Aging Rogers lifts Texas
39-year-old pitcher sparks Rangers to 10-3 rout of Chisox
Arlington, Texas ? Nearly 40, Kenny Rogers is having one of the best seasons of his career.
Rogers allowed three runs over seven innings, David Dellucci keyed a seven-run second with a three-run double, and the Texas Rangers snapped the Chicago White Sox’s four-game winning streak with a 10-3 victory Tuesday night.
Rogers (16-7) now is one win shy of matching the most successful season of his 16-year career — 17-7 for the Rangers in 1995. He gave up eight hits, struck out two and didn’t walk a batter.
“He’s a warrior,” White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. “He gives you the best he’s got every day.”
The Rangers built a 10-1 lead after five innings, allowing Rogers to be more aggressive.
“When you get that kind of effort from your offense, it benefits you in a lot of ways,” said Rogers, who had lost four of his previous six decisions. “They gave me the ability to forget the mistakes I made. One of my main focuses was not to walk guys. I wanted to get our offense back out there to keep swinging the bats.”
Alfonso Soriano homered, and Mark Teixeira went 2-for-4 with three RBIs for the Rangers, who have won just two of nine to drop eight games back of Boston in the wild-card race entering Tuesday’s games.
The Rangers bounced back from Monday’s 7-4 loss to the White Sox when Texas committed a season-high five errors.
Yankees 11, Devil Rays 2
New York — Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui each hit two-run doubles, and Jon Lieber struck out a season-high nine to lead New York past slumping Tampa Bay. Gary Sheffield had four hits, and Bernie Williams homered for the Yankees, who won their third in a row. Rocco Baldelli hit a two-run homer in the first inning for Tampa Bay, which lost its ninth straight.
Twins 3, Orioles 1
Baltimore — Mike Cuddyer snapped a tie with a two-run homer in the ninth inning, and Minnesota rallied to beat Baltimore. The Twins pulled even with an eighth-inning run, then took control in the ninth against Jorge Julio (2-4).
Red Sox 7, Athletics 1
Oakland, Calif. — Johnny Damon hit a leadoff homer in his return to the Red Sox lineup after missing four games because of a jammed right pinkie to start Boston’s victory over Oakland. Derek Lowe (14-10) won his fifth straight decision and hasn’t lost since a 4-3 defeat on Aug. 6 at Detroit.
Angels 5, Blue Jays 2
Anaheim, Calif. — Bartolo Colon pitched seven strong innings, Chone Figgins and Garret Anderson homered, and Anaheim beat Toronto. Colon (14-11) limited the Blue Jays to six hits. The Angels’ right-hander struck out seven and walked one.