DETROIT (AP) ― Last week, the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to win against Mariano Rivera.
On Wednesday, they beat Justin Verlander ― after the Detroit ace had looked untouchable for most of the afternoon.
“They are never going to give up,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “Say what you want about this team, but they play nine hard innings.”
Ben Zobrist hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the top of the ninth, and Tampa Bay scored four runs in its final at-bat to beat Verlander and the Tigers, 4-2. Verlander took a one-hitter into the ninth and hadn’t allowed a run all season before the Rays broke through.
Cleveland Indians right fielder Choo Shin-soo went 0 for 3 with two walks and a run scored against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. The Indians lost 10-6. (Penta-Yonhap News)
Verlander allowed a run on a wild pitch, then Evan Longoria tied the game at 2-2 with a single to left on Verlander’s 104th and final pitch.
The Tigers (4-1) lost for the first time this season.
“Once a couple guys got on, really the first time I’ve cranked it up like that ― and lost a little bit of my consistency that I’d had all day,” Verlander said. “It’s inexcusable. This loss rests solely on my shoulders today.”
Daniel Schlereth came on and allowed a walk to load the bases, and Zobrist singled up the middle off Jose Valverde.
James Shields (1-0) allowed six hits and two runs in eight innings. Fernando Rodney pitched the ninth for his third save.
“We know now what kind of team we have,” Shields said. “We don’t fear anyone, because if we keep fighting, we’ll win more than our share.”
Strasburg outpitches Santana
NEW YORK (AP) ― Stephen Strasburg wants to be treated like one of the guys: with no limits on his pitching.
The 23-year-old phenom got his wish Wednesday.
The Washington Nationals let their young ace go past 100 pitches for the first time in the major leagues and he worked his way out of a two-on, one-out jam in the sixth inning of a one-run ballgame. “I was going to hold him to 100 pitches but I didn’t know who to go to to get out of the jam,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said after a 4-0 victory over the New York Mets. “I probably would’ve had to strangle him to get the ball to get him out of the game.”
Strasburg threw 108 pitches in outlasting Johan Santana for six innings in a marquee matchup of aces on the mend, and the Nationals’ bullpen made the lead stand up on the 50th anniversary of the Mets’ first game.
Meeting in a blustery, chilly matinee, Strasburg (1-0) and Santana got off to an erratic start but settled into a duel between pitchers coming back from major arm operations.
Strasburg allowed two hits and struck out nine in helping the Nationals take the final two games of the three-game series against their division rival with stellar pitching ― Ross Detwiler shut down the Mets on Tuesday night.
Strasburg threw 99 pitches in his eighth big league start in July 2010, when his callup to the big leagues captivated baseball. But he had elbow ligament-replacement surgery two months later and missed almost all of 2011. He is being kept on an innings limit of about 160 this season.
Chicago White Sox 10, Cleveland 6
Cincinnati 4, St. Louis 3
Toronto 3, Boston 1
Milwaukee 2, Chicago Cubs 1
Oakland 5, Kansas City 4
San Diego 2, Arizona 1
Philadelphia 7, Miami 1
NY Yankees 6, Baltimore 4
Minnesota 6, LA Angels 5
Seattle 4, Texas 3
Atlanta 6, Houston 3
Colorado 17, San Francisco 8
LA Dodgers 4, Pittsburgh 1