Cubs’ Wrigley loss is 1st since May 17

Posted: Wednesday, June 25, 2008 5:11 pm
By: By The Associated Press

The Chicago Cubs finally lost at home, Minnesota is winning everywhere and the big story in Kansas City was another broken maple bat.
The Baltimore Orioles made their first visit to Wrigley Field a memorable one, beating the Cubs 7-5 Tuesday night to end Chicago’s 14-game home winning streak.
George Sherrill struck out three straight batters with the bases loaded for his 26th save and Brian Roberts had three hits to reach 1,000 for his career — after his offseason was filled with rumors of a trade to the Cubs.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Roberts said. “What we dealt with for four months, you think about it a little bit. It’s just a fun night to be part of.”
The Twins are having plenty of fun, too.
Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher hit solo home runs on consecutive pitches against Trevor Hoffman (1-5) in the ninth inning, and Minnesota beat the slumping San Diego Padres 3-1 for its seventh straight victory.
Riding their longest winning streak since an eight-game run in July 2006, the Twins couldn’t have picked a better situation to hit consecutive homers for the first time in nearly a year.
When Hoffman got the final out in the ninth, baseball’s career saves leader was booed by the home crowd.
“I couldn’t believe that,” Padres ace Jake Peavy said. “That was as disheartening as disheartening gets. What Trevor means to this organization, the city and the club, to see him get booed after a tough outing, I felt that was uncalled for. I certainly don’t understand it. I hope that’s never the case again.”
At Kansas City, Mo., plate umpire Brian O’Nora was hit in the head by a shattered piece of Miguel Olivo’s broken maple bat, sending blood streaming down his face and forcing him out of a game between the Royals and Colorado Rockies.
The Royals later announced that O’Nora had a small cut on his forehead and was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital for further evaluation.
The frightening scene came only hours after a player-management safety committee discussed the potential danger of maple bats at its first meeting. Following the session, baseball said it will start testing bats, but the sport made no decision on the contentious issue of banning maple models.
Some say maple bats splinter with greater force than those made of ash, and commissioner Bud Selig said last month that shattering maple bats are “a source of concern for me.”
“They are very, very dangerous. I’m surprised that this is the first incident we’ve seen,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said, referring to O’Nora’s injury. “It could have been worse, a lot worse. It looked a lot worse than it was. There was a lot of blood. My understanding is that he is OK.”
In other interleague games, it was: Boston 5, Arizona 4; Pittsburgh 12, the New York Yankees 5; St. Louis 8, Detroit 4; San Francisco 3, Cleveland 2; Toronto 14, Cincinnati 1; Seattle 11, the New York Mets 0; Tampa Bay 6, Florida 4; Kansas City 7, Colorado 3; the Los Angeles Angels 8, Washington 3; Houston 4, Texas 3; Oakland 5, Philadelphia 2; and the Chicago White Sox 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 1.
In the only National League game, Milwaukee beat Atlanta 4-3.
Along with conducting field and laboratory tests, the safety panel will consult with manufacturers and experts, and also survey what protective devices are in place for fans and players at the 30 big league ballparks.
Cardinals 8, Tigers 4
At Detroit, Brian Barton homered to help Braden Looper (9-5) beat Kenny Rogers (5-5). Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield hit a two-run shot in his return from the disabled list.
Brewers 4, Braves 3
At Atlanta, Dave Bush (4-7) earned his first road victory of the season and surging Milwaukee (43-34) won its fourth straight to move a season-high nine games over .500. Salomon Torres allowed a two-run homer to Mark Teixeira in the ninth but held on for his 13th save.
The Braves committed four errors.
Red Sox 5, D’backs 4
At Boston, Jason Varitek capped a four-run rally in the eighth inning with a go-ahead single that snapped his 1-for-30 slide.
Mike Lowell tied the score with a two-out, two-run double off Chad Qualls (1-6). Jonathan Papelbon got his 22nd save.
Rays 6, Marlins 4
At Miami, Dioner Navarro and Eric Hinske drew bases-loaded walks in the eighth, and Evan Longoria hit a two-run double in the ninth for Tampa Bay. Akinori Iwamura had three hits for the Rays, including his fifth home run. Troy Percival walked four Marlins in the ninth but still managed his 18th save this season and No. 342 of his career, moving him past Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers for ninth place.
Athletics 5, Phillies 2
At Oakland, Calif., Emil Brown hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh to spoil a strong outing by Jamie Moyer (7-5) and send Philadelphia to its season-high sixth consecutive defeat. Jack Cust added a two-run shot and Huston Street saved it for Joe Blanton (4-10), who ended a four-start losing streak.
Pirates 12, Yankees 5
At Pittsburgh, Jose Bautista and Ryan Doumit homered, and the Pirates turned back the clock nearly a half-century in beating New York for the first time since the 1960 World Series. Pittsburgh had been the only team never to beat the Yankees in a regular-season game.
Giants 3, Indians 2
At Cleveland, Jonathan Sanchez (7-4) won for the fifth time in six starts and Omar Vizquel dropped down a suicide squeeze against his former team in the first game between the clubs here since the 1954 World Series. Brian Wilson got his 20th save, helped by one of Vizquel’s patented defensive gems at shortstop.
Blue Jays 14, Reds 1
At Toronto, Scott Rolen hit one of three homers by the Blue Jays and A.J. Burnett (7-7) pitched eight strong innings. Alex Rios and Gregg Zaun also connected as Toronto set season highs for runs and hits (22). Bronson Arroyo (4-7) was battered for 10 runs in an inning-plus.
Angels 8, Nationals 3
At Washington, Mike Napoli hit an RBI double in a six-run first and added a two-run homer as Los Angeles took advantage of four Nationals errors to win its fifth straight. Jon Garland (7-4) went seven innings.
Mariners 11, Mets 0
At New York, Raul Ibanez homered and drove in three runs, knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (2-3) tossed seven sharp innings and Seattle blew out the frustrated Mets.
Richie Sexson had three RBI and Kenji Johjima hit a two-run shot for the Mariners, who tagged a shaky Oliver Perez (5-5) to boost their AL-worst road record to 13-25. New York manager Jerry Manuel and slugger Carlos Beltran were ejected.
Royals 7, Rockies 3
At Kansas City, Mo., Zack Greinke (7-4) matched a career high with 10 strikeouts in six innings and Alex Gordon hit a two-run homer. The last-place Royals have won four straight and nine of 10, all against NL clubs. Their 11-3 record is the best in interleague play.
White Sox 6, Dodgers 1
At Los Angeles, Mark Buehrle (5-6) pitched eight solid innings and Jermaine Dye hit a two-run homer off Derek Lowe (5-7) to help Chicago snap a nine-game road losing streak.
Astros 4, Rangers 3
At Houston, Lance Berkman hit a two-run homer to back Brian Moehler (4-3), and Jose Valverde hung on for his 19th save. Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton came out in the fifth with inflammation in his left knee. He is day-to-day.

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