Sergio Mitre made it back after undergoing elbow-ligament replacement surgery. Then he was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for a banned substance. Finally set to make his first major league start since 2007, he had to wait out a 26-minute rain delay. "It seemed like it took forever," he said.
Another late rally, another dramatic win for the Tampa Bay Rays, and when it was over, Jason Bartlett let out a big sigh of relief. "It's stressful, man," he said. It's a little easier when they have an ending like Tuesday night. Carlos Pena's sacrifice fly off Bobby Jenks capped a two-run ninth, and the Rays beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2.
Tommy Hunter was knocked around by Boston last season. This time, the Texas rookie right-hander helped knock the Red Sox out of first place. Hunter allowed one run and four hits over six innings to beat All-Star Josh Beckett, who still threw his third complete game in six starts, in the Rangers' 4-2 victory.
The way things are going for the Philadelphia Phillies, it was only a matter of time before someone delivered a big hit. Jayson Werth hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 13th inning to send the Phillies to their 10th straight victory, 4-1 over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night. The NL East-leading Phillies are on their longest winning streak in 18 years.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland talked Tuesday afternoon about the challenges of managing a high-scoring game, rehashing Oakland's thrilling 14-13 win over Minnesota on Monday night. Several hours later, Leyland was in the middle of his own crazy game. Magglio Ordonez hit a grand slam to help Detroit build a seven-run lead after two innings, then they nearly gave it all back before holding on for a…
Magglio Ordonez hit a grand slam in a five-run first inning and the Detroit Tigers held on for a 9-7 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Detroit scored just five runs while being swept in a three-game series at Yankee Stadium last weekend, but matched that total before making their first out against Seattle.
Victor Martinez hit a two-run double in the ninth inning and Cliff Lee pitched his second straight complete game, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night that snapped a four-game skid. Cleveland trailed heading into the ninth against Blue Jays closer Scott Downs but took the lead thanks to a rare Toronto error.
Martin Prado and the Atlanta Braves continued their hot July, beating the San Francisco Giants 8-1 on Tuesday night to move two games over .500 for the first time in almost two months. Prado had three hits and scored three runs, Brian McCann hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs and the Braves (48-46) continued their offensive surge.
Braden Looper allowed four hits over seven innings and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on Tuesday night. Prince Fielder had two two-out singles that drove in Craig Counsell to account for all the offense for the Brewers (48-46), who avoided falling to .500 for the first time since May 2.
Rangers shortstop Omar Vizquel has been scratched from the lineup in what was going to be his first game since July 10. When announcing the lineup change only about 20 minutes before their game Tuesday night against Boston, the Rangers said Vizquel had flulike symptoms. Instead of getting an expected night off, rookie Elvis Andrus started at shortstop and batted ninth.
