Santana's 17 strikeouts dazzle Rangers
Johan Santana gave the crowd at the Metrodome something to remember on the same weekend the Minnesota Twins honored their first championship team.
Santana (13-9) set a franchise record with 17 strikeouts in 8 innings to lead the Minnesota Twins past the Texas Rangers 1-0 Sunday.
"You see these guys from 1987 coming in and what they did 20 years ago was really good," said Santana, who was 8 years old when Minnesota won its first of two championships. "We still have a long way to go, but hopefully we will make it special, and 20 years from now we'll be in the same situation."
Santana's 17 strikeouts were the most in the majors since Ben Sheets fanned 18 in Milwaukee's 4-1 win over Atlanta on May 16, 2004, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He broke the Minnesota record of 15, accomplished four times -- the last by Bert Blyleven on Aug. 1, 1986, against Oakland.
"Somehow I'll always remember this game," said Michael Cuddyer, who homered for the lone run.
Catcher Mike Redmond said Santana (13-9) did not shake him off once.
Santana retired the first 12 batters he faced before Sammy Sosa led off the fifth with a single to left-center. Sosa also doubled with two outs in the seventh for Texas' only other hit against the left-hander.
"I didn't try to do anything different, I was just trying to stay aggressive, get ahead in the count and throw my fastball for strikes," Santana said.
Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless ninth for his 27th save in 29 chances. He struck out Brad Wilkerson and Michael Young with a runner on second to finish off the two-hitter.
Cuddyer hit a 425-foot home run off Kevin Millwood (8-10) in the second inning. That was Millwood's only mistake -- he allowed 4 hits and struck out three in 7 innings for Texas.
Angels 3, Red Sox 1: Joe Saunders took a shutout into the eighth inning, and visiting Los Angeles gained a split of the four-game series at Boston.
In his 26th major-league start, Saunders (7-1) scattered 6 hits and allowed just two runners to reach second base in 7¿ innings.
Yankees 9, Tigers 3: Johnny Damon hit a tiebreaking homer, and New York got lights-out relief pitching from a pair of rookies in a win over visiting Detroit.
Wilson Betemit had 4 RBI, and Hideki Matsui drove in three early runs for the surging Yankees, who took the final three games in the four-game series between AL playoff contenders.
Blue Jays 3, Orioles 2 (10): Aaron Hill hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to lift host Toronto past Baltimore.
Vernon Wells led off the 10th with an infield single off Chad Bradford (2-6) and advanced to second on Frank Thomas' groundout. Troy Glaus singled before Hill lofted a flyball to left to drive in Wells with the winning run.
Devil Rays 4, Indians 3 (12): Joel Guzman hit a game-winning RBI single in his first at-bat with Tampa Bay to beat visiting Cleveland in the 12th inning.
Scott Dohmann (2-0) pitched 2 scoreless innings for the victory.
Athletics 6, Royals 1: Lenny DiNardo allowed 5 hits in 8 innings, and Oakland avoided being swept by Kansas City at home for the first time in almost two decades.
DiNardo (8-6) won his third straight start, and Marco Scutaro and Dan Johnson each homered for the A's.
National League
Braves 6, Diamondbacks 2: Mark Teixeira drove in 4 runs with 2 homers, and John Smoltz became Atlanta's strikeout leader as the Braves beat visiting Arizona.
Smoltz, 40, passed Phil Niekro as the Braves' franchise strikeout leader. He set a season high with 12 strikeouts while giving up 5 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs in 8 innings.
Mets 8, Nationals 2: Carlos Beltran homered twice and drove in 4 runs as New York completed a three-game sweep at Washington.
Orlando Hernandez (8-4) allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in 7 innings for the Mets, who have won four straight.
Giants 6, Marlins 5: Guillermo Rodriguez, Ryan Klesko and Rajai Davis all scored after a trio of Florida errors in the seventh inning, lifting visiting San Francisco past the Marlins.
Ray Durham hit his 10th home run, and Kevin Frandsen added his third for the Giants, who have won four straight.
Padres 5, Astros 3: Greg Maddux held Houston to 2 hits in 6 innings and had 2 hits himself to help host San Diego avoid a three-game sweep against Houston.
It was the first time this season that the 41-year-old Maddux (9-9) won consecutive starts. He earned the 342nd win of his career.
Dodgers 4, Rockies 3: Ramon Martinez hit a go-ahead, 2-run single in the eighth inning and finished with 3 RBI, as host Los Angeles took two of three from Colorado.
Pirates 8, Phillies 4: Pinch hitter Matt Kata's 3-run double highlighted host Pitttsburgh's second rally from a 4-run deficit against Philadelphia in as many days, and Freddy Sanchez hit a go-ahead RBI double during the Pirates' 7-run seventh inning.