THAT'S FOR YOU: Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jeff Francis throws against the Toronto Blue Jays during the first inning of their MLB game in Toronto on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Reuters/Los Angeles
The Oakland Athletics overcame Texas Rangers ace Yu Darvish to record a 6-2 road victory on Tuesday to stretch their lead at the top of the American League West division. |
Brandon Moss and John Jaso each homered against the Japanese starter to provide an early 3-0 lead for the Athletics (43-30), who added more runs after the Rangers had threatened a comeback to extend their advantage to three games over Texas (39-32).
Darvish (7-3) struck out 10 batters but allowed five runs in six innings to absorb the loss. Meanwhile, Oakland starter Jarrod Parker allowed just two runs over seven innings to improve his record to an even 6-6.
In Atlanta, Matt Harvey flirted with a no-hitter to lift the New York Mets to a 4-3 win in the first game of a doubleheader sweep of the Braves.
The Mets claimed the second game 6-1 but not before Harvey had set the tone by taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning of the opener.
Jason Heyward’s infield single in the bottom of the seventh was Atlanta’s first hit against Harvey and by the time their bats stirred into life, it was too little too late.
Heyward added a two-RBI double in the eighth, where the Braves scored three times to pull within 4-3 but New York’s bullpen got the final outs they needed to survive.
Harvey finished with 13 strikeouts and the win took him to 6-1 on the season.
In Boston, Jonny Gomes hit a walk-off, two-run homer as the Red Sox also enjoyed a doubleheader sweep against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Gomes’s big hit against reliever Joel Peralta provided Boston with a 3-1 triumph to follow up a 5-1 win against their divisional rivals earlier in the day that was delayed by about three hours due to rain.
In the nightcap, Red Sox starter Felix Doubront tossed eight scoreless innings for a 1-0 lead before Andrew Bailey surrendered a game-tying blast to Kelly Johnson in the top of the ninth to blow the save. Bailey (3-0) and the Red Sox were able to regroup and the victory gave Boston a 2 ½-game lead at the top of the AL East.
Injury-hit Yankees lose Youkilis, Teixeira
The injury-hit New York Yankees, fighting for a Major League Baseball playoff as mid-season nears, lost two more stars on Tuesday in first baseman Mark Teixeira and third baseman Kevin Youkilis.
Teixeira was put on the 15-day disabled list with an injured right wrist while Youkilis will have surgery today to repair a herniated disc and is expected to miss 10 to 12 weeks.
After doctor Robert Watkins performs the operation, Youkilis—who has played in only 28 games this season—will stay in California until he is able to report to the Yankees’ training facility in Tampa, Florida.
At 38-31, the Yankees are third in the American League East division but only one victory out of playoff position as the midpoint approaches on the six-month regular season campaign.
Third baseman Alex Rodriguez is recovering from off-season hip surgery also is being investigated in connection with a doping scandal over a Miami clinic that reportedly provided players banned performance-enhancing substances.