Texas MLB Capsules: Lewis ends losing streak as Rangers beat Blue Jays
TORONTO (AP) — Colby Lewis is headed home — without his long winless stretch.
Lewis matched his career high in victories by winning for the first time since mid-July, Mitch Moreland drove in a career-high three runs and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 on Thursday night.
"The day belonged to Colby Lewis," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "He stayed off the fat part of the bat, he made some good pitches when he had to. He just did an outstanding job."
The Rangers had scored only 17 runs in Lewis' previous nine starts, just eight of them while the right-hander was still on the mound. Lewis went 0-7 with a 5.07 ERA during the victory drought.
"He's been pitching well, it's just been a string of bad luck for him, not getting the breaks when he needs them," Moreland said. "Tonight we were able to get him a win and get him back on track."
The Rangers, who lead the AL West, won their second straight after losing nine of 12 and wrapped up their 10-game road trip with a 4-6 mark.
"Things just went bad for us there for a minute but we were able to right the ship," Washington said. "That's what it's all about."
Moreland finished 1 for 2 with a sacrifice fly and an intentional walk. Vladimir Guerrero went 3 for 4 and scored twice for Texas.
Toronto's Jose Bautista hit his major league-leading 44th homer, a solo shot off Darren O'Day in the eighth. Lyle Overbay went deep against Lewis in the seventh, his 18th.
The Blue Jays lead the majors with 218 homers this season, including a major league-best 122 at home. Toronto has homered in 11 consecutive games, hitting 23 in that span.
The attendance was 10,658, the third straight game Toronto has drawn fewer than 11,000 fans.
Lewis (10-12) allowed a season-high nine runs in his previous outing, Saturday's loss at Minnesota. The start before that wasn't much better, with Lewis giving up seven runs in a loss to Oakland.
"I just really wanted to kind of bounce back after the two poor outings that I had," he said. "That's the biggest thing I wanted to do today."
Lewis, who came in 1-3 with a 12.27 ERA in four career starts against the Blue Jays, was sharp over 6 1-3 innings, allowing one run and five hits, four of them singles. He struck out eight and walked two.
"It's definitely gratifying to get to double digits," said Lewis, who also won 10 games in 2003.
Asked how he planned to celebrate the win, Lewis said all he wanted was to catch up with his wife and 3-year-old son.
"I haven't seen my boy in about 10 days so I'm real excited to go back home and see my family," he said. "That's basically it. Long road trips are the biggest thing that kind of burn you out a little bit. I'm just looking forward to going back home and seeing the family."
Clay Rapada pitched one inning, O'Day got two outs in the eighth and Neftali Feliz closed it out in the ninth for his 35th save in 38 chances.
Making his first start since April 25, 2009, with San Diego, Blue Jays right-hander Shawn Hill (0-1) allowed four runs, three earned, and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Hill, who was born in suburban Toronto, underwent his second elbow ligament replacement surgery last June. After being released by the Padres in October, he signed with the Blue Jays in January.
Hill escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the third when Ian Kinsler struck out and Michael Young grounded into a double play.
The Rangers broke through with two runs in the fourth. David Murphy scored from second on Nelson Cruz's single to shallow left when Travis Snider bobbled the ball and was charged with an error. Moreland followed with a fly ball to center, but catcher John Buck dropped Dewayne Wise's throw, allowing Guerrero to score.
Moreland lined left-hander Jesse Carlson's second pitch off the first base bag and down the line for a two-run double in the sixth.
NOTES: The Blue Jays claimed RHP Taylor Buchholz off waivers from Colorado and moved RHP Jesse Litsch (hip) to the 60-day disabled list. ... Washington said SS Elvis Andrus will return to the lineup Friday. Andrus has not played since Saturday, sitting out with a sore right hamstring. ... The Blue Jays homered in 13 straight games from July 3-20, hitting 28 in that stretch. ... O'Day has allowed four home runs this season, all of them in Toronto.
Johnson, Astros beat Dodgers 3-2
HOUSTON (AP) — Chris Johnson was in the middle of one rough night when he came to the plate with two runners on in the sixth inning.
One clutch swing later, and he was feeling good again.
Johnson hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Houston Astros rallied to beat the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Thursday.
The rookie third baseman struck out in his first two at-bats and committed an error that led to an unearned run before powering Houston to its third consecutive victory.
"That one at-bat was good, the rest of my game was awful," Johnson said.
Johnson drove a full-count pitch from Ted Lilly (8-10) to the train tracks in left field for his eighth homer, erasing a two-run deficit. Hunter Pence singled to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and Carlos Lee walked to set up Johnson's one-out drive.
Houston manager Brad Mills was impressed by Johnson's poise after the tough start.
"That's nice to see that he didn't let his whole game fall apart there with the error and the two strikeouts," Mills said. "There's still things that he can contribute even though those things can happen and it's good."
Bud Norris (7-8) pitched six innings for Houston, yielding two runs, one earned, and three hits. The right-hander struck out seven and walked four.
"I put Bud in a hole in the first inning by making the error and (Andre) Ethier hit a homer," Johnson said. "I was just glad I could do something to help us out after that."
The Dodgers have dropped six straight and eight of nine to continue to fade from playoff contention.
Ethier hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give Los Angeles the lead. Ethier's shot bounced just above the yellow line on the wall in left-center and scored Jamey Carroll, who reached on an error by Johnson.
But Norris settled down from there. Gustavo Chacin got two outs in the seventh, Mark Melancon pitched 1 1-3 innings and Brandon Lyon worked a perfect ninth for his 14th save, completing the four-hitter.
The Astros couldn't string together any hits early in the game. Lee singled in the fourth before Jason Michaels doubled, but Lilly struck out Johnson and Tommy Manzella to get out of that jam.
Lilly allowed seven hits in six innings, dropping to 7-2 with a 2.36 ERA in 13 career starts against the Astros. It was his first loss against Houston since June 10, 2005, when he was with Toronto.
"Lilly pitched well," Los Angeles manager Joe Torre said. "It goes back to the same old story — we are putting so much pressure on our starting pitching that every single pitch they make is win or lose, do or die, stuff like that. Our starting pitching, for the most part, has been very good and very consistent."
John Lindsey, who was recalled for Ethier before he got to hit or play in the field on Wednesday night, made his first major league plate appearance Thursday after 15 years in the minors. The 33-year-old hit for Lilly in the seventh inning and was out on a fly ball to center field.
Thirteen members of his family, including his 3-year-old son, traveled from Mississippi to see the game.
"It's an awesome feeling," Lindsey said. "My little boy to see his dad up there. For all I know, he was playing around up there ... it was truly a good feeling to know that they were there to support me."
Torre said he plans to start Lindsey on Saturday.
NOTES: Torre kept some of his regular starters out of the lineup after the team arrived at the hotel in Houston about 6 a.m. after Wednesday night's game in San Diego. ... It had been a year and 139 days since the Dodgers last played in Houston before Thursday night. ... Astros RHP Felipe Paulino, on the 60-day disabled list with a right rotator cuff injury, threw a simulated game. "He threw the ball really well," Mills said. "We have to just wait and see how he feels tomorrow and proceed from there."
-- Kristie Rieken
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Toronto police turn over Clemens documents
TORONTO (AP) — Police searched the offices of the Toronto Blue Jays and turned over documents in connection with the perjury case against seven-time Cy Young winner Roger Clemens.
Two officers executed the search in June and assisted the U.S. Justice Department by forwarding the two boxes they obtained, police spokesman Const. Tony Vella said Thursday.
Vella called it a U.S. investigation and said the Blue Jays cooperated with the court order. He declined to say if medical records were obtained.
Clemens pleaded not guilty last month to charges of lying to Congress about whether he used steroids or human growth hormone. Federal prosecutors didn't believe Clemens' testimony to Congress, and they subsequently charged him with making false statements, perjury and obstruction of Congress.
Clemens won Cy Young Awards in Toronto in 1997 and 1998. Most of the accusations against Clemens are based on the word of Brian McNamee, once the Blue Jays' strength and conditioning coach.
At Clemens' arraignment last week, government attorney Steven Durham said there was "voluminous" scientific evidence that needed to be reviewed before the trial could start, tentatively in April. That presumably includes the syringes McNamee alleges he used to inject the pitcher with drugs. It might also include information from the documents received from the Blue Jays.
"We do not comment about matters pending before courts other than to confirm that it is our policy to comply with all valid legal process," Blue Jays spokesman Jay Stenhouse said.
Clemens is facing three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of Congress. The 48-year-old pitcher has promised all along to fight the charges.
If convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine, though under U.S. sentencing guidelines, he probably would get no more than 15 to 21 months in prison.
Any conviction, however, could damage his reputation, future earnings and chances of election to baseball's Hall of Fame.
Clemens had come to Congress after being mentioned repeatedly in the Mitchell Report — the damning breakdown of the sport's steroid problem released in 2007. Two months later, in front of a House committee, Clemens said: "Let me be clear. I have never taken steroids or HGH."
McNamee testified that the pitcher did, in fact, use steroids and HGH. McNamee also worked with Clemens when he was with the New York Yankees.
Former teammate Andy Pettitte also told congressional investigators that Clemens told him he had used HGH. Clemens said Pettitte "misremembers" the conversation.
Clemens ranks ninth on the career list with 354 victories and was an 11-time All-Star. During a 23-year career that ended in 2007, he played for the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Yankees and the Houston Astros.
He left Boston and joined Toronto in 1997 after Boston's general manager at the time, Dan Duquette, said the pitcher was in the "twilight" of his career.
-- Rob Gillies
