MLB Capsules - AL: Lewis, Rangers shutout Seattle in 4-0 victory

SEATTLE (AP) — Very quickly, Ron Washington made sure to point out that this streak of shutout pitching by the Rangers is not going to continue.

"You've got to ride it while you can," said the Texas Rangers manager. "Hope you don't expect us to be constantly throwing shutouts."

Facing the struggling Seattle Mariners, though, Texas just might be able to keep this shutout streak going.

This time it was Colby Lewis shutting down Seattle's bats, throwing 8 2-3 stellar innings and falling one out shy of a complete game in the Rangers' 4-0 win on Friday night.

Lewis took a two-hitter into the ninth before giving up a pair of singles to Dustin Ackley and Adam Kennedy and eventually causing Washington to make the walk to the mound and pull his starter. Neftali Feliz finished off the shutout for his 19th save of the season as the Rangers ran their shutout streak to 29 innings.

The last run against Texas pitching came in the seventh inning last Saturday night when Oakland's Coco Crisp homered. It's the first time the Rangers have posted three straight shutouts since May 7-9, 2008 — two of those against Seattle and one against Oakland.

History seems to be repeating itself.

"For three straight games we've executed pitches, we've done a good job," Washington said.

Lewis followed up Derek Holland's stellar performance a night earlier when Holland took a perfect game into the sixth inning before settling for a shutout. Lewis wasn't quite as good, giving up a third-inning single to Brendan Ryan, but was equally effective at keeping Seattle's hapless offense off the scoreboard.

Only three times did Seattle advance a runner to second base against the Rangers' righty. Lewis (9-7) lived on the outside half of the plate and induced weak grounders and pop ups all night. He was on the cusp of his second complete-game shutout this season before stumbling in the ninth.

"It's always disappointing, you always want to finish it off when you get that close," Lewis said. "I'll stew on it tonight and I had four opportunities and they got two hits. Just wake up tomorrow and go back to work and not worry about it."

Lewis won his fourth straight decision and has dropped his ERA from 4.97 on June 11 down to 4.06. He allowed Ryan's single in the third and a leadoff ground-rule double by Franklin Gutierrez in the fifth when centerfielder Endy Chavez was caught shading Gutierrez too much to right-center field. But Gutierrez was left standing at second as Kyle Seager and Carlos Peguero both struck out — Seager on a 10-pitch at-bat — and Ichiro Suzuki grounded out weakly to shortstop.

Lewis finished with eight strikeouts and walked two. Feliz got Jack Cust on a groundout to finish off the shutout for his 19th save in 27 chances. Texas now has 12 shutouts this season, second-best in baseball and the top mark in the American League.

Meanwhile, the Mariners saw their scoreless streak extended to 26 straight innings.

"Ultimately it's not like we are going out there playing bad baseball. We're just not doing anything offensively," Seattle manager Eric Wedge said. "It's frustrating. It's upsetting. I know it is for them too, but ultimately the guys with the bats in their hands have to control it."

The Rangers offense wasn't able to do much against Seattle starter Doug Fister, but came up with a trio of sacrifice flies and Michael Young's RBI single in the eighth.

Ian Kinsler doubled to lead off the game and scored on Josh Hamilton's sacrifice fly. Chavez drove home Nelson Cruz in the second with a sacrifice fly. Then Fister settled into an unhittable groove, retiring 15 straight following Elvis Andrus' leadoff walk in the third. Ten of the 15 outs came on weak grounders in the infield.

The Rangers finally got to Fister (3-11) again in the eighth when Chavez led off with a single and raced to third on Kinsler's base hit. Chavez was cut down at home on an infield grounder by Andrus, and after Hamilton was intentionally walked, Adrian Beltre hit a flyball deep enough for Kinsler to score. Young then followed with a single to score Andrus.

"You've got to give Fister credit. He pitched a really good game and we still got him," Washington said. "And we got him by executing and Colby kept us in the ball game. ... Fister did a great job but Colby did a better job."

Fister gave up six hits and four runs in 7 2-3 innings. He walked two and struck out one, but lost his sixth straight decision and hasn't won since May 30.

NOTES: Seattle announced before Friday's game that RHP David Aardsma will need Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. An MRI on Aardsma done Thursday determined the need for surgery. He did not pitch for the Mariners this season. ... Rangers INF Andres Blanco, on the DL since July 8 with a strained lower back, will start swinging a bat on Saturday and if there are no setbacks could head out on a rehab assignment sometime next week. ... Friday was the 12th anniversary of the opening of Safeco Field.

Martin not mad at Blue Jays for stealing signs

TORONTO (AP) — New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin isn’t mad at the Toronto Blue Jays for stealing signs. He’s upset with himself for not noticing sooner.

Martin claimed the Blue Jays were relaying information from second base to the batter during Toronto’s 16-7 victory Thursday night that started off with an eight-run outburst in the first inning.

"You move your head one way it’s a fastball, you move your head the other way it’s a slider," Martin said after the game. "It was pretty blatant."

"It’s just an easier game when you know what’s coming," he added.

But before Friday’s game, Martin made it clear he didn’t consider Toronto’s behavior to be out of bounds.

"I was more angry at myself for figuring it out too late," he said. "There’s a reason you give multiple signs."

Martin said it was the fourth inning Thursday when he switched signs with Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista on second base at Aaron Hill at the plate. Hill’s at-bat ended with a swinging strikeout.

"It’s a part of the game and it’s a fun part of the game, too," Martin said.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi, a catcher in his playing days, agreed with Martin that the onus is on the defense to protect signs from being stolen.

"It’s studying your opponent is what it is," Girardi said. "To me, it’s not cheating because you’re studying something. You’re looking for signs. Signs can be tipped a lot of different ways. It doesn’t just have to come from the fingers the guy puts down. Guys have found how pitchers tip pitches forever. Is that cheating? If you know it, are you not going to use it?

"I think if it’s coming from the bullpen or someone’s got binoculars or it comes from the stands, that’s out of bounds," Girardi added. "But if it’s the players and the competitiveness of the players, that’s in bounds to me."

Girardi said the catcher’s vantage point is the best place to notice any unusual behavior in the batter’s box.

"You watch some of the swings that clubs are taking," he said. "Are they fooled on any of the pitches? Are they bailing when you’re throwing the ball in? There’s a lot of things that you watch for."

So, did the Yankees skipper notice signs being relayed on Thursday?

"I’m not going to comment on that but believe me, we pay attention to it," Girardi said.

Blue Jays manager John Farrell, a former pitcher, claimed to be "unaware" of the Blue Jays stealing signs.

"That’s something that’s part of the game and why we spend a lot of time in spring training making sure there are multiple sets of signs," Farrell said. "If that’s something that’s sensed between the lines, you’ve got to be equipped to handle what you might perceive taking place."

Girardi said he’s conscious of Toronto trying to steal signs, but only because they’re a familiar opponent in the AL East.

"A lot of times, when you see teams more, and we see these guys 18 times, they’re more familiar with you, you’re more familiar with them and you pay close attention," he said.

That’s why, Girardi suggested, the topic likely came up in New York’s pregame meetings.

"I tell our guys what to do and how we have to prepare when we go into different series and things to watch for," he said.

Red Sox slugger Ortiz appeals 4-game suspension

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Red Sox slugger David Ortiz is appealing the four-game suspension he received for his part in Boston’s bench-clearing melee with the Baltimore Orioles last week.

He was in the lineup against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday night as the designated hitter.

Ortiz was suspended Thursday, along with Orioles pitchers Kevin Gregg and Mike Gonzalez and Baltimore manager Buck Showalter. He declined to specifically address his suspension.

"After I go through the whole thing (I can address it)," Ortiz said. "I can’t really talk about it now. But at one point I will. I’ll tell you what I was thinking. I’ll tell you what I thought was right."

Ortiz has not been told when the appeal will heard.

"Hopefully soon," Ortiz said. "We’ll see."

Gregg and Gonzalez said Thursday they would appeal their suspensions that followed the fight on July 8. The Red Sox didn’t play Thursday, and Boston manager Terry Francona said Ortiz was excused from the team’s workout in Florida to give him an extra day to recover from the All-Star game.

The skirmish started when Gregg threw two inside pitches to Ortiz. The DH started toward the mound after the second, and players from both benches and bullpens trotted onto the field, but nothing further developed.

Gregg then got Ortiz to pop out and shouted something to the Boston slugger, who charged and met Gregg about halfway between the mound and first base line. Umpire Mike Estabrook ejected Gregg and Ortiz.

Gregg said he was merely protecting himself and questioned the decision to suspend him for the same number of games as Ortiz.

Ortiz apologized the next day, but in the series finale on July 10 Gonzalez threw a pitch behind Ortiz. Gonzalez and Showalter immediately were ejected.

"It’s the kind of situation that you don’t want to be involved with," Ortiz said. "It’s not what the fans come to watch. Definitely, you feel embarrassed."

The Red Sox and Orioles open a three-game series Monday night in Baltimore, and Ortiz is hopeful there will be no carryover.

"Not from my side, you know what I’m saying?" Ortiz said. "This all happened already. Major League Baseball is always doing the right thing to make sure we don’t get into that too much. There’s going to be some suspensions, some fines, and hopefully everybody turns the page."

"There’s one thing that I can control ... David Ortiz," he added. "Can’t control anything else."

Orioles DH Guerrero sidelined with hand injury

BALTIMORE (AP) — Orioles designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero has a fractured bone in his right hand, an injury that forced him to miss Friday night’s game against Cleveland and could land him on the disabled list.

Guerrero has not played since being struck in the hand by a pitch from Boston’s Kyle Weiland on Sunday. He was too sore to play Thursday against the Indians but had hoped to return Friday.

"He went in the cage, thought he might be able to play today," Showalter said Friday afternoon. "That did not go well."

Showalter delayed filling out his lineup card to see if Guerrero could assume his customary spot at cleanup. Instead, Showalter put catcher Matt Wieters in the No. 4 slot and used Nolan Reimold as the DH.

Showalter said an x-ray revealed a "small crack" in a bone on the outer part of Guerrero’s hand, but the Orioles are hopeful the 36-year-old slugger ultimately will be able to play through the injury.

"Guys have played with it if there’s not a possibility of hurting it more. It’s a matter of when the discomfort goes away," Showalter said. "We’ll see what the next day or two brings."

It appeared unlikely that Guerrero would be available Saturday.

"I know Vlady did say he’s not real sure about tomorrow either," Showalter said. "I’ve heard that secondhand though. I want to make sure I hear it from him."

Guerrero is batting .279 with seven homers and 31 RBIs. He’s been hit by pitches 102 times over his career, including six times this year, but does not use batting gloves at the plate.

"This is a guy that plays through a lot of things. He’s been hit multiple times," Showalter said. "You know that if he’s feeling that type of discomfort, there’s something going on there."

-- David Ginsburg

Boston’s Crawford plays in first rehab game

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (AP) — Carl Crawford tested his strained left hamstring in his first rehabilitation game, going 1 for 2 while playing five innings Friday for Triple-A Pawtucket. Crawford batted third and played left field. He had a broken-bat RBI single to center in the first inning, walked in the third and grounded into a fielder’s choice in the fifth. "The most important thing was being able to break out of the box like I normally can to be able to move quickly without worrying about my hamstring," Crawford said after playing five innings. "I had a few moments tonight where I was able to test it."

One moment occurred in the third after Crawford drew a one-out walk and Ryan Lavarnway followed with a hit-and-run single.

"That felt good," Crawford said. "That was a time I had chance to test it. I also had a chance to test it in the outfield."

Crawford was placed on Boston’s disabled list June 18, a day after getting hurt while beating out an infield hit against Milwaukee.

Crawford only played five innings because Boston didn’t want to push him.

"We’re just trying to get my legs back under me right now," he said. "We didn’t see the need to play nine innings. As long as I was able to do a few things that I can do when I’m in the big leagues, we thought that’s all I need to do."

He’s scheduled to play another rehab game Saturday night before joining Boston in Baltimore on Monday.

The speedy left-fielder the Red Sox gave a $142 million, seven-year free-agent contract is batting just .243 with only eight steals. But since hitting .155 in April, he’s batting .295.

Bautista sits with sore ankle

TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista was not in the lineup for Friday night’s game against the New York Yankees because of a sore right ankle.

The Toronto third baseman, who leads the majors with 31 home runs, is listed as day to day.

Bautista was injured when he caught a spike in the dirt while sliding into third base in Toronto’s 16-7 win over the Yankees on Thursday night at Rogers Centre. X-rays were negative and Bautista was re-evaluated Friday morning.

Jays manager John Farrell says Bautista’s ankle was no worse than it was Thursday and that the All-Star is wearing a walking boot to help stabilize the injury.

Farrell said it’s possible Bautista could return Sunday.

Edwin Encarnacion replaced Bautista at third base on Friday night.

Twins OF Span cleared to start rehab assignment

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Twins outfielder Denard Span has doctor’s clearance to begin a minor-league rehabilitation assignment, five weeks after suffering a concussion.

Twins head athletic trainer Rick McWane said Friday that Span will travel Saturday and play center field for Triple-A Rochester on Sunday. Outfielder Jason Kubel will join him and serve as the designated hitter for the Red Wings, re-starting his rehab after a setback to his sprained left foot two weeks ago. Kubel was first hurt May 30 and hasn’t played for the Twins since.

Span has been out since June 7, the result of concussion symptoms stemming from a collision at home plate. Per Major League Baseball guidelines, Span will have to pass more tests before he can be activated from the disabled list.

Seattle RHP David Aardsma to have elbow surgery

SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners reliever David Aardsma is done for the 2011 season and likely longer after an MRI determined the closer needs Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

The Mariners announced Aardsma’s diagnosis on Friday night. He is scheduled for surgery late next week to be performed by Dr. Lewis Yocum.

Aardsma has missed the entire 2011 season. He was first sidelined by offseason surgery on his left hip. Once Aardsma started throwing, his rehab assignment at Triple-A Tacoma was cut short by a strained ligament. He spent the past two months try to rehab his elbow without surgery.

After an MRI on Thursday, it was recommended that Aardsma have the surgery.

Aardsma recorded 69 saves for Seattle the past two seasons.

LF Vernon Wells a late scratch for Angels

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Angels outfielder Vernon Wells is ill and has been scratched from the lineup against the Oakland Athletics.

Wells was penciled in as the cleanup hitter for Los Angeles in its first game after the All-Star break but was removed from the lineup 30 minutes before the first pitch Friday night.

Bobby Abreu, who was slated to be the designated hitter, replaced Wells in left field and dropped from third to fourth in the batting order. Russell Branyan replaced Abreu as the DH.