Vicente Padilla won his pitching duel with Dan Haren to help the Texas Rangers end a five-game losing streak with a gritty 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday. The Rangers right-hander worked his way through seven innings, while Haren posted his first loss after eight straight victories in Interleague play despite striking out eight and allowing a miserly four hits.
"Having five losses in a row, getting the win is the best thing that could happen for us," Padilla said. "I've been working a lot and working hard, and it pays off." Taylor Teagarden and David Murphy made it 2-0 with RBI hits in the second and third innings respectively as the Rangers (38-32) kept pace in the American League West, where they are tied at the top with the Los Angeles Angels. Felipe Lopez was two-for-three with an RBI single in the fifth forArizona (30-42).
Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew led off the eighth with a double but Rangers reliever Frank Francisco got three straight outs before CJ Wilson came on to close out the game in the ninth. Haren lost for the first time since May 12, a span of seven starts, and fell to 11-3 in Interleague competition where he has been almost unbeatable. It was a much needed win for the Rangers, who have struggled offensively of late with slugger Josh Hamilton sidelined because of an abdominal injury.
In other MLB Interleague action, David Ortiz racked up his 1,000th RBI as the Boston Red Sox beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 in their encounter Ortiz and Jason Varitek homered and Jon Lester allowed three runs and six hits over six innings. Gerald Laird and Miguel Cabrera homered to help the Detroit Tigers win their sixth game in a row with a 5-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Francisco Cervelli broke New York's 14-inning scoring drought with his first career homer in the Yankees' 8-4 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 after two errors allowed Jason Kendall to score the winning run, while Josh Fields hit two home runs for the Chicago White Sox as they beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-7 in their clash.
* Reuters