Boston Herald - Boston Herald

AL roundup: Prince Fielder's single lifts Tigers in 7-6 rally over Twins

Associated Press — Fri, 24 May 2013 01:54:00 -0400

DETROIT — Prince Fielder bounced a tiebreaking single off Jared Burton's glove in the eighth inning, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Omar Infante started the inning with a single and was bunted to second by Torii Hunter. Ron Gardenhire then ordered Miguel Cabrera intentionally walked, but Fielder foiled the plan with a grounder that Burton (0-2) deflected past second baseman Brian Dozier.

Astros vendor fired, took snow cones into bathroom

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 06:26:33 -0400

HOUSTON — A vendor at Houston's Minute Maid Park has been fired after a fan filmed him taking a tray of snow cones into a stadium bathroom and putting it on the floor of the stall while using the facilities.

The fan shared the video with KPRC-TV (http://bit.ly/10UGkM3 ), which aired the report Wednesday night.

NL roundup: Carl Crawford has two RBIs; Dodgers beat Brewers, 9-2

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 02:26:00 -0400

MILWAUKEE — Dodgers manager Don Mattingly criticized his team and benched All-Star right fielder Andre Ethier, then watched Los Angeles beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-2 on Wednesday.

Mattingly, in the third and final year of his contract, discussed his club's lack of mental toughness and said he wanted a balanced team that has grit and fight. He benched Ethier for the third time in six games and said he was "putting out my lineup that I feel is going to be the most competitive and going to compete the hardest."

AL roundup: Jose Bautista hits 2 HRs in Toronto's 4-3 win over Tampa Bay

Associated Press — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:56:00 -0400

TORONTO — Jose Bautista homered twice and drove in the winning run with a 10th-inning single, leading the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Bautista went 4 for 4 with a walk and four RBIs. Three other players had one hit, but that was it for Toronto's offense.

Phillips' strange double lifts Reds over Mets 7-4

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:38:53 -0400

NEW YORK — Brandon Phillips and the Cincinnati Reds are getting the good bounces right now. Ike Davis and the New York Mets certainly are not.

Phillips sent a strange double spinning over first base to break a ninth-inning tie and the Reds completed a three-game sweep of the struggling Mets with a 7-4 victory Wednesday.

Joey Votto homered and Zack Cozart had a career-high four hits, all off Matt Harvey, in a game that featured a little bit of everything — including a testy exchange in the dugout between Cincinnati starter Mat Latos and teammate Jay Bruce.

Rangers top A's 3-1 in Wolf's 1st big league start

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:33:23 -0400

ARLINGTON, Texas — Ross Wolf was thinking about retirement while languishing in the minor leagues for a third straight year.

The Texas Rangers right-hander will probably reconsider now.

Wolf pitched five strong innings for his first big league win in his first start in the majors, David Murphy and Adrian Beltre homered in a three-run first inning, and the Rangers avoided a sweep with a 3-1 victory against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.

Jose Canseco accused of sexual assault in Vegas

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:18:40 -0400

LAS VEGAS — Former baseball slugger Jose Canseco Jr. has been accused of sexual assault in Las Vegas, in an investigation that the former baseball slugger made public with postings on a social media website claiming that a woman falsely accused him of rape.

No arrest was made and police said no charges were immediately filed against the 48-year-old former Oakland Athletics rookie of the year who played for six other teams from 1985 to 2001 and later wrote a tell-all book admitting that he used performance-enhancing steroids.

Gattis grand slam leads Braves past Twins 8-3

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:51:08 -0400

ATLANTA — Evan Gattis no longer seems amazed by his improbable rookie season.

Yet, there are still times when it's a bit of an adjustment for the Atlanta Braves catcher.

Like when someone recognizes him in the grocery store.

"It's a little weird," the 26-year-old Gattis said. "I'm not used to that yet."

Gattis did it again Wednesday, hitting his first career grand slam. B.J. Upton and Ramiro Pena also homered for the Braves, who finished off a sweep of the woeful Minnesota Twins with an 8-3 rout.

Lohse to miss start because of elbow irritation

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 13:54:15 -0400

MILWAUKEE — Right-hander Kyle Lohse will miss his next scheduled turn in the Milwaukee Brewers' rotation because of irritation in his pitching elbow.

Mike Fiers will start in place of Lohse on Saturday against visiting Pittsburgh.

Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke made the announcement before Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Lohse signed a $33 million, three-year contract with Milwaukee a week before opening day and is 1-5 with a 3.76 ERA. According to Roenicke, Lohse felt discomfort two or three starts ago.

Twins' Plouffe has concussion, on 7-day DL

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:44:27 -0400

ATLANTA — The Minnesota Twins placed third baseman Trevor Plouffe on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion Wednesday after he was struck in the head by Dan Uggla's shin while breaking up an attempted double play.

Plouffe was injured in the 10th inning of Tuesday night's 5-4 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

He slammed into Uggla's leg sliding into second base and remained down for a few minutes before walking slowly to the dugout, holding his head.

Rangers option RHP Burns for Wolf's spot start

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 12:34:32 -0400

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have optioned right-handed reliever Cory Burns to Triple-A Round Rock to make room for Ross Wolf for a spot start Wednesday against Oakland.

Wolf will be the second pitcher in three days to make his first major league start for the Rangers after previous stints with other teams as a reliever. Josh Lindblom lost to the A's on Monday.

The 30-year-old Wolf last pitched in the majors with Oakland in 2010. The right-hander has 25 career relief appearances. He was 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts for Round Rock.

NL roundup: Ryan Howard's 3 RBIs lift Phillies to 7-3 win over Marlins

Associated Press — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:10:00 -0400

MIAMI — Delmon Young homered and Ryan Howard added three hits and three RBIs to help carry the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.

Tyler Cloyd (1-0) allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings after being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley earlier in the day.

Miami's Jose Fernandez went five innings, allowing one run and five hits. He walked one and struck out two.

Ryan Vogelsong, Santiago Casilla go on Giants' DL

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 22:09:28 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO — With Ryan Vogelsong sidelined for the foreseeable future, the San Francisco Giants are facing more change and challenges for their struggling starting rotation.

The Giants placed Vogelsong on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday, a day after he broke his hand on a swing, and prepared to be without their right-hander for up to two months after he underwent surgery Tuesday.

Athletic trainer Dave Groeschner said the operation went well.

Reinsdorf recommends selling White Sox when gone

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 20:05:00 -0400

CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox confirm a report that chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has recommended a family succession plan that includes selling its interest in the franchise.

The team says in a statement released Tuesday that while he has recommended putting the club up for sale "once he is no longer with us," all plans are "fluid" and "ultimately will depend on timing and other circumstances." The White Sox also say he has no plans to sell the team anytime soon.

Indians' Perez deletes Twitter account

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 19:07:28 -0400

CLEVELAND — Indians closer Chris Perez deactivated his Twitter account following two rough outings, and after receiving a slew of negative comments.

Perez took down (at)chrisperez54 on Monday, not long after the two-time All-Star gave up a ninth-inning home run to Seattle's Endy Chavez. It was the second straight poor performance by Perez, who allowed back-to-back homers in the ninth on Saturday. The Indians won both games.

Correction: Rays-Orioles story

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:02:33 -0400

BALTIMORE — In a story May 19 about the Tampa Bay Rays' 3-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, The Associated Press, using information from the Orioles' game notes, reported erroneously that 23-year-old Matt Moore is the youngest lefty to start the season 8-0 since Babe Ruth in 1917. Moore is the youngest left-handed American League pitcher used exclusively as a starter to start 8-0 since Ruth in 1917.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Rays hit 2 HRs, beat Orioles 3-1 for 3-game sweep

Ryan Dempster returns to Chicago as visiting player

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 08:21:16 -0400

CHICAGO — Ryan Dempster picked his son up at school, and then he got to play with him on the field at the ballpark.

It was just like the old days. Just at a different ballpark and wearing a different uniform.

Dempster was back in Chicago on Monday when the Boston Red Sox opened a three-game series against the White Sox. It was the pitcher's first game in the city since he was traded from the Cubs to the Texas Rangers on July 31.

AL roundup: Orioles lose to Yankees 6-4, skid reaches 6

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:43:00 -0400

BALTIMORE — Vernon Wells doubled in the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning and the New York Yankees hit four solo homers in a 6-4 victory over the Orioles on Monday night, extending Baltimore's losing streak to six games.

New York trailed 4-3 in the ninth before Travis Hafner homered with one out on a 3-1 pitch from Jim Johnson, who has blown three straight save opportunities after converting a franchise-record 35 in a row. All three of those botched saves have come during Baltimore's current skid.

NL roundup: Gallardo mistakes lead to Dodgers win over Brewers

Associated Press — Tue, 21 May 2013 00:01:00 -0400

MILWAUKEE — Clayton Kershaw scattered three singles in his second complete game of the year and Matt Kemp hit his first home run since April 24, lifting the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 3-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night.

Ryan Braun managed a pair of singles and Yuniesky Betancourt also singled for the only hits off Kershaw (5-2). The lefty struck out five and walked one.

Andre Ethier homered and tripled for the last-place Dodgers before being ejected by plate umpire Dan Bellino for arguing a called third strike in the eighth inning.

Indians rally to beat Mariners 10-8

Associated Press — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:39:19 -0400

CLEVELAND — Chris Perez was stunned, surprised and shocked.

And he was hardly alone.

The Cleveland Indians somehow pulled out a game they had no business winning.

"Best game I've ever been a part of," said Perez. "It was the craziest, most fun ... obviously, it stunk to give up a home run, but it was still fun."