Associated Press
BOSTON — John Lackey returned from the disabled list and pitched six solid innings, David Ortiz drove in two more runs and the Boston Red Sox matched a team record with their 18th win in April by beating the Houston Astros 6-1 Sunday for a four-game sweep.
Lackey (1-1) missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery and went on the DL after leaving his first start this year with a strained right biceps. He allowed five hits, struck out four and walked two. The walks came with two outs in the first and cost Lackey his only run.
Stephen Drew hit a two-run triple and Ortiz had two hits, extending his hitting streak to 20 games dating to last season. Ortiz has 11 RBIs and is batting .516 in eight games since returning to the lineup last weekend.
Bud Norris (3-3) struck out six for Houston and held the Red Sox to three earned runs.
RAYS 8
WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO — David Price struck out nine in winning for first time this season, Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead RBI single in a three-run eighth spurred by Alex Rios’ error and Tampa Bay beat Chicago in a game marked by a spat between Price and home plate umpire Tom Hallion.
Price (1-2) allowed three runs and six hits in seven innings. The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner walked two and threw 119 pitches.
Price and Hallion exchanged words as Price walked toward the dugout after throwing his last pitch. After the game, Price said Hallion used an expletive. Hallion called Price a liar.
YANKS 3, BLUE JAYS 2
NEW YORK — Lyle Overbay sent a knuckleball from R.A. Dickey into the right field bullpen for a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning and New York completed a four-game sweep of Toronto.
Brennan Boesch homered in the second off Dickey (2-4), pitching in New York for the first time since getting his 20th win for the New York Mets last September.
Dickey allowed a single to Overbay later in the second, then retired 13 of his next 14 batters around a walk. Travis Hafner singled leading off the seventh and, with two outs, Overbay hit his third home run of the season — one more than his total last year.
TWINS 5, RANGERS 0
MINNEAPOLIS — Kevin Correia pitched eight sharp innings, Justin Morneau homered and Minnesota sent Texas to a second straight loss for the first time this season.
Correia (3-1) gave up six hits, struck out two and walked one. He allowed only one runner to reach third base while lowering his ERA to 2.23.
The soft-tossing veteran signed a two-year, $10 million contract with Minnesota in the offseason and has been the Twins’ best starter. Using a fastball that rarely broke 90 mph and a variety of offspeed pitches, Correia retired his first seven batters and set down 11 of the last 12.
Alexi Ogando (2-2) allowed three runs on four hits over six innings.
ATHLETICS 9, ORIOLES 8 (10)
OAKLAND, Calif. — Third baseman Manny Machado made a throwing error on a bunt in the 10th inning and Oakland completed its comeback to snap a four-game skid and keep Baltimore from a four-game sweep.
Down 5-0 in the sixth, the A’s tied it at 8 on Yoenis Cespedes’ two-run homer with one out in the ninth.
Eric Sogard hit a leadoff single in the 10th and moved to second when reliever Pedro Strop (0-1) made a wide throw to second on Adam Rosales’ bunt. Coco Crisp followed with a sacrifice bunt and Machado threw wildly past to shortstop J.J. Hardy covering third, allowing Sogard to score with a headfirst dive.
Chris Davis hit his team-leading ninth home run, a solo shot in the eighth that put Baltimore ahead 7-6. Machado added an RBI double in the ninth.
Jerry Blevins (1-0) pitched one inning for the win.
MARINERS 2, ANGELS 1
SEATTLE — Jason Bay and Michael Morse hit solo home runs and Seattle took three of four from Los Angeles to earn its first series victory of the year.
Bay tied it in the seventh with his second homer, connecting on the first pitch of the inning from Jason Vargas (0-3).
Morse put Seattle ahead in the eighth against Vargas, hitting his seventh home run into the Angels’ bullpen.
Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma struck out eight over six innings, allowing only an unearned run.
Carter Capps (2-1) got the victory and Tom Wilhelmsen closed for his ninth save.
ROYALS 9, INDIANS 0
GAME 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jeremy Guthrie kept Cleveland off-balance, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon homered, and Kansas City romped in the opener of the first day-night doubleheader in the history of Kauffman Stadium.
The doubleheader was caused by a rainout Friday night.
Guthrie (3-0) allowed six hits over 6 2-3 innings for his 16th consecutive start without a loss, tying the Royals’ record set by Paul Splittorff from Aug. 13, 1977-April 22, 1978.
Escobar’s solo shot came in the fifth inning and Gordon’s two-run homer came in the eighth. Jarrod Dyson also drove in a pair of runs, and Mike Moustakas had a single and three walks — one with the bases loaded.
Justin Masterson (4-2) allowed seven runs in 6 1-3 innings for the Indians.
PIRATES 9, CARDINALS 0
ST. LOUIS — Rookie Jeff Locke pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and Russell Martin had two of Pittsburgh’s four home runs in a 9-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals that gave the Pirates a series win and the NL Central lead.
Jones had three hits and John McDonald added an RBI double for Pittsburgh, which ended rookie Shelby Miller’s streak of 14 scoreless innings at home to start the season. The Pirates have won nine of 12 overall, leapfrogging St. Louis for first place.
Locke (3-1) has worked 13 scoreless innings while allowing five hits his last two starts. The Cardinals got just three singles and advanced two runners into scoring position against the 25-year-old left-hander, who earned the fifth spot in the rotation with a strong spring.
Justin Wilson allowed a walk the last two innings to wrap up the Pirates’ fifth shutout, tied for the league lead with St. Louis and San Francisco.
Miller (3-2) struggled to put away hitters and was taken out after 113 pitches and giving up two homers in 5 2-3 innings.
MARLINS 6, CUBS 4
MIAMI — Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and drove in four runs, helping the Marlins avert a four-game series sweep.
Ricky Nolasco (2-2) gave up three runs in seven innings and retired the final 15 batters he faced. The Marlins improved to 6-19, still worst in the majors, and 3-10 at home.
They benefited from a rare offensive outburst, scoring more than three runs for only the fifth time this season and twice coming from behind.
Stanton waited 65 at-bats to hit his first homer Saturday, then hit another in the first inning off Carlos Villanueva (1-1) to put Miami ahead 2-1. He homered again leading off in the eighth against Kameron Loe.
Chicago’s Dioner Navarro went deep in the ninth against Steve Cishek, who nonetheless earned his third save in four chances.
PHILLIES 5, METS 1
NEW YORK — Ryan Howard snapped a seventh-inning tie with a pinch-hit double, Cole Hamels earned his first win of the season and the Phillies took advantage of a crucial Mets error to finish a three-game sweep.
Freddy Galvis homered, Chase Utley had an RBI single and Hamels (1-3) overcame six walks, which matched his career high. The left-hander held the Mets to two hits and struck out eight over six innings in his fourth consecutive solid outing.
All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz went 1 for 4 with a double in his return to the Phillies from a 25-game amphetamine suspension. Even on the road, the popular Ruiz was greeted warmly with a chorus of “Choooooch,” and one fan held a sign welcoming him back.
Jonathon Niese (2-2) allowed one earned run in 6 2-3 innings for New York, showing no ill effects from the comebacker that hit him near the right ankle and knocked him out of his previous start Tuesday.
REDS 5, NATIONALS 2
WASHINGTON — Tony Cingrani struck out a career-high 11 — including four in one inning — while pitching two-hit ball through the sixth, and the Reds avoided a four-game series sweep.
Brandon Phillips had a two-run single as the Reds (14-12) improved to a major league-worst 2-9 on the road.
Cingrani (2-0) pitched three perfect innings before Denard Span reached leading off the fourth on a strikeout and wild pitch. Danny Espinosa followed with a double, but Cingrani struck out three more hitters to escape the inning without allowing any runs.
He joined Joe Nuxhall, Mario Soto, Tim Birtsas and Frankie Rodriguez as the only Reds with a four-strikeout inning.
Washington’s Ross Detwiler (1-2) allowed three earned runs in five innings, and his 11 hits allowed matched a career high.
Aroldis Chapman earned his fifth save in five opportunities.
