NEW YORK -- Pinch-hitter David Dellucci stunned the New York Yankees with a go-ahead homer off Joba Chamberlain, and the Cleveland Indians rallied for a 5-3 victory Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series.
Dellucci's three-run shot with two outs in the eighth inning spoiled a strong start by Andy Pettitte and boosted a Cleveland offense that's been struggling mightily at the plate.
It was only the second home run allowed in 37 career innings by Chamberlain, the hard-throwing reliever who has been nearly unhittable since reaching the majors last August. Boston's Mike Lowell hit the other one on Sept. 16.
Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer off Pettitte, but the Yankees built a 3-2 lead against Fausto Carmona on two RBI from Jason Giambi and a go-ahead single by Robinson Cano -- both mired in miserable slumps all season.
Chamberlain (1-2) entered in the eighth to protect it, and never looked right.
He walked leadoff batter Grady Sizemore, then issued a free pass to Peralta with one out. After Ryan Garko flied out, Dellucci batted for Franklin Gutierrez and lofted an 0-1 delivery onto the short porch in right for his 10th career pinch-hit homer and first since June 2006 for Philadelphia against the New York Mets.
Rafael Perez (1-1) tossed two scoreless innings for the victory. Jensen Lewis worked a one-hit eighth and Rafael Betancourt got three quick outs for his third save. Full story
Angels 5, Royals 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Garret Anderson homered for the second successive game and drove in five runs to lift Los Angeles.
Anderson, who had a two-run home run Monday night, slammed Brian Bannister's pitch over the right field wall for a three-run shot that tied the score at 3 in the fourth. In the fifth, Anderson's RBI single made it 4-3. Then he victimized Bannister (3-4) with another RBI single in the seventh. He was 3-for-5.
Vladimir Guerrero tripled, doubled and walked and scored two runs for the Angels, who went to a season-best nine games over .500 with their major league-leading 12th road victory.
Nick Adenhart went 4 1/3 innings in his second major league start and gave up three runs and six hits. He walked five. The 21-year-old right-hander left several exasperated batters glowering at plate umpire Mike Everitt, who called three third strikes and appeared to be giving the rookie right-hander a generous portion of both the inside and outside corner of the plate.
Athletics 4, Orioles 2
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Justin Duchscherer is showing he's healthy again.
Duchscherer won his second succeesive start in his third outing since coming off the disabled list and Oakland earned its third consecutive victory.
Emil Brown gave the A's a quick lead with a run-scoring single in the first and Bobby Crosby and Mark Ellis each drove in runs on groundouts in the third. Rajai Davis added a sacrifice fly for an insurance run in the sixth and Frank Thomas had two singles and scored twice.
Duchscherer (3-1) came out and delivered from the start. He struck out the first two batters he faced, retired the initial nine and got through three innings on only 30 pitches. He struck out two more in the third before allowing a leadoff walk to Brian Roberts to begin the fourth for his first baserunner.
Rays 5, Blue Jays 4
TORONTO -- Andy Sonnanstine won his fourth consecutive start, Eric Hinske homered, and Tampa Bay snapped Toronto's five-game winning streak.
Sonnanstine (5-1) allowed four runs and 10 hits in six innings, becoming the fastest five-game winner in Tampa Bay's 11-season history. He walked one and struck out two.
Sonnanstine is 4-0 against American League East opponents and has not lost since April 9 against Seattle. He has a 2.45 ERA in his past four starts.
Dan Wheeler worked the seventh and eighth while Troy Percival pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
Rangers 10, Mariners 1
SEATTLE -- Major league RBI leader Josh Hamilton, Michael Young and David Murphy drove in three runs each to support stingy starter Sidney Ponson in Texas' victory.
Seattle lost for the sixth time in seven games before the smallest crowd in Safeco Field history to move back into a last-place tie in the AL West. Mariners hitters continued their mostly punchless season with just seven harmless hits in seven innings off Ponson (2-0), who worked quickly and at times effortlessly. He struck out two and walked one.
The Rangers scored 10 runs in three innings on just six hits and seven walks. Seattle starter Miguel Batista (2-4) and Cha Seung Baek walked 10 in all.
One night after a victory sparked Mariners talk of merely getting back to .500, Seattle played like its listless, humiliated predecessors of the 1980s.
