Baseball Today

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Baseball Today

Eds: AMs; UPDATES scoreboard.

By The Associated Press

SCOREBOARD

Tuesday, April 24

San Diego at Arizona (9:40 p.m. EDT). Randy Johnson makes his first start for the Diamondbacks since 2004.

STARS

Sunday

—Dan Uggla, Marlins, homered twice and drove in six runs, and Florida beat Washington 12-6.

—Kelly Johnson, Braves, hit two home runs in Atlanta’s 9-6 win over the Mets.

—Jason Hirsch, Rockies, struck out seven over seven innings, helping Colorado beat San Diego 4-2.

—Jorge De La Rosa, Royals, pitched a career-high eight innings and retired 16 in a row during one stretch to lead Kansas City to a 3-1 victory over Minnesota.

SOX SOCKING

The Red Sox hit four straight home runs Sunday night against the New York Yankees, tying a major league record. Manny Ramirez, J.D. Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek connected in a span of 10 pitches during the third inning against Chase Wright, who was making his second major league start for New York. Boston won 7-6.

740 AND COUNTING

Barry Bonds hit his 740th home run Sunday, connecting for the second consecutive game against the Arizona Diamondbacks and moving within 15 of Hank Aaron’s career record. With two outs in the fourth inning, the San Francisco Giants slugger sent the first pitch from Yusmeiro Petit into the seats in the right-field arcade for his sixth homer of the season. Petit, called up from Triple-A Tucson before the game to make his second major league start, became the 438th pitcher to give up a homer to Bonds. San Francisco beat Arizona 2-1 on Sunday.

MAKING MOVES

The Cincinnati Reds recalled infielder Jeff Keppinger from his rehabilitation assignment, reinstated him from the 15-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Louisville on Sunday.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Detroit beat Chicago 6-5 in 12 innings on Sunday, after losing their previous three extra-inning games at home this year. The Tigers hadn’t won one in Detroit since June 24 against St. Louis.

SLUMPING

Seattle lost its sixth straight, 6-1 at Los Angeles. Jeff Weaver took the loss, his third of the season, after giving up three runs and seven hits in three innings. Weaver, who actually lowered his ERA from 15.75 to 13.91, allowed seven runs in each of his first two starts with the Mariners.

SNAPPED

Roy Oswalt failed in his bid to win his 10th straight decision, a streak that dated to Aug. 23, 2006 after taking the loss in a 4-3 defeat to Milwaukee. ... NL West-leading Los Angeles lost a series finale for the first time this season and had its three-game winning streak end after a 7-5 loss to Pittsburgh.

STREAKING

Kelly Johnson went 3-for-4 in Atlanta’s 9-6 win over New York on Sunday, making him 13-for-25 (.520) for the week.

RETURN

Ryan Howard homered and drove in three runs in Philadelphia’s 9-3 win over Cincinnati on Sunday. It was the NL MVP’s first game back after missing three with a sprained ligament just below his left knee. ... Wes Obermueller earned his first major league win in nearly two years in Florida’s 12-6 win over Washington. Obermueller had not pitched in the majors since Sept. 17, 2005, with Milwaukee and his previous win came on May 17, 2005, at Washington. The right-hander spent 2006 with Triple-A Richmond in Atlanta’s farm system and Orix of the Japanese League.

SPEAKING

“That’s what power can do for you. Nobody can catch those.” — Detroit manager Jim Leyland after Marcus Thames hit a two-run, game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. The Tigers went on to win 6-5 in 12 innings over Chicago on Sunday.

SEASONS

April 24

1901 — Chicago defeated Cleveland 8-2 in the first American League game. Three other scheduled games were rained out. The game lasted 1 hour, 30 minutes in front of a reported crowd of 14,000 at the Chicago Cricket Club.

1911 — Battle Creek of the South Michigan League turned two triple plays in the first two innings against Grand Rapids.

1917 — George Mogridge of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter against the Red Sox in Boston, winning 2-1.

1931 — Chicago’s Rogers Hornsby hit three consecutive homers to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-6 at Forbes Field.

1958 — Lee Walls hit three homers and drove in eight runs as the Chicago Cubs routed the Los Angeles Dodgers 15-2 at the Coliseum.

1962 — Sandy Koufax struck out 18 Chicago Cubs and pitched the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 10-2 victory at Wrigley Field.

1965 — Casey Stengel recorded his 3,000th victory as a manager as the Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 7-6.

1996 — Greg Myers and Paul Molitor each had five RBIs as the Minnesota Twins set a team record for runs and routed the Detroit Tigers 24-11. It was the highest run total against the Tigers in 84 years, matching the mark set in a 24-2 loss to the Philadelphia Athletics on May 18, 1912.

Today’s birthdays: Carlos Beltran, 30; Chipper Jones, 35; Todd Jones, 39; Omar Vizquel, 40.<

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