Weaver tosses no-hitter for Angels against Twins

ANAHEIM, California — Jered Weaver pitched the fifth no-hitter ever thrown against the Twins and the second in the majors in less than two weeks, propelling the Los Angeles Angels to a 9-0 victory in Minnesota's ninth loss in 10 games.

Splendid: Los Angeles starter Jered Weaver acknowledges the fans after throwing a no-hitter against Minnesota on Wednesday night in Anaheim, California. The Angels beat Twins 9-0. AP

Only one Twins batter reached base in the first seven innings, and that was only when catcher Chris Iannetta committed a passed ball on strike three to Chris Parmelee with two outs in the second. Josh Willingham drew the only walk Weaver allowed, passing on a full-count pitch with two outs in the seventh.

Weaver struck out nine and walked one. Minnesota never even tested his defense, never really coming close to getting a hit against the All-Star right-hander. The closest might have been Trevor Plouffe's liner hooked foul about 15 feet before the left-field foul pole in the eighth inning.

"It was an easy ride," Weaver said. "Guys were picking me up left and right. We scored some runs early and took a little pressure off me. I was able to throw some strikes, and Iannetta was throwing down the right fingers. Gotta love that."

Orioles 5, Yankees 0

In New York, Jake Arrieta pitched eight innings of five-hit ball, and Baltimore ended Ivan Nova's 15-game winning streak with a victory over the Yankees.

Rays 5, Mariners 4

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Sean Rodriguez and Luke Scott homered for Tampa Bay, helping Rays right-hander James Shields become the AL's first five-game winner by beating the Mariners.

Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki was 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI.

Athletics 4, Red Sox 2

In Boston, Brandon McCarthy beat an AL East opponent once again, holding the hosts to one run over 6? innings as Oakland defeated the Red Sox.

Blue Jays 11, Rangers 5

In Toronto, Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Kelly Johnson added a two-run drive and the Blue Jays beat Texas, giving the Rangers consecutive losses for the first time this season.

Royals 3, Tigers 2

In Detroit, Chris Getz's infield single in the ninth inning put Kansas City ahead, and the Royals held on to beat the Tigers.

Indians 6, White Sox 3

In Chicago, Carlos Santana and Travis Hafner homered to Cleveland to a win over the White Sox.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 4

In Washington, Bryce Harper made a tumbling barehanded catch in center field and then led off the ninth inning with a double to set the stage for Ian Desmond's two-out game-ending home run that gave the Nationals a victory over visiting Arizona.

Marlins 3, Giants 2 (10)

In San Francisco, Giancarlo Stanton homered off Santiago Casilla in the 10th inning, and Miami beat the Giants after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.

Braves 15, Phillies 13 (11th)

In Atlanta, Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning and the Braves overcame Carlos Ruiz's seven RBIs to outlast Philadelphia.

Rockies 8, Dodgers 5

In Denver, pinch hitter Jason Giambi launched a three-run homer off Scott Elbert in the ninth inning, lifting Colorado to win over Los Angeles.

Cubs 3, Reds 1

In Cincinnati, Bryan LaHair and Ian Stewart hit solo homers in a victory over the Reds.

Padres 5, Brewers 0

In San Diego, Jeff Suppan pitched five solid innings to win his first game since 2010, leading the Padres to a win over Milwaukee.

Astros 8, Mets 1

In Houston, Chris Johnson had four hits, homered twice and drove in a career-high six runs and the Astros beat New York to complete a three-game sweep.

Cardinals 12, Pirates 3

In St. Louis, Carlos Beltran drove in a career-best seven runs with a pair of three-run home runs and an RBI single in the first three innings against Pittsburgh.

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Weaver ups record to 5-0

Backhand stab: St. Louis third baseman Daniel Descalso goes to the ground to field a grounder off the bat of Danny Espinosa in the third inning of the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Descalso threw out Espinosa on the play. AP PHOTO

ARLINGTON, Texas — Jered Weaver became the major league's first five-game winner, striking out eight in a six-hitter for the Los Angeles Angels in a 4-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.

Howie Kendrick and Vernon Wells homered for Los Angeles, which has won 11 of its last 14 games. Jeff Mathis drove in a run on a suicide squeeze and also scored.

It was the fifth career complete game for Weaver (5-0), who lowered his ERA to 1.23. The right-hander had no walks while throwing 80 of his 119 pitches for strikes.

Matt Harrison (3-1) struck out five while allowing three runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. The Rangers have lost six of eight.

Indians 7, Royals 5

In Kansas City, Justin Masterson remained unbeaten in four decisions and Cleveland, after being stymied for five innings by Luke Hochevar, rallied to beat the Royals.

Masterson (4-0) shut down Kansas City after allowing two runs in the first.

Red Sox 5, Athletics 3

In Oakland, Kevin Youkilis and Jed Lowrie homered off the previously untouchable Gio Gonzalez and Boston got its first road win of the season after seven straight losses, beating the Athletics.

Hideki Matsui went 2-for-4 with a walk for Oakland.

Yankees 6, Blue Jays 2

In Toronto, Bartolo Colon pitched into the seventh inning to earn his first win in two years and Curtis Granderson homered for New York.

Colon (1-1) allowed two runs and five hits in 6? innings to win for the first time since May 26, 2009, when he led the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.

The 2005 AL Cy Young Award winner struck out seven and walked two in his first major league start since July 24, 2009, for the White Sox.

Rays 4, White Sox 1

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Wade Davis pitched seven solid innings, John Jaso homered and Tampa Bay won for the eighth time in nine games.

Orioles 5, Twins 4

In Baltimore, Matt Wieters and Vladimir Guerrero homered, and Adam Jones drove in two runs to lead the Orioles to their second straight victory after an eight-game skid.

Tigers 3, Mariners 2

In Seattle, Rick Porcello pitched 6? innings of one-run ball, leading Detroit to the win.

The Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Rockies 10, Giants 2

In Denver, Jorge De La Rosa overcame a shaky start to pitch seven sharp innings and Ty Wigginton tied a career high with four RBIs, helping Colorado beat San Francisco.

De La Rosa (3-0) gave up two runs and four hits to help the Rockies salvage the finale of the three-game series against the surging Giants.

Buster Posey had both RBIs for San Francisco.

Phillies 4, Brewers 3

In Philadelphia, Shane Victorino hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Placido Polanco had a three-run shot, leading the Phillies to the win.

Nationals 8, Cardinals 6 (1st)

Cardinals 5, Nationals 3 (2nd)

In St. Louis, Lance Berkman had three hits and two RBIs and the Cardinals got four innings of one-hit relief in a Game 2 victory that gave them a doubleheader split.

Laynce Nix homered and drove in two runs in Game 1 for Washington, which chased Jake Westbrook (1-2) with a six-run third.

Jaime Garcia (3-0) allowed one earned run in five-plus innings and Colby Rasmus got his fourth RBI of the day as the Redbirds won the nightcap.

Cubs 2, Padres 1 (11) (1st)

Padres 5, Cubs 4 (2nd)

In Chicago, Ryan Ludwick had three hits, including one of the Padres' three home runs, and San Diego salvaged a split of a doubleheader.

Cameron Maybin and Chris Denorfia also homered off Cubs starter James Russell (1-3) as the Padres rebounded from a loss in 11 innings in the afternoon opener. The teams were forced to play the doubleheader after Tuesday night's game was rained out.

Chicago's Kosuke Fukudome was 4-for-7 on the day, including a two-out single in the ninth inning of the nightcap.

Dodgers 6, Braves 1

In Los Angeles, Jon Garland tossed a four-hit complete game on Dodgers rookie manager Don Mattingly's 50th birthday.

Andre Ethier had three hits, including his 100th career homer, to extend his hitting streak to a major league-best 17 games.

Diamondbacks 3, Reds 1

In Cincinnati, Ian Kennedy overcame a nasty spill on the mound while pitching into the sixth, and Arizona earned its third consecutive win.

Astros 4, Mets 3

In New York, Hunter Pence hit a blistering go-ahead home run in the eighth to spark Houston.

Marlins 6, Pirates 0

In Miami, Chris Coghlan drove in three runs, two of them on a second-inning infield single, and Ricky Nolasco struck out eight in seven innings for Florida.

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Angels' Weaver fans 15 in first home start

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) Less than 24 hours after using all seven of his relievers for the second time in four games to grind out a 14-inning victory — with starter Dan Haren as his last pitcher — Angels manager Mike Scioscia needed Jered Weaver to pitch deep into the game in his first home start of the season.

The ace right-hander more than obliged, striking out a career-high 15 over 7 2/3 innings Sunday in a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Weaver allowed a run and four hits while throwing 125 pitches.

"I just wanted to go out there, knowing that we had a long one last night, and I wanted to try to extend it as much as possible," Weaver said. "We were able to get three runs, and that was enough to work with.

"It's a tough lineup to face, but I had my fastball command early and my slider was as good as it's been in a long time. So I matched up pretty well with a bunch of righties in the lineup."

The Angels got some additional help from a costly error by Toronto center fielder Rajai Davis that led to a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Peter Bourjos drove them in with a triple, helping Los Angeles take two of three in the series.

In the eighth, it came down to a showdown between Weaver and Jose Bautista, last year's major league home run leader. Bautista represented the go-ahead run at the plate after a pair of one-out walks, but Weaver struck him out with his final pitch of the day.

"I'm not going to lie. I was obviously getting a little tired," Weaver said. "I had too many walks again (four), but I was still able to extend myself as much as possible. Sosh let me do that. That 3-2 pitch to Bautista was a slider — and thank God he swung at it, or else it would have been bases loaded."

Hisanori Takahashi came in to retire cleanup hitter Adam Lind on a comebacker and Fernando Rodney pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.

Weaver became the first Angels pitcher with 15 strikeouts in a game since May 23, 1995, when left-hander Chuck Finley fanned 15 Yankees and pitched a two-hitter in a 10-0 win at the Big A.

"I'm not going out there trying to strike everybody out," Weaver said. "I'm just trying to get a first-pitch fastball over for a strike and trying to get ahead in the count and trying to keep my team in the game. And if it takes a couple of strikeouts here and there, then that's what it's going to take."

Red Sox 4, Yankees 0

In Boston, Josh Beckett allowed two hits in eight shutout innings.

Indians 6, Mariners 4

In Seattle, Asdrubal Cabrera welcomed Erik Bedard back to Safeco Field with a solo homer and the surprising Indians beat the Mariners for their seventh straight victory.

Ichiro Suzuki was 0-for-4 in the loss.

Rangers 3, Orioles 0

In Baltimore, Derek Holland allowed five hits over six innings, Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler homered, and Texas beat the Orioles to win its third consecutive series.

Royals 9, Tigers 5

In Detroit, Wilson Betemit went 4-for-4 with two doubles and Kansas City beat the mistake-prone Tigers.

White Sox 6, Rays 1

In Chicago, Paul Konerko hit two home runs and Gavin Floyd pitched eight masterful innings as the White Sox beat the slumping Rays.

Athletics 5, Twins 3

In Minneapolis, Hideki Matsui homered to help the Athletics break out of a season-long offensive slump.

Matsui finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Phillies 3, Braves 0

In Atlanta, Cole Hamels combined with two relievers on a five-hitter and Shane Victorino capped a big series with three hits, including his first homer, to lead the Phillies past Atlanta.

Cardinals 6, Giants 1

In San Francisco, David Freese went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs and Kyle Lohse allowed one run in eight innings to help St. Louis snap a three-game losing streak.

Diamondbacks 10, Reds 8

In Phoenix, Chris Young hit the decisive three-run homer and Stephen Drew had four hits and three RBIs.

Brewers 6, Cubs 5

In Milwaukee, pinch hitter Casey McGehee delivered a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning and the Brewers rallied to beat Chicago.

Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome finished 0-for-2 with a walk.

Rockies 6, Pirates 5

In Pittsburgh, Seth Smith drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh inning and Colorado kept up its strong start.

Astros 7, Marlins 1

In Houston, J.A. Happ pitched four-hit ball into the eighth inning and drove in two runs with a double for the Astros.

Nationals 7, Mets 3 (11)

In New York, Ivan Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning and Washington rallied late.

Padres 7, Dodgers 2

In San Diego, Aaron Harang pitched six sharp innings, and Ryan Ludwick broke out of a slump with a go-ahead homer and Nick Hundley added a two-run shot in the Padres' win.

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