Hunter, Aybar Lead Angels Past Tigers

Angels right-hander throws seven shutout innings in win

(NEWSER) - Jered Weaver pitched seven scoreless innings, Torii Hunter and Howie Kendrick had run-scoring hits and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 last night. Weaver (1-1) allowed three hits, walked none and struck out six after losing at Minnesota in the first opening-day assignment of his career. Weaver threw 93 pitches. Francisco Rodriguez picked up his third save. More»

Verlander and Co. can't get it done in rain-delayed game

(AP) - A few minutes past midnight, the Texas Rangers had one more victory over Justin Verlander—and the Detroit Tigers lost yet another wet playoff opener started by their ace. "If anywhere in the country has a drought, just bring me in and I'll fix that," Verlander said after the Rangers beat him 3-2 last night in Game 1 of the AL championship series opener. Before the game was interrupted twice by rain for a total of 1 hour, 50 minutes in the top of the fifth inning, Nelson Cruz broke a postseason slump with a home run and the defending AL champions scored all of their runs off Verlander. More»

With Dodgers in NLCS, only Philly-Colorado remains up in the air

(NEWSER) - The Yankees wrapped up a sweep of the Twins tonight in Minneapolis, getting homers from Jorge Posada and suddenly clutch Alex Rodriguez in a 6-1 win. They advance to face the Angels, who mounted an unlikely ninth-inning comeback this afternoon, scoring off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon three times and hanging on for a 7-6 victory and their own sweep in Boston. More»

(NEWSER) - Luke Hochevar pitched six strong innings and Joey Gathright drove in the only runs, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 2-0 on Wednesday night and hand Justin Verlander his AL-leading seventh loss. Hochevar (3-2), the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, limited the Tigers to four singles while striking out five and walking three. More»

(NEWSER) - Jered Weaver allowed one hit over seven innings and batterymate Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night. A.J. Pierzynski's leadoff single in the fifth was the only hit off Weaver. The right-hander struck out six and walked one, coming out of the game after 109 pitches. More»