Baseball bits
Notes
TODAY
Detroit at Minnesota (2:10 p.m. EDT). A matchup of AL Central rivals, with the first-place Tigers throwing rookie Rick Porcello (8-5) against the Twins' Nick Blackburn (6-4).
FRIDAY STARS
Albert Pujols, Cardinals, hit his club-record fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career as St. Louis beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4.
Brooks Conrad, Braves, smacked a pinch-hit, go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning to lead Atlanta past Washington for its season-high fifth straight victory.
Rob Johnson, Mariners, doubled home two runs in the 11th inning and Seattle beat the Red Sox 7-6 on Friday night.
Shin-Soo Choo, Indians, homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs to lead Cleveland to a 15-3 victory over the Athletics.
Rodrigo Lopez, Phillies, took a three-hitter into the seventh inning and earned his first win in nearly two years, helping Philadelphia snap a six-game home losing streak with a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies, scattered four hits over eight innings as Colorado beat Arizona 5-0.
Aubrey Huff, Orioles, hit a three-run homer and Baltimore beat the Angels 6-4.
Placido Polanco, Tigers, hit a pair of extra-inning RBI singles, the second giving Detroit the lead for good in an 11-9 victory over Minnesota in 16 innings.
MANNY RETURNS
Returning from his 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy, Manny Ramirez barely hit the ball out of the infield in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 6-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Friday night. He finished 0 for 3 with a walk.
THE SLAMMER
Albert Pujols hit his club-record fourth grand slam of the season and 10th of his career in St. Louis' 7-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night. He snapped a tie with Hall of Famer Stan Musial for the Cardinals' career grand-slam record, and topped the single-season mark he shared with Jim Bottomley, Keith Hernandez and Fernando Tatis. The homer also was the 350th of Pujols' career, making him at 29 years, 168 days the third-youngest player in major league history to reach that mark. Only Alex Rodriguez (28 years, 282 days) and Ken Griffey Jr. (28 years, 308 days) were younger.
FIRST LOSS
Kansas City's Zack Greinke lost to the White Sox for the first time in three decisions this season - 5-0 Friday night - and hardly looked like the overpowering right-hander who began the year 6-0. Greinke gave up four runs and nine hits in six innings and his major league-leading ERA went from 1.95 to 2.00.
WALK THIS WAY
Jake Fox fouled off four pitches before working a two-out walk on a close 3-2 pitch from Mark DiFelice, sending the Chicago Cubs to a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in 10 innings Friday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Tommy Hunter earned his first career victory on his 23rd birthday, leading Texas to a 3-1 win over Tampa Bay. Hunter was making his sixth career start and third this season. The right-hander allowed three hits and struck out five in 5 1-3 innings.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
A few hours after his contract was purchased by Atlanta from Triple-A Gwinnett, Brooks Conrad smacked a pinch-hit, go-ahead three-run homer in the seventh inning and the Braves beat the Washington Nationals 9-8 on Friday night for their season-high fifth straight victory. . . . Jarrett Hoffpauir drove in the go-ahead runs in the ninth inning with his first career hit - a two-run single - as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-4.
STUBBORN STREAK
San Francisco's Ryan Sadowski has 13 scoreless innings, including seven in a 13-0 win over Houston on Friday night, to start his career. It's the longest such streak by a Giants pitchers since Mike Remlinger's 15 shutout innings in 1991, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
UNEXPECTED POWER
Pittsburgh's Brandon Moss hit his second homer of the season and Ramon Vazquez, starting a second consecutive game for injured second baseman Freddy Gonzalez, belted his first homer since July 31, 2008, leading the Pirates to a 7-4 victory over the Florida Marlins on Friday night.
BACK IN BUSINESS
Philadelphia's Rodrigo Lopez (1-0) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings in a 7-2 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night to earn his first win since beating the Phillies on July 7, 2007, when he played for Colorado. The right-hander was sidelined since having elbow ligament replacement surgery 23 months ago.
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
Outdoor baseball is tentatively set to return to Minneapolis on April 12 when the Minnesota Twins play their 2010 home opener against the Boston Red Sox. The date was contained in a draft schedule for next season that recently was sent to teams and revealed Friday to The Associated Press. This is the 28th and final season for the Twins at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. Barring postseason play, the Twins play their final game there Oct. 4 against the Kansas City Royals.
STATS
Florida's Hanley Ramirez failed to drive in a run for the first time in 11 games, going 0 for 4 in the Marlins' 7-4 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night. It was the longest consecutive-game RBI streak by an NL shortstop since the statistic began being officially kept in 1920. . . . Arizona made three more errors in a 5-0 loss at Colorado, running their season total to a major league-leading 74. . . . Tim Wakefield made his 383rd start for the Boston Red Sox, surpassing Roger Clemens for the top spot on the team's career list. . . . The New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira has gone 68 at-bats without a home run, a stretch that dates to June 12.
SPEAKING
"I don't care if every one hits the top of the wall. I don't care if they do the Jose Canseco thing and hit the head and (it) goes over the fence. It counts." - Pittsburgh's Brandon Moss, who hit his second homer of the season in the Pirates' 7-4 win at Florida on Friday night.
"This is the major leagues, you can't go out there and make three errors and expect to win a game. We looked like the Bad News Bears out there." - Arizona's Mark Reynolds, after the Diamondbacks increased their major league-leading errors total to 74 with three more in a 5-0 loss at Colorado on Friday night.
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