Associated Press
CLEVELAND ó Grady Sizemore greeted reliever Ron Mahay with a tiebreaking, three-run homer in the eighth inning Thursday and the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2.
Royals starter Gil Meche (1-1) had retired 16 straight batters and took a 2-1 lead into the eighth. An error by second baseman Alberto Callaspo let the tying run score and finished Meche.
Sizemore followed with his sixth home run.
Jensen Lewis (2-2) worked two scoreless innings. Kerry Wood pitched a perfect ninth for his third save in as many chances.
Plate umpire John Hirschbeck was examined in the sixth after getting hit in the mask by Mike Aviles’ foul ball. Hirschbeck dropped to one knee, but stayed in the game. Hirschbeck was struck in the mask three times and once in the foot during the day.
Ryan Garko led off the Cleveland eighth with a double and Tony Graffanino pinch-ran. Ben Francisco bunted for a single and when Meche’s throw skipped away, Graffanino ran through third-base coach Joel Skinner’s stop sign and was thrown out at the plate.
Mariners 1, Rays 0
SEATTLE ó Ichiro Suzuki lined James Shields’ second pitch of the game for a home run and ace Felix Hernandez helped his injury riddled team with a seven-inning gem.
David Aardsma pitched a perfect eighth with two strikeouts. Brandon Morrow worked out of a jam in the ninth for his fifth save in five chances, as the first-place Mariners finished their initial homestand of the season 5-4.
Hernandez (3-0) allowed four hits and three walks while striking out seven in his first scoreless outing since June 6 at Boston ó 23 starts ago.
Shields (2-2) was nearly as good as Hernandez after allowing Suzuki’s 28th career home run leading off a game.
Orioles 6, White Sox 2
BALTIMORE ó Adam Eaton took a four-hitter into the eighth inning to earn his first victory with Baltimore, and the Orioles roughed up Bartolo Colon.
Eaton (1-2) allowed six hits, struck out nine and walked none in 71/3 innings. The right-hander left with runners at the corners in the eighth, and Jim Thome ruined the shutout bid with a two-out, two-run single off Jim Johnson.
Blue Jays 5, Rangers 2
TORONTO ó Alex Rios hit a two-run homer, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay also connected and the Blue Jays beat Texas.
Josh Hamilton and Chris Davis hit solo shots for Texas, with six of the game’s seven runs coming on homers.
Blue Jays right-hander Scott Richmond (2-0) won back-to-back starts for the first time, allowing two runs and six hits in six innings. He walked two and struck out a career-high eight.
Angels 10, Tigers 5
ANAHEIM, Calif. ó Matt Palmer pitched into the seventh inning to earn his first major league victory, Torii Hunter hit a go-ahead home run and the Los Angeles Angels survived another shaky outing by the bullpen.
Palmer (1-0) threw 100 pitches in six-plus innings in his fourth big league start.