NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez gave Will Smith a rude welcome to the major leagues Wednesday night, hitting two homers off the rookie to back another strong start for Andy Pettitte and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals, 8-3.
A-Rod snapped a 52 at-bat homereless drought and drove in three runs for New York. Curtis Granderson also connected off Smith and the Yankees scored three times in the fifth with help from some inept relief pitching.
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Derek Jeter had three hits to tie Paul Waner for 15th with 3,152. Before Jeter singled in the eighth, Waner had been the only player who reached a higher hits milestone than Jeter in a Yankees uniform. “Big Poison” got just one hit with New York, his final one in a career spent mostly in Pittsburgh.
Pettitte (2-1) followed eight innings of four-hit ball against Cincinnati with seven-plus crafty innings in his third start since coming out of retirement, leaving him with a 2.53 ERA.
INDIANS 4, TIGERS 2: Jason Kipnis had three hits and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning as Cleveland beat visiting Detroit.
MARINERS 5, RANGERS 3: Alex Liddi hit the first major league grand slam by an Italian-born player since Detroit’s Reno Bertoia on May 7, 1958, and Seattle took 2 of 3 from visiting Texas.
ANGELS 3, ATHLETICS 1: Alberto Callaspo hit a go-ahead two-run double in the 11th inning as Los Angeles won at Oakland, Calif.
RAYS 5, BLUE JAYS 4: B.J. Upton hit an RBI double in the 11th inning to give Tampa Bay a win over visiting Toronto.
WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 0: Chris Sale pitched seven sharp innings, and Paul Konerko and Alex Rios backed him with home runs, leading Chicago over visiting Minnesota.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 8, GIANTS 5: Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run double in the first inning, and Jonathan Lucroy added a two-run homer in the second as Milwaukee built an eight-run lead to win at home.
CARDINALS 6, PADRES 3: Carlos Beltran hit his NL-leading 14th home run as St. Louis won at home.
REDS 2, BRAVES 1: Todd Frazier hit a one-out homer in the ninth inning as host Cincinnati won its fifth straight.
METS 3, PIRATES 1: Jonathon Niese allowed one run in 72/3 innings, helping New York win at Pittsburgh.
PHILLIES 4, NATIONALS 1: Cole Hamels pitched eight scoreless innings as host Philadelphia ended a four-game losing streak.
ASTROS 5, CUBS 1: J.D. Martinez had three hits and three RBI as Houston completed a three-game sweep and sent visiting Chicago to its ninth straight loss.
ROCKIES 8, MARLINS 4: Troy Tulowitzki homered and drove in four runs to help Alex White earn his first victory this year, and visiting Colorado snapped a six-game losing streak.
NOTES
ANGELS: Torii Hunter is expected to rejoin Los Angeles when it returns from its current trip, yet Manager Mike Scioscia says he still isn’t sure when during the homestand that might be.
Hunter has been on the Angels’ restricted list since May 14 after his teenage son was arrested in Texas.
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