BLUE JAYS 8 – PIRATES 5
Cito Gaston and the Toronto Blue Jays both ended lengthy winless droughts Sunday.
Gaston earned his first win as Blue Jays manager in 11 years, getting home runs from Scott Rolen and Adam Lind in an 8-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
Toronto snapped a seven-game losing streak and scored its most runs since a 9-8 loss to the New York Yankees on June 5. The Blue Jays scored only 21 runs during their skid.
“It was a big win for us,” Gaston said. “I thought overall everybody did a great job today. We scored some runs and (Pittsburgh) caught up with us, but they went back and battled again and scored some runs.”
Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells had two RBIs apiece for Toronto, which avoided a sweep and the third 0-6 road trip in franchise history. Joe Inglett went 3-for-4 and Marco Scutaro scored three runs.
“There’s not relief but happiness,” Inglett said. “It was good to see guys running around the bases laughing and having a good time again … Hopefully that will continue.”
Gaston, who managed the Blue Jays from 1989-97 and won two World Series titles, took over again Friday when the club fired John Gibbons. He went 681-635 during his first stint before guiding the team to losses in the first two games of the series.
“It has been a long road trip, but hopefully this gets us going,” Overbay said. “The good thing about coming out of it is that we had good at-bats. We’re getting those quality at-bats, giving ourselves opportunities.”
Elsewhere in interleague play Sunday, it was: N.Y. Yankees 4 Cincinnati 1; Boston 5 St. Louis 3 (13 innings); L.A. Angels 3 Philadelphia 2; Atlanta 8 Seattle 3; Texas 5 Washington 3; Houston 3 Tampa Bay 2; Milwaukee 7 Baltimore 3; Kansas City 11 San Francisco 10; Minnesota 5 Arizona 3; Detroit 5 San Diego 3; Oakland 7 Florida 1; L.A. Dodgers 4 Cleveland 3; and Chicago Cubs 7 Chicago White Sox 1.
In the lone National League game, it was: N.Y. Mets 3 Colorado 1.
At Pittsburgh, Ian Snell lasted just four innings for the Pirates, who were trying for their first sweep of an American League opponent in seven years. Snell has won only once since April 12, and manager John Russell said he would undergo an MRI exam on Monday. The right-hander complained about irritation in his elbow after the loss.
“We are going to run some tests tomorrow,” Russell said. “Hopefully it’s not anything major but we’ll get some tests run and go from there. He didn’t feel right today and he has a little irritation.
“He faltered on a few pitches. Just to be on the side of caution, we want to find out what it is, if there’s anything in there.”
Snell allowed four runs and eight hits, walked four and struck out. His ERA climbed to 5.99.
“I’m trying my hardest. I’m trying everything possible,” Snell said. “My head’s there, everything’s there. I just don’t know what’s going wrong.
“To tell you the truth, I thought it was dead arm, but I was wrong. It’s just some irritation that I’m just going to get an MRI tomorrow and get it checked out to see if anything is wrong with it.”
Dustin McGowan (6-5) allowed four runs – three earned – and nine hits in five innings for Toronto. He improved to 4-1 in his past six starts.
B.J. Ryan pitched the ninth for his 15th save.
Lind ended a 12-pitch at-bat with a drive to right-centre leading off the fourth against Ian Snell. Lind, who was recalled Friday from triple-A Syracuse, gave Toronto a 3-1 lead with his first homer since Sept. 29.
Lind went 1-for-19 during a stint with the Blue Jays earlier this season.
“I was thinking about it, ‘Man, it’d be nice to get a hit after all those pitches,”‘ said Lind, who also had a single. “He finally got one down in zone, and I got the bat head to it.”
Pittsburgh scored three runs in the fourth to tie it at four. Jose Bautista had a two-run single and Raul Chavez also singled in a run.
Toronto went ahead for good in the sixth. Overbay had a two-out, two-run double and Rolen followed with his fourth homer of the season.
T.J. Beam (0-1), making his first major league appearance since 2006, allowed one run and walked two in 1 1-3 hitless innings for the Pirates.
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Yankees 4 Reds 1
At New York, Andy Pettitte ran his shutout stretch to 19 consecutive innings and helped the Yankees avoid a three-game sweep with a victory over last-place Cincinnati.
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Red Sox 5 Cardinals 3 (13 innings)
At Boston, Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run home run off of Mike Parisi in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift the Red Sox past St. Louis.
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Angels 3 Phillies 2
At Philadelphia, Jered Weaver held the Phillies in check into the sixth inning, Casey Kotchman homered and the Angels completed a three-game sweep.
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Braves 8 Mariners 3
At Atlanta, Mark Teixeira had three home runs for the second time in his career, going deep from both sides of the plate in the Braves’ victory over Seattle.
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Rangers 5 Nationals 3
At Washington, Frank Catalanotto drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning to make a winner out of Vicente Padilla as Texas held on to beat the Nationals.
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Astros 3 Rays 2
At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Lee hit a go-ahead two-run homer and Brandon Backe pitched into the seventh inning to stop a personal three-game losing streak, helping Houston beat the Rays.
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Brewers 7 Orioles 3
At Milwaukee, Prince Fielder hit two home runs, Corey Hart and Bill Hall also went deep and the Brewers beat Baltimore for their sixth win in seven games.
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Royals 11 Giants 10
At Kansas City, Mo., Mike Aviles had three RBIs and Joey Gathright drove home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, capping a seven-run comeback in the Royals’ win over San Francisco.
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Twins 5 Diamondbacks 3
At Minneapolis, Brian Buscher had two hits and two RBIs, helping the Twins complete a three-game sweep of Arizona.
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Tigers 5 Padres 3
At San Diego, Justin Verlander struck out a season-high 10 hitters for his first road victory since last September as Detroit downed the Padres.
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Athletics 7 Marlins 1
At Oakland, Calif., Justin Duchscherer bounced back from a first-inning home run to win his fourth straight start, Emil Brown hit a two-run single and the Athletics won the rubber game against Florida.
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Dodgers 4 Indians 3
At Los Angeles, Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., capped a four-run first inning with a two-run homer as the Dodgers held on to beat Cleveland and avoid a three-game sweep.
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Cubs 7 White Sox 1
At Chicago, Ryan Dempster of Gibsons, B.C., pitched into the ninth inning and Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run homer as the Cubs completed a sweep of the cross-town White Sox.
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Mets 3 Rockies 1
At Denver, Mike Pelfrey carried a shutout into the sixth inning, Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer and the Mets beat the Rockies to wrap up a winning road trip under interim manager Jerry Manuel.
