Sweet 16: Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish prepares to field the ball against the Angels on Thursday. Texas won 3-1. KYODOAfter Beltre's ninth-inning homer, the Los Angeles Angels were the ones with a sick feeling in their stomachs.Beltre hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off closer Ernesto Frieri, and the Rangers dealt yet another blow to Los Angeles' fading playoff hopes with a 3-1 victory Thursday night.Texas (89-60) improved the AL's best record and stayed four games ahead of Oakland (85-64) in the AL West by taking two of three from the Angels (81-69), who dropped 4? games behind the Athletics and Baltimore in the AL wild-card standings.After a scintillating eight-inning duel between Yu Darvish and Zack Greinke, Beltre connected for his 34th homer against Frieri (3-2), who wasted a fine start by Greinke for the second time in six days."I was glad to be in there, and I'm just glad (Washington) allowed me to be in there," Beltre said. "This is the time of year you want to play. It's not the place or time to relax right now, especially against an opponent in our division."Beltre missed Wednesday's game and nearly sat out Thursday with abdominal troubles before talking his way into the lineup during batting practice. He went 0-for-3 against Greinke, but smashed a hanging slider from Frieri after Michael Young's leadoff single."That was the pitch that I wanted to throw," Frieri said. "He hit it. So what? Every pitch that I made is because I wanted to throw it. He's a good hitter, and that happens. Maybe I didn't put that pitch where I wanted to put it, but I wanted to throw that pitch."Darvish (16-9) held the Angels to four hits and struck out nine while matching Greinke, who gave up five hits and struck out eight. Neither team managed an extra-base hit in the first eight innings.Darvish was largely unhittable for the fifth consecutive start, repeatedly mixing 153-mph fastballs and 105-kph breaking balls while retiring 14 of the Angels' first 16 hitters. The rookie is actually getting better as he closes in on his first major league-playoff experience, leaving Young marveling at the right-hander's improvements."I'm learning about myself, especially before this (good) stretch, when I wasn't consistent and wasn't performing," Darvish said through a translator. "These outings are something the team expects. They acquired me to perform like this."Joe Nathan gave up a two-out double to Albert Pujols in the ninth, but got Kendrys Morales on a fly to finish his 34th save.The Rangers won their second straight game without slugger Josh Hamilton, who will return to Texas for further examination of a sinus condition.Yankees 10, Blue Jays 7In New York, streaking Ichiro Suzuki hit a go-ahead, two-run double in a seven-run fourth inning that was capped by Nick Swisher's grand slam, and the Yankees beat Toronto to open a one-game AL East lead over idle Baltimore.Ichiro, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, homered in the third, then doubled in the fourth. His ninth hit in 10 at-bats chased Aaron Laffey (3-6).Athletics 12, Tigers 4In Detroit, Seth Smith homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and Oakland roughed up Anibal Sanchez to avoid a three-game sweep.Royals 4, White Sox 3In Kansas City, Alex Rios was thrown out at the plate, Alexei Ramirez was picked off third base and AL Central-leading Chicago again failed to come up with a clutch hit.Rays 7, Red Sox 4In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit a game-ending, three-run homer off Vicente Padilla, capping Tampa Bay's six-run ninth in a win over Boston.Indians 4, Twins 3 (10)In Cleveland, Casey Kotchman hit an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to lead the Indians to a win over Minnesota.NATIONAL LEAGUENationals 4, Dodgers 1In Washington, the Nationals brought postseason baseball back to the nation's capital for the first time since 1933, earning a playoff spot."Nats Clinch" flashed on the scoreboard as Washington ensured at least an NL wild-card spot behind Ross Detwiler's six strong innings and Ryan Zimmerman's RBI double.Reds 5, Cubs 3In Chicago, Cincinnati became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season.Phillies 16, Mets 1In New York, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley sparked an eight-run first inning, Ryan Howard added a late grand slam and the Phillies routed the inept Mets.Cardinals 5, Astros 4In St. Louis, pinch hitter Carlos Beltran snapped a sixth-inning tie with a two-run double and Allen Craig hit a three-run homer.Brewers 9, Pirates 7In Pittsburgh, Rickie Weeks hit a tying two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on Aramis Ramirez's single.Norichika Aoki was 2-for-6 with an RBI for Milwaukee.Giants 9, Rockies 2In San Francisco, Pablo Sandoval homered from both sides of the plate and the NL West-leading Giants reduced their magic number to clinch the division to four.Padres 6, Diamondbacks 5In Phoenix, Jesus Guzman homered to help San Diego get the victory.
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Beltre home run lifts Rangers; Darvish earns 16th win
ANAHEIM, California — Although Adrian Beltre was nearly doubled over in abdominal pain before the game, he still demanded a spot in Texas manager Ron Washington's lineup.Sweet 16: Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish prepares to field the ball against the Angels on Thursday. Texas won 3-1. KYODOAfter Beltre's ninth-inning homer, the Los Angeles Angels were the ones with a sick feeling in their stomachs.Beltre hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off closer Ernesto Frieri, and the Rangers dealt yet another blow to Los Angeles' fading playoff hopes with a 3-1 victory Thursday night.Texas (89-60) improved the AL's best record and stayed four games ahead of Oakland (85-64) in the AL West by taking two of three from the Angels (81-69), who dropped 4? games behind the Athletics and Baltimore in the AL wild-card standings.After a scintillating eight-inning duel between Yu Darvish and Zack Greinke, Beltre connected for his 34th homer against Frieri (3-2), who wasted a fine start by Greinke for the second time in six days."I was glad to be in there, and I'm just glad (Washington) allowed me to be in there," Beltre said. "This is the time of year you want to play. It's not the place or time to relax right now, especially against an opponent in our division."Beltre missed Wednesday's game and nearly sat out Thursday with abdominal troubles before talking his way into the lineup during batting practice. He went 0-for-3 against Greinke, but smashed a hanging slider from Frieri after Michael Young's leadoff single."That was the pitch that I wanted to throw," Frieri said. "He hit it. So what? Every pitch that I made is because I wanted to throw it. He's a good hitter, and that happens. Maybe I didn't put that pitch where I wanted to put it, but I wanted to throw that pitch."Darvish (16-9) held the Angels to four hits and struck out nine while matching Greinke, who gave up five hits and struck out eight. Neither team managed an extra-base hit in the first eight innings.Darvish was largely unhittable for the fifth consecutive start, repeatedly mixing 153-mph fastballs and 105-kph breaking balls while retiring 14 of the Angels' first 16 hitters. The rookie is actually getting better as he closes in on his first major league-playoff experience, leaving Young marveling at the right-hander's improvements."I'm learning about myself, especially before this (good) stretch, when I wasn't consistent and wasn't performing," Darvish said through a translator. "These outings are something the team expects. They acquired me to perform like this."Joe Nathan gave up a two-out double to Albert Pujols in the ninth, but got Kendrys Morales on a fly to finish his 34th save.The Rangers won their second straight game without slugger Josh Hamilton, who will return to Texas for further examination of a sinus condition.Yankees 10, Blue Jays 7In New York, streaking Ichiro Suzuki hit a go-ahead, two-run double in a seven-run fourth inning that was capped by Nick Swisher's grand slam, and the Yankees beat Toronto to open a one-game AL East lead over idle Baltimore.Ichiro, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, homered in the third, then doubled in the fourth. His ninth hit in 10 at-bats chased Aaron Laffey (3-6).Athletics 12, Tigers 4In Detroit, Seth Smith homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and Oakland roughed up Anibal Sanchez to avoid a three-game sweep.Royals 4, White Sox 3In Kansas City, Alex Rios was thrown out at the plate, Alexei Ramirez was picked off third base and AL Central-leading Chicago again failed to come up with a clutch hit.Rays 7, Red Sox 4In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit a game-ending, three-run homer off Vicente Padilla, capping Tampa Bay's six-run ninth in a win over Boston.Indians 4, Twins 3 (10)In Cleveland, Casey Kotchman hit an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to lead the Indians to a win over Minnesota.NATIONAL LEAGUENationals 4, Dodgers 1In Washington, the Nationals brought postseason baseball back to the nation's capital for the first time since 1933, earning a playoff spot."Nats Clinch" flashed on the scoreboard as Washington ensured at least an NL wild-card spot behind Ross Detwiler's six strong innings and Ryan Zimmerman's RBI double.Reds 5, Cubs 3In Chicago, Cincinnati became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season.Phillies 16, Mets 1In New York, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley sparked an eight-run first inning, Ryan Howard added a late grand slam and the Phillies routed the inept Mets.Cardinals 5, Astros 4In St. Louis, pinch hitter Carlos Beltran snapped a sixth-inning tie with a two-run double and Allen Craig hit a three-run homer.Brewers 9, Pirates 7In Pittsburgh, Rickie Weeks hit a tying two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on Aramis Ramirez's single.Norichika Aoki was 2-for-6 with an RBI for Milwaukee.Giants 9, Rockies 2In San Francisco, Pablo Sandoval homered from both sides of the plate and the NL West-leading Giants reduced their magic number to clinch the division to four.Padres 6, Diamondbacks 5In Phoenix, Jesus Guzman homered to help San Diego get the victory.
Sweet 16: Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish prepares to field the ball against the Angels on Thursday. Texas won 3-1. KYODOAfter Beltre's ninth-inning homer, the Los Angeles Angels were the ones with a sick feeling in their stomachs.Beltre hit a tiebreaking two-run shot off closer Ernesto Frieri, and the Rangers dealt yet another blow to Los Angeles' fading playoff hopes with a 3-1 victory Thursday night.Texas (89-60) improved the AL's best record and stayed four games ahead of Oakland (85-64) in the AL West by taking two of three from the Angels (81-69), who dropped 4? games behind the Athletics and Baltimore in the AL wild-card standings.After a scintillating eight-inning duel between Yu Darvish and Zack Greinke, Beltre connected for his 34th homer against Frieri (3-2), who wasted a fine start by Greinke for the second time in six days."I was glad to be in there, and I'm just glad (Washington) allowed me to be in there," Beltre said. "This is the time of year you want to play. It's not the place or time to relax right now, especially against an opponent in our division."Beltre missed Wednesday's game and nearly sat out Thursday with abdominal troubles before talking his way into the lineup during batting practice. He went 0-for-3 against Greinke, but smashed a hanging slider from Frieri after Michael Young's leadoff single."That was the pitch that I wanted to throw," Frieri said. "He hit it. So what? Every pitch that I made is because I wanted to throw it. He's a good hitter, and that happens. Maybe I didn't put that pitch where I wanted to put it, but I wanted to throw that pitch."Darvish (16-9) held the Angels to four hits and struck out nine while matching Greinke, who gave up five hits and struck out eight. Neither team managed an extra-base hit in the first eight innings.Darvish was largely unhittable for the fifth consecutive start, repeatedly mixing 153-mph fastballs and 105-kph breaking balls while retiring 14 of the Angels' first 16 hitters. The rookie is actually getting better as he closes in on his first major league-playoff experience, leaving Young marveling at the right-hander's improvements."I'm learning about myself, especially before this (good) stretch, when I wasn't consistent and wasn't performing," Darvish said through a translator. "These outings are something the team expects. They acquired me to perform like this."Joe Nathan gave up a two-out double to Albert Pujols in the ninth, but got Kendrys Morales on a fly to finish his 34th save.The Rangers won their second straight game without slugger Josh Hamilton, who will return to Texas for further examination of a sinus condition.Yankees 10, Blue Jays 7In New York, streaking Ichiro Suzuki hit a go-ahead, two-run double in a seven-run fourth inning that was capped by Nick Swisher's grand slam, and the Yankees beat Toronto to open a one-game AL East lead over idle Baltimore.Ichiro, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs, homered in the third, then doubled in the fourth. His ninth hit in 10 at-bats chased Aaron Laffey (3-6).Athletics 12, Tigers 4In Detroit, Seth Smith homered, doubled and drove in four runs, and Oakland roughed up Anibal Sanchez to avoid a three-game sweep.Royals 4, White Sox 3In Kansas City, Alex Rios was thrown out at the plate, Alexei Ramirez was picked off third base and AL Central-leading Chicago again failed to come up with a clutch hit.Rays 7, Red Sox 4In St. Petersburg, Florida, B.J. Upton hit a game-ending, three-run homer off Vicente Padilla, capping Tampa Bay's six-run ninth in a win over Boston.Indians 4, Twins 3 (10)In Cleveland, Casey Kotchman hit an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning to lead the Indians to a win over Minnesota.NATIONAL LEAGUENationals 4, Dodgers 1In Washington, the Nationals brought postseason baseball back to the nation's capital for the first time since 1933, earning a playoff spot."Nats Clinch" flashed on the scoreboard as Washington ensured at least an NL wild-card spot behind Ross Detwiler's six strong innings and Ryan Zimmerman's RBI double.Reds 5, Cubs 3In Chicago, Cincinnati became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot this season.Phillies 16, Mets 1In New York, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley sparked an eight-run first inning, Ryan Howard added a late grand slam and the Phillies routed the inept Mets.Cardinals 5, Astros 4In St. Louis, pinch hitter Carlos Beltran snapped a sixth-inning tie with a two-run double and Allen Craig hit a three-run homer.Brewers 9, Pirates 7In Pittsburgh, Rickie Weeks hit a tying two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on Aramis Ramirez's single.Norichika Aoki was 2-for-6 with an RBI for Milwaukee.Giants 9, Rockies 2In San Francisco, Pablo Sandoval homered from both sides of the plate and the NL West-leading Giants reduced their magic number to clinch the division to four.Padres 6, Diamondbacks 5In Phoenix, Jesus Guzman homered to help San Diego get the victory.
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