Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. ó Tampa Bay’s Matt Garza took a perfect game into the seventh inning and Evan Longoria homered and drove four runs to help the AL Championship Series MVP shut down the Boston Red Sox 13-0 on Thursday night.
Jacoby Ellsbury fouled off an 0-2 pitch and took two balls before hitting a squibber past Garza leading off the seventh. Ellsbury easily beat shortstop Jason Bartlett’s throw to first base.
“I saw it float by,” Garza said. “I dove and watched the ball just miss my glove by inches. I’m like, ‘Oh, Barty!’ He almost made a great play.”
Garza (2-2) threw 75 of his 108 pitches for strikes, walked one and struck out 10.
Royals 8, Blue Jays 6
KANSAS CITY, Mo. ó John Buck tripled twice and drove in five runs, and the Royals tied a club record by turning six double plays.
Yankees 7, Angels 4
NEW YORK ó Melky Cabrera hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning.
After an intentional walk to Nick Swisher loaded the bases with one out, Cabrera hit an RBI single on the first pitch from Justin Speier. Ramiro Pena followed with a two-run double.
The loss left the Angels at 9-12 in April, ending their run of 15 straight months at .500 or better. That was longest active streak in the majors.
Athletics 4, Rangers 2
ARLINGTON, Texas ó Dallas Braden pitched five scoreless innings and Ryan Sweeney made a critical catch.
The Rangers had two on in the eighth when Ian Kinsler hit a towering flyball to center. Sweeney retreated, leaped and stuck his glove above the wall to make the play.
Cardinals 9, Nationals 4
WASHINGTON ó Rick Ankiel hit a tiebreaking RBI double in a five-run ninth.
Chris Duncan sparked the rally with a one-out walk off Julian Tavarez. Ankiel then sliced a double into the left-field corner and the ball bounced away from Adam Dunn as Duncan scored.
Ryan Zimmerman extended his club-record hitting streak to 19 with a homer.
Brewers 4, D’backs 1
MILWAUKEE ó The Brewers jumped on Arizona’s bullpen for a four-run seventh after being shut out for six innings by Max Scherzer.
Scott Schoeneweis walked Prince Fielder to bring in a run and give the Brewers the lead, and Mike Cameron hit a double to score two more.
Marlins 8, Cubs 2 (10)
CHICAGO ó Jorge Cantu hit a three-run double in the 10th inning after Florida tied it on a throwing error by Carlos Marmol in the eighth.
A-ROD BOOK
NEW YORK ó A new, unflattering biography of Alex Rodriguez reportedly says he may have used steroids as early as high school and as late as with the New York Yankees.
He brushed off a question about some details from Sports Illustrated writer Selena Roberts’ upcoming book.
“I’m not going there,” he said after homering in an extended spring training game. “I’m just so excited about being back on the field and playing baseball.”
A high school teammate of A-Rod’s told Roberts that Rodriguez was on steroids as a prep player and his coach knew it ó an allegation the coach, Rich Hofman, denied.
In the book, an unnamed major leaguer is quoted as saying A-Rod and former Yankees pitcher Kevin Brown, who was named in the Mitchell Report, were seen together with human growth hormone in 2004.