A-Rod's 45th homer helps Yankees' Kennedy win his debut
Alex Rodriguez never got rattled during the big bat flap Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Even more impressive, neither did youngster Ian Kennedy.
Rodriguez homered and drove in 4 runs to back Kennedy's stellar major-league debut, leading the host New York Yankees to a 9-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Tampa Bay had Rodriguez's bat confiscated in a classic case of gamesmanship -- one inning after umpires took away Akinori Iwamura's unusual model when Yankees manager Joe Torre questioned if it was legal.
"It's just retaliation. There's nothing wrong with Alex Rodriguez. He's a great player. It was tit-for-tat entirely," Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "I said, 'It's an illegal bat.' I said, 'I can't see inside it, but there might be something inside that bat. I don't have X-ray vision. He's got 45 home runs, it's Sept. 1.' That was my argument."
Both confiscated bats were sent to the commissioner's office for inspection.
Blue Jays 2, Mariners 1: Troy Glaus singled home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, and host Toronto sent Seattle to its season-high eighth straight loss.
The Blue Jays' Dustin McGowan (9-8) won for the first time in 5 starts.
Rangers 7, Angels 6: Marlon Byrd broke out of a rut with 3 hits, including a solo homer, and David Murphy and Brad Wilkerson hit 2-run doubles, sparking visiting Texas past Los Angeles.
Tigers 6, Athletics 1: Justin Verlander (15-5) struck out 10 and outpitched Dan Haren, (14-6) and Curtis Granderson homered, doubled and scored 3 runs to lead Detroit past host Oakland.
Twins 6, Royals 4: Mike Redmond hit a 2-run double, and Carlos Silva pitched 6 effective innings to lead Minnesota over visiting Kansas City.
Silva (11-13) was hit hard in a 2-run fourth, but he survived and struck out four while giving up 8 hits and 3 runs without a walk.
National League
Mets 5, Braves 1: Mike Pelfrey allowed 1 hit in 6 innings to win his first game of the season after 7 losses, and Carlos Delgado, Lastings Milledge and Carlos Beltran each hit solo home runs to help visiting New York beat Atlanta.
The Mets won their second in a row in Atlanta after getting swept in four games at Philadelphia.
Marlins 12, Phillies 6: Mike Jacobs and Hanley Ramirez had 3 hits each, and host Florida snapped Philadelphia's six-game winning streak.
Phillies starter J.D. Durbin failed to retire a batter as the Marlins scored 7 runs in the first inning. Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins went 4-for-5 with 3 RBI, but Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were a combined 1-for-9.
Nationals 4, Giants 1: Joel Hanrahan threw 6 innings of 1-hit ball, Jesus Flores homered and had 2 RBI, and Washington beat visiting San Francisco to snap a seven-game losing streak.