Arizona 3, Los Angeles Dodgers 2
PHOENIX – It was a night of firsts for Arizona’s Claudio Vargas.
He threw six strong innings for his first home victory of the season and added his first hit, an RBI single in a three-run second inning, as the Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 yesterday.
Vargas allowed two runs – one earned – seven hits and a walk for his second straight win and his first in three starts this season at Chase Field.
“”He started a little rugged, but his breaking ball got better and his changeup got better,”” Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin said.
Vargas drove in the winning run when he blooped a fastball from Brad Penny into short right field to cap the Diamondbacks’ second-inning rally.
Boston 7, New York Yankees 3
BOSTON – Johnny Damon stepped to the plate to lead off the game and was booed for 30 seconds by the crowd at Fenway Park.
Somewhere in there, though, were just enough cheers to make him raise his new Yankees helmet.
“”I planned on doing it if I heard enough cheering, and I did,”” Damon said.
But the Red Sox fans saved their loudest cheers for David Ortiz, who hit a three-run homer into a strong wind, giving the Red Sox a 7-3 win over the New York Yankees last night and spoiling Damon’s return to Boston.
Damon was booed in each of his other three at-bats and went 0-for-4.
“”You know they’re booing a uniform now,”” he said. “”They don’t boo bad players. They boo good players.””
Damon could only stand and watch from a few feet away as Ortiz’s 11th homer of the season sailed into Boston’s bullpen in right-center field in the eighth.
Mark Loretta, in a 1-for-17 slump, had broken a 3-3 tie with an RBI single earlier in the inning in his first game as part of baseball’s biggest rivalry. The first series of the season between the teams wraps up tonight.
“”What an atmosphere,”” said Loretta, traded from San Diego in the offseason. “”Every game at Fenway Park has been electric, but tonight was extra electric and (there was) a great buzz out there.””
Atlanta 2, Colorado 0
ATLANTA – Tim Hudson gave up a hit to the opposing pitcher, which was bad enough.
It stung even more when that turned out to be the only hit of the game by the Colorado Rockies.
Hudson threw the second one-hitter of his career, leading the Atlanta Braves past the Rockies 2-0 with a dominating performance that was marred only by Jason Jennings’ single with two outs in the third inning.
“”That’s kind of tough to take,”” said Hudson, who also drove in the Braves’ first run. “”He’s probably one of the better-hitting pitchers out there, but he’s still a pitcher. He’s only coming up once every five days. It would have been better if it was a cleanup hitter. I could have stomached that one better.””
Not that Hudson (2-2) was complaining too much. Not after the way he started the season, lasting only four innings in each of his first two starts. He gave up 14 hits, walked six and was charged with 11 earned runs in those outings.
San Diego 10, San Francisco 4
SAN FRANCISCO – Brian Giles was hit by a pitch to start San Diego’s seven-run fourth inning and capped it with an RBI single, helping Jake Peavy win for the first time since opening day in the Padres’ 10-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants last night.
Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch, remaining at 711 home runs and three shy of tying Babe Ruth for second place on the career list.
Dave Roberts hit a two-run double in the fourth and Mark Bellhorn doubled in a run for the Padres, who seemed to still have some momentum from a 6-5, 10-inning win Sunday against the Dodgers that ended San Diego’s five-game losing streak.
Peavy (2-3), who gave up Bonds’ 700th homer on Sept. 17, 2004, was 0-3 in four starts since beating the Giants on April 3. He pitched eight strong innings, allowing six hits and two runs.
Chicago White Sox 8, Cleveland 6
CLEVELAND – Booed, taunted and ridiculed. Back in the ballpark he once called home, Jim Thome was treated like the enemy.
In Cleveland, that’s what he is now.
Playing his first game as a visitor in Jacobs Field, Thome endured some harsh treatment from Cleveland fans who used to cheer every one of his monster homers during Chicago’s 8-6 win over the Indians last night.
“”It was just a night of booing,”” Thome said. “”That’s all it was.””
Javier Vazquez dominated for six innings and Paul Konerko hit a three-run homer in the first inning to help Thome make the most of his return to Cleveland. The Indians’ career home run leader bolted as a free agent following the 2002 season, signing a six-year, $85 million deal with Philadelphia and leaving behind a trail of broken hearts and bitterness across Northeast Ohio.
