Published : Aug. 10, 2014 - 19:06
Texas Rangers DH Choo Shin-soo hits a double against the Houston Astros in the first inning on Saturday. The Korean went 4 for 5. (AP-Yonhap)
MILWAUKEE (AP) ― Mike Fiers held the Los Angeles Dodgers to three hits in his first big league start in more than a year, and Khris Davis and Carlos Gomez homered to give the Milwaukee Brewers a 4-1 win Saturday night.
Fiers (1-1) struck out five in eight strong innings, filling in for injured veteran Matt Garza. The Dodgers mustered only a solo homer by Adrian Gonzalez into the second deck in right field.
Fiers outdueled former Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke (12-8), who gave up Gomez’s homer off the left-field foul pole that made it 3-1 leading off the sixth.
The Dodgers brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth with two outs against Francisco Rodriguez, but the closer got Matt Kemp to ground out for his 35th save.
The right-handed Fiers caught the Dodgers chasing 90-mph fastballs high and away early in the game for strikeouts. Besides Gonzalez’s team-high 17th homer in the fourth, the only other hits allowed by Fiers were singles by Dee Gordon and Matt Kemp.
Otherwise, Fiers threw a gem. He had given up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings in his last major league start on June 2, 2013, against the Phillies, before sustaining a season-ending injury nearly two weeks later in the minors when a line drive broke his right forearm.
Fiers induced 12 groundball outs Saturday and had the Dodgers walking back to the dugout in frustration. Los Angeles shortstop Miguel Rojas slammed his bat into the ground after a called third strike in the third.
Fiers pumped his right arm and got a standing ovation after striking out pinch-hitter Justin Turner to end the eighth.
Greinke pitched for the Brewers in 2011 and part of 2012 before going to the Angels in a deal that sent shortstop Jean Segura to Milwaukee. Now with the Dodgers, Greinke took his second straight loss at Miller Park after winning his first 15 decisions there.
Davis hit a two-run shot for his 19th homer of the season in the second.
New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter heads to first base after passing Honus Wagner on the all-time hits list on Saturday. (AP-Yonhap)
Kluber shuts down Yankees NEW YORK (AP) ― The Cleveland Indians know that Corey Kluber is probably the biggest reason they are still in the hunt for a playoff spot.
He showed why Saturday.
Kluber pitched four-hit ball for a superb six innings and Jose Ramirez hit his first career homer among three hits as the Indians ended a four-game skid with a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees.
“Every time he toes the rubber it’s a win,” reliever Cody Allen said.
Michael Brantley also connected and had three hits for Cleveland, which won at Yankee Stadium for the first time in eight games and improved to 58-59. Ramirez hit a two-run drive in the second inning.
Derek Jeter had an infield single in the sixth inning to pass Honus Wagner for sixth on the career list with No. 3,431. But New York was 0 for 9 with six strikeouts with runners in scoring position in losing for just the second time in eight games.
“I try not to think about it but today, Honus Wagner, he’s the last one on the list that has played short at all ― so that one hits home a little bit,” Jeter said. “But anytime you’re passing guys that have had the careers that they’ve had, it’s kind of overwhelming.”
Kluber (13-6) did not allow a hit until Jacoby Ellsbury doubled with one out in the fourth and struck out 10. The right-hander has allowed only one earned run in his last 31 1/3 innings over four starts. He has won six straight decisions.
Astros trip Rangers 8-3
HOUSTON (AP) ― Yu Darvish dominated the Houston Astros last season.
This year has been a much different story.
Jon Singleton drove in three runs, and the Astros handled Darvish again in an 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night to stretch the streak against their in-state rival to seven victories in a row.
Darvish (10-7) allowed nine hits and six runs ― five earned ― in four-plus innings in his second-shortest start of the season. It was his second straight tough outing against the Astros after they tagged him for a season-high 10 hits with six runs in six innings on July 9.
“Our hitting coach (John Mallee), he’s done a tremendous job with getting these guys information on how we can make adjustments after a guy had success against us,” manager Bo Porter said. “And to the credit of our players, they’ve taken that information and they’ve done a good job against arguably one of the best pitchers in our league.”
Toronto 3, Detroit 2
Baltimore 10, St. Louis 3
Tampa Bay 4, Chicago Cubs 0
San Diego 2, Pittsburgh 1
Kansas City 5, San Francisco 0
Miami 4, Cincinnati 3
NY Mets 2, Philadelphia 1
Arizona 14, Colorado 4
Oakland 9, Minnesota 4
Chicago White Sox 2, Seattle 1
Washington 4, Atlanta 1
LA Angels 5, Boston 4