MLB roundup: Sox blow lead, win in 11

DETROIT (AP) — Mark Kotsay’s ears must have been burning before Thursday’s game.

Kotsay hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, then lined a two-run triple in the 11th that sent the Chicago White Sox past the Detroit Tigers 6-4 Thursday.

In his pregame comments, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen talked about how the team needed more from Kotsay and Andruw Jones, who have both struggled this season.

“Those two guys got to start being better,” Guilen said while Chicago’s chances of acquiring another hitter. “If those two guys produce the way we think the can produce, we don’t need another hitter.”

Red Sox 6, Indians 2

BOSTON — Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched eight solid innings and Adrian Beltre hit a grand slam to lead the Boston Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians, earning a split of the four-game series.

Matsuzaka (8-3) allowed Shin-Soo Choo’s 14th homer of the season in the first but gave up just four more hits and never faced more than four batters in any inning. He is 5-1 in his last 10 starts and has allowed three earned runs or less in 10 of his last 12 outings.

Beltre connected for his 20th homer in the fourth inning after Josh Tomlin (1-1) retired Boston’s first 10 batters.

Orioles 5, Angels 4

BALTIMORE — Cesar Izturis singled in the winning run in the ninth inning and the Baltimore Orioles remained unbeaten under new manager Buck Showalter, defeating the Los Angeles Angels for a three-game sweep.

Since Showalter made his debut Tuesday, Baltimore has won three in a row and scored 20 runs. Before his arrival, the Orioles had lost 14 of 17 and were averaging 2.77 runs per game — second-lowest in the AL.

Braves 3, Giants 2

ATLANTA — Eric Hinske snapped an 0-for-17 hitless streak with a tiebreaking, sixth-inning home run off Tim Lincecum to help the Atlanta Braves over the San Francisco Giants.

Alex Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the second inning — his second as a Brave — for the only other runs off Lincecum (11-5).

Pirates 5, Rockies 1

PITTSBURGH — James McDonald pitched six shutout innings in his Pittsburgh debut and the Pirates sent the Rockies to their seventh consecutive road loss.

Five days after being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers along with a minor leaguer for closer Octavio Dotel, McDonald had eight strikeouts — as many as any Pirates starter had all season. McDonald struck out the side in the first and got six of the first seven Colorado batters on strikeouts.

Phillies 5, Marlins 4 (10)

MIAMI — Carlos Ruiz homered leading off the 10th inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies benefited from a bad call to complete a three-game series sweep by beating the Florida Marlins 5-4.

A ruling by third base umpire Bob Davidson cost the Marlins a victory in the ninth. Gaby Sanchez pulled a grounder over third base for a hit that would have scored Hanley Ramirez from second base, but Davidson ruled the ball foul.

Tags: white sox, sports, baseball, mlb, tigers