Minneapolis – Torii Hunter’s four- pitch, bases-loaded walk forced in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning and sent the Minnesota Twins past the Chicago White Sox 7-6 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
Facing Mike MacDougal (1-2) in the ninth, Jason Tyner drew a one-out walk and moved to second when Nick Punto hit a chopper to Paul Konerko for a possible double play. Konerko’s throw grazed Tyner before hitting shortstop Alex Cintron in the right knee for an error on the first baseman.
Cintron fielded Michael Cuddyer’s grounder deep in the hole, but his throw to second was not in time to force Punto. Boone Logan retired Justin Morneau, but David Aardsma was summoned to face Hunter and walked the free-swinging slugger on four pitches.
“I thought it was pathetic,” said Aardsma, a former athlete at Cherry Creek High School.
YANKEES 10, BLUE JAYS 5 at Toronto: Alex Rodriguez hit an RBI single with two outs in the ninth that made it 7-5, then distracted Toronto third baseman Howie Clark by shouting at him on a key popup in the inning, touching off arguments all over the field and leading New York past the Blue Jays.
“I just said, ‘Hah!’ That’s it,” Rodri- guez said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
INDIANS 8, RED SOX 4 at Boston: Paul Byrd (6-1) won his fifth straight decision and extended his streak without issuing a walk to 43 innings, and Cleveland came from behind to snap Boston’s five-game winning streak .
DEVIL RAYS 5, TIGERS 3 at St. Petersburg, Fla.: James Shields (4-0) settled after a shaky first inning to throw the second complete game of his career.
ATHLETICS 6, RANGERS 1 at Oakland, Calif.: Dan Haren (6-2) won his sixth straight decision and Dan Johnson drove in three runs to lead Oakland.
ANGELS 8, MARINERS 6 at Anaheim, Calif.: Vladimir Guerrero hit a three-run homer off Felix Hernandez (3-3) in the fifth and Anaheim’s bullpen kept the lead.
ORIOLES 3, ROYALS 0 at Kansas City, Mo.: Erik Bedard (4-3) won a matchup of staff aces with Gil Meche (3-4) and Nick Markakis hit a two-run homer in Baltimore’s fifth consecutive victory.
