5 Blue Jays 4
At Toronto, Andy Sonnanstine won his fourth straight start, Eric Hinske homered, and Tampa Bay beat the Blue Jays, snapping Toronto's five-game winning streak.
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Red Sox 5 Tigers 0
At Detroit, Tim Wakefield only allowed two hits in eight shutout innings to lift Boston over the Tigers.
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Indians 5 Yankees 3
At New York, pinch-hitter David Dellucci stunned the Yankees with a go-ahead homer off Joba Chamberlain, and Cleveland rallied for a victory in the opener of a three-game series.
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Angels 5 Royals 3
At Kansas City, Mo., Garret Anderson homered for the second straight game and drove in five runs to lift Los Angeles over the Royals.
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Athletics 4 Orioles 2
At Oakland, Calif., Justin Duchscherer won his second straight start in his third outing since coming off the disabled list and the Athletics beat Baltimore for their third straight victory.
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Rangers 10 Mariners 1
At Seattle, major league RBIs leader Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and David Murphy drove in three runs each to support stingy starter Sidney Ponson in Texas' victory over the sinking Mariners.
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A tweak to the Pittsburgh Pirates' batting order helped Zach Duke finally get back in the win column.
Duke won for the first time in nearly a year as the Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 12-6 on Tuesday night.
Duke (1-2) was winless in six starts this season and 12 games since June 12 before taking a shutout into the seventh inning. He lost that on Daniel Ortmeier's RBI double, and wound up being charged with three runs on eight hits over 7 1-3 innings - his longest start since lasting eight innings in a 3-0 win over the Mets on Sept. 17, 2006.
"It's been a little while," Duke said. "Early on, the key was keeping them off the scoreboard until we got on it and after that, it was keeping the momentum in our favour."
The Pirates' offence accomplished that. Manager John Russell flip-flopped the slumping Freddy Sanchez and streaking Nate McLouth in his order and the move paid off as the two combined to get on base seven times, score four runs and drive in five. McLouth homered twice while driving in three runs.
"I think I'll use it again tomorrow," Russell said.
The two-homer game was McLouth's second this season and the third of his career. He also homered twice on April 27, against the Phillies in the Pirates' previous home game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, McLouth is the first Pirates player to hit multiple homers in consecutive home games since Hall of Famer Kiner on Sept. 11 and 13, 1949.
"It comes eight, nine days apart, so it's not like it was two two-homer games in a row," McLouth said, downplaying the accomplishment.
Elsewhere on the NL it was: Atlanta 5 San Diego 3; Chicago 3 Cincinnati 0; Florida 3 Milwaukee 0; St. Louis 6 Colorado 5; Houston 6 Washington 5; Arizona 6 Philadelphia 4; and Los Angeles 5 New York 4.
At Pittsburgh, Sanchez, the 2006 NL batting champion who began the game with a .222 average, went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and reached base four times while leading off. McLouth, one of the NL's biggest surprises this season, hit a two-run homer off Jonathan Sanchez during a three-run third inning and added a solo drive - his ninth - against reliever Brad Hennessey in the sixth.
McLouth, a part-time outfielder until this season, had three hits to jump his average to .333. Xavier Nady added a two-run double and now has 32 RBIs. Adam LaRoche hit a two-run homer in the fourth and has five of his 10 RBIs in his last three games.
"I haven't changed anything," said McLouth, who had 32 homers in 835 career at-bats until this season. "I've always hit a lot of doubles, and maybe it's a situation where I'm catching them (pitches) out in front a little more and they're getting up, but I've pretty much stayed the same."
So much for the drop to No. 2 in the batting order affecting him.
"I've hit there before, quite a bit in the minor leagues," said McLouth, who has 28 RBIs. "It opens up the right side of the infield when there's a runner on, which I like."
Jonathan Sanchez (2-2) had allowed only six earned runs in 29 2-3 innings while going 2-0 in his previous five starts, but was lifted during a three-run fifth inning that made it 8-0. He gave up seven runs and six hits in 4 1-3 innings, with Hennessey surrendering another five runs and seven hits in 2 1-3 innings.
"He just had trouble getting the ball where he wanted and fell behind too much and made too many mistakes," manager Bruce Bochy said of his starter. "They took advantage of a lot of his mistakes."
Sanchez wasn't happy with what he said was a too-flat PNC Park mound.
"I was trying to adjust, but I was leaving the ball up a lot the whole game. That's why I got hit," Sanchez said. "That's the worst mound I've ever pitched (on). It was flat."
The Pirates have won 11 of their last 13 against the Giants, who dropped their sixth in nine games overall. They are 0-2 in a stretch of six consecutive games against left-handed starters.
Duke was replaced by left-hander Sean Burnett, who gave up Jose Castillo's three-run homer in the eighth during his first major league appearance since Aug. 21, 2004. He needed elbow and shoulder operations after that, and spent most of the last two seasons rebuilding his arm strength.
Braves 5 Padres 3
At Atlanta, Chipper Jones hit his 10th homer, Jair Jurrjens pitched six strong innings and the Braves beat San Diego to improve the NL's best home record.
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Cubs 3 Reds 0
At Cincinnati, Carlos Zambrano had his way with Cincinnati's slumping lineup, allowing only three hits in eight innings, and Ronny Cedeno singled home a pair of runs for Chicago.
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Marlins 3 Brewers 0
At Miami, Scott Olsen allowed two hits in 8 2-3 innings, and Mike Jacobs hit a two-run homer to help the Florida Marlins beat the slumping Milwaukee Brewers.
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Cardinals 6 Rockies 5
At Denver, Braden Looper pitched into the ninth inning in the longest outing of his career and went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and the St. Louis Cardinals hung on over the slumping Colorado Rockies.
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Astros 6 Nationals 5
At Houston, Carlos Lee had the go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning and Lance Berkman had a career-high five hits to lead the Astros over Washington.
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Diamondbacks 6 Phillies 4
At Phoenix, Stephen Drew hit a three-run homer and Randy Johnson earned his 286th victory as Arizona defeated Philadelphia in a matchup of NL division leaders.
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Dodgers 5 Mets 4
At Los Angeles, Blake DeWitt got his first inside-the park homer just 24 hours after hitting his first major league home run, and the Dodgers beat New York.
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