Young's homer in ninth lifts Rangers over Royals

Sunday, April 19, 2009

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Michael Young hit a leadoff homer in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers rallied from two runs down to beat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Sunday.

Young ripped a 1-0 pitch from Kyle Farnsworth (0-3) into the seats in left-center for his first career game-winning homer. Young leaped into the air as he approached home plate, diving into a group of teammates there to greet him.

Frank Francisco (1-0) pitched the ninth for the win.

The Rangers trailed 5-3 when Andruw Jones doubled off reliever Ron Mahay in the eighth. Jones went to third when Royals first baseman Mike Jacobs booted Hank Blalock's grounder, and he scored on Nelson Cruz's ground out off Jamey Wright to make it 5-4.

Blalock went to second and Chris Davis followed with a pinch-hit single, and Blalock scored from second when the sharp grounder glanced off the glove of second baseman Alberto Callaspo. He recovered the ball and threw home, but Blalock's slide avoided the tag from catcher John Buck.

Ian Kinsler homered for the Rangers, who had lost seven of eight coming in.

Royals starter Kyle Davies recovered from a four-walk first inning to pitch three-hit ball over six innings, leaving with a 5-3 lead before the bullpen faltered.

Davies fell behind 2-0 in a shaky first but righted himself to allow three runs, strike out eight and walk five.

Jacobs and David DeJesus homered and drove in two runs each for the Royals, who had won five of six entering Sunday's game. Texas starter Vicente Padilla allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings with five strikeouts and one walk.

Davies had trouble finding the strike zone in the first, walking four with Kinsler and Young executing a double steal. Blalock's sacrifice fly and David Murphy's bases-loaded walk gave Texas a 2-0 lead.

But Jacobs' two-run homer in the second tied it at 2-2.

Kinsler's homer in the second put Texas ahead 3-2, but DeJesus' RBI single in the third tied it at 3.

Buck's RBI single in the fourth gave the Royals a 4-3 lead, and DeJesus' solo homer in the fifth made it 5-3.

Meanwhile, Davies settled in after Kinsler's homer, retiring 14 of the next 16 batters.

Notes: Royals manager Trey Hillman said right-hander Zack Greinke is on track to join the game's elite pitchers. Greinke tossed his first major league shutout in beating the Rangers on Saturday night, extending his shutout streak to 34 innings dating to last season. "He's on a roll," Hillman said. "That was about as good as it gets. I think Zack can be one of the premier pitchers in the major leagues.". ... Davies threw 37 pitches (22 balls) in the first inning. ...Texas C Taylor Teagarden made his third start of the season, striking out three times. Regular C Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been struggling at the plate, batting .176 after 11 games, but manager Ron Washington said Saltalamacchia has improved at calling a game and blocking balls in the dirt. ... Texas slugger Josh Hamilton struck out seven times in the three-game series.

Dodgers 14, Rockies 2

LOS ANGELES -- Matt Kemp hit a grand slam and a solo homer to help the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 14-2 on Sunday for their eighth straight win.

Andre Ethier and Orlando Hudson each drove in three runs for Los Angeles, which has won its first six home games for the first time since the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers started out 8-0 at Ebbets Field in Jackie Robinson's rookie year.

The defending NL West champions are 29-9 at Chavez Ravine since last year's All-Star break, the best record in the majors during that stretch. During this homestand they outscored their opponents 50-17, recording 77 hits, 11 home runs and 31 walks while batting a collective .367.

James McDonald managed to work out of trouble repeatedly while throwing 4 1-3 scoreless innings for the Dodgers. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second when he retired rookie Dexter Fowler on a flyball to right field.

Manager Joe Torre hoped to get five innings out of the 24-year-old right-hander in his second big league start, but had to pull him with a 4-0 lead after he walked two batters in the fifth.

Scott Elbert (1-0), recalled from Double-A Chattanooga on Saturday when Cory Wade went on the DL, was summoned to face 2000 NL batting champ Todd Helton and retired him on a foul pop. Cleanup hitter Garrett Atkins followed with a drive that Kemp hauled in with a leaping catch a few feet from the center-field fence.

Elbert contributed an RBI double during a seven-run fifth that gave the Dodgers an 11-0 cushion. Ubaldo Jimenez was removed with one out and the bases loaded before Kemp greeted struggling Matt Belisle with his second career grand slam and first since April 26, 2008 -- also against the Rockies. Hudson and Ethier capped the Dodgers' most productive inning of the season with run-scoring singles.

Elbert allowed two runs and three hits in 2 2-3 innings, including seventh-inning homers by Brad Hawpe and Chris Iannetta.

Jimenez (1-2) was charged with seven runs and seven hits. The right-hander was 4-0 with a 5.51 ERA in six previous career starts against the Dodgers, including a 9-0 victory last July 22, when he earned his first complete game in the majors with a four-hitter.

The Dodgers, who finished with 19 hits, grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first on RBI doubles by Hudson and Ethier. Jimenez escaped a bases-loaded jam later that inning when he slipped a called third strike past Kemp, who struck out a franchise-record 153 times last season.

Hudson made it 3-0 in the second with an RBI single. Kemp, who was left standing at home plate when Russell Martin was caught stealing in a rundown to end the third, led off the fourth with a double and scored on Rafael Furcal's double.

Kemp's three hits extended his season-opening hit streak to 13 games.

Notes: The Rockies played the second-most day games last season behind the Chicago Cubs, and were 17-30 -- the worst percentage in franchise history in that department. They've already played eight times under the sun this season (3-5). ... Belisle has been charged with seven runs and seven hits in one-third of an inning over his last two appearances. ... Wade was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Monday to take a closer look at the bursitis in his shoulder that sent him to the DL, but the Dodgers scrapped that idea Sunday and are sending him to their Glendale, Ariz. training facility. "He got a (cortisone) shot, and it started to get significant reaction," Torre said. "He seems to be getting better, so the MRI doctor (Neal ElAttrache) didn't feel it was necessary. So Cory's going back there to rehab and do simulated games when the time comes." ... The Dodgers' franchise record for longest home winning streak to start a season is nine set in 1946.

Cardinals-Cubs game postponed because of rain

CHICAGO -- The bullpens of the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals got a much-needed break from the weather on Sunday night.

Steady rain and an ugly forecast postponed the conclusion of their four-game series, which will be made up July 12 as part of a day-night doubleheader. It was called about 3 hours before the scheduled first pitch.

"No question, our bullpen could use a break," said Cubs manager Lou Piniella. "There's no question about that."

The Cardinals won the first game of the series and the Cubs won the next two, both in dramatic fashion. Alfonso Soriano hit a go-ahead two-run homer in Friday's game and Aramis Ramirez hit a game-winning two-run homer in the 11th inning on Saturday.

The back-and-forth games put pressure on both bullpens.

Cardinals manager Tony La Russa was forced to use situational lefty Dennys Reyes in the 11th inning on Saturday, and he was tagged by Ramirez with the game-ending home run. La Russa didn't want to be forced into that situation again.

"There are two things you don't want to do, if you take the worst-case scenario," La Russa said. "You don't want to get embarrassed, in this rivalry or anytime, especially if a lot of people are watching. The second thing is you don't want to penalize one of your key guys, like (Todd) Wellemeyer, if he's struggling and not having a good day."

Piniella was forced to use closer Kevin Gregg for two innings on Saturday.

"St. Louis was basically in the same situation we were, bullpen wise. To me, early in the season, with cold weather, wet fields, you can get some injuries. That's my biggest concern," Piniella said.

The Cubs and Cardinals meet for a three-game series in St. Louis beginning Friday.

Ted Lilly was scheduled to pitch for the Cubs on Sunday, who are off Monday before opening a three-game series against the Reds. The Cubs decided to push Lilly back to Wednesday and Rich Harden will make his scheduled start on Tuesday.

"Lilly's been a little sick. It gives him an extra day," Piniella said. "Also, we keep everybody else pitching on regular turn."

Piniella is hoping to have outfielder Milton Bradley back in the lineup on Tuesday. Bradley, in a 1-for-19 slump, has been out of the starting lineup for five straight games because of a right groin strain.

"I would think there's a good chance to see him on Tuesday night. I would say that the chances are good," Piniella said.

The Cardinals begin a three-game series against Mets on Tuesday night. The Cardinals will go with a four-man starting rotation, pushing Wellemeyer back to Tuesday. Joel Pineiro is scheduled to start Wednesday, with Adam Wainwright and Kyle Loshe to follow.

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