Verlander flirts with no-no as Tigers beat Angels

DETROIT -- Justin Verlander came within four outs of another no-hitter, outpitching an angry Jered Weaver as the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Sunday in a testy game that grew particularly heated in the late innings.Maicer Izturis lined an RBI single to left field with two outs in the eighth for the Angels' only hit. Verlander (15-5) was trying for his third career no-hitter and second this season.Weaver was ejected for throwing a pitch over Alex Avila's head in the seventh, right after Carlos Guillen showboated on a solo home run -- infuriating the right-hander.Guillen flipped his bat, posed at the plate and skipped a few steps sideways, prompting Weaver to yell at him before Guillen rounded the bases.Sensing trouble was coming, plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt warned both benches. But Weaver threw the next pitch near Avila's head and was quickly ejected along with Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia.Knowing he would be tossed, Weaver started walking off the field immediately, gesturing angrily and cursing in the direction of Detroit's bench.Verlander was attempting to become the fourth pitcher since 1900 to throw three career no-hitters, joining Bob Feller (three), Sandy Koufax (four) and Nolan Ryan (seven). Verlander pitched a no-hitter at Toronto in May and has lost two more bids in the eighth inning this year.In a marquee matchup of All-Star aces, Verlander allowed two unearned runs and two walks in eight innings, striking out nine. Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 28th save in 28 tries.Weaver (14-5) gave up three runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings.Verlander walked Bobby Abreu in the fourth, ending any hopes of a perfect game, and walked him again in the seventh. Vernon Wells hit a ball to the warning track in the seventh, but Andy Dirks made the catch.Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run homer off Weaver in the third. Weaver yelled at Ordonez as he rounded the bases, apparently thinking he had been posing as he watched the shot, which barely stayed fair.That apparently led to the trouble with Guillen when he homered in the seventh.Guillen skipped slowly toward first, glaring out at Weaver as the pitcher screamed at him.There was more to come, too. Erick Aybar tried to bunt for a hit leading off the eighth against Verlander, often considered a violation of baseball etiquette when a pitcher has a no-hitter going in the late innings.This was a questionable case of that unwritten rule, however, because the Angels were trailing only 3-0 in a game between playoff contenders.Aybar reached second when Verlander threw the ball away for an error, and the right-hander started at him as he stood on the bag.Aybar scored from third when the Tigers botched a rundown. Izturis' single made it 3-2, but Verlander threw a 101 mph fastball to strike out Torii Hunter and end the inning.Game notes The giveaway for kids in attendance was a poster commemorating, of all things, Verlander's no-hitter against Toronto in May. ... For several moments in the eighth inning, the Comerica Park scoreboard listed the Angels as leading 8-3 despite not having a hit. ... Despite the tension between the teams, Valverde did his normal dance after recording the final out. ... Before Izturis' single, the closest the Angels came to a hit was Alberto Callaspo's hard grounder in the second inning. Guillen made a backhand stop at second.

Moreland backs Holland as Rangers blank Jays

TORONTO -- A feisty mound meeting with manager Ron Washington sure fired up Derek Holland.Holland pitched a four-hitter to win his fourth straight decision, Mitch Moreland and Mike Napoli homered and the Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-0 on Saturday."You could tell from the get-go that Holland was on his game," Moreland said. Holland (10-4) reached double digits in victories for the first time and improved to 4-0 with a 1.64 ERA since losing to Florida on July 2. The left-hander has pitched three shutouts in that span, blanking Oakland on July 7 and following that with a shutout of Seattle on July 14."His stuff was great today," Napoli said. "When he started throwing in the bullpen I knew he had some good stuff and he brought it into the game. He had a good fastball and he mixed in some off-speed when he had to. The ball was moving all over the place."Holland, who walked one and struck out five, leads the AL with four shutouts this season and is tied with Philadelphia left-hander Cliff Lee for the major league lead. He and catcher Napoli embraced in front of the mound following the final out. Holland threw just 95 pitches, including 69 strikes.After Moreland homered off Blue Jays left-hander Brad Mills in the top of the second, Holland faced his only jam in the bottom half, issuing a two-out walk to Rajai Davis, then throwing the ball away on John McDonald's bunt to put runners at second and third. That's when Washington came to the mound to deliver a short, sharp message."I told him how important that inning was," Washington said. "We had just put two runs up there. He got two quick outs and then he walks a guy and didn't make a play that he should make. The last thing we need is for him to let those runs score. Then I left."Washington didn't have to come back the rest of the day. Moreland struck out J.P. Arencibia looking to end the inning, starting a stretch of 12 consecutive outs. The Blue Jays didn't have another runner reach scoring position.Holland didn't know what was going on when his manager first popped out of the dugout."I thought he was going to argue the call or something," he said. "I didn't think anything of it."Once Washington's stern message had been received, however, Holland was ready to go."It fired me up," Holland said. "I know I'm better than that. I shouldn't have been making those two-out mistakes. Especially after the offense just gave us some run support, I'm supposed to go out there and shut them down. I wasn't doing a very good job that inning."Washington said if Holland had allowed even one base runner in the ninth, he would have called closer Neftali Feliz in to finish. That wasn't necessary. Colby Rasmus grounded out, Jose Bautista struck out looking and Holland deflected Adam Lind's hard grounder to shortstop, where Omar Quintanilla made the final out."From previous seasons he's improved a large amount," Lind said of Holland. "You used to see fastballs and sliders but now he's locating his fastball to both sides of the plate with a slider and curveball."Bautista had two of the four hits off Holland, the first of which was an opening-inning infield pop-up that got lost in the sun. The Blue Jays slugger also hit a two-out single to left in the sixth but Lind ended the inning by grounding to the mound. Arencibia reached on a one-out infield single in the eighth, but Aaron Hill followed by grounding into a double play.Napoli singled to begin the second and Moreland followed with a line drive homer to right-center, his 13th. It was Moreland's first career homer off a left-hander.Making his first start of the season, Mills (0-1) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings, matching a career-high.Napoli made it 3-0 with a solo shot to center in the eighth, his 15th.Rangers infielder Ian Kinsler snapped an 0-for-20 slump with a leadoff single to left in the fifth. Kinsler had been held hitless in his previous four games.Blue Jays shortstop Yunel Escobar was ejected in the sixth for arguing a call at first base. Escobar jumped up and down in anger after he was called out on a groundball up the middle, arguing with umpire Marvin Hudson that Kinsler's throw had pulled Michael Young off the bag.Hill replaced Escobar and played second base, with McDonald moving from second to shortstop.Rasmus went 0 for 4 and is 0 for 12 with a walk in three games since being traded to Toronto on Wednesday.Game notes Texas OF Nelson Cruz, who left Friday's game with a tight left quadriceps muscle, was held out of the starting lineup. SS Elvis Andrus also didn't start after tweaking his sore right knee Friday. OF Josh Hamilton was held out of the starting lineup but came on defensively in the ninth. ... Lind started at DH and is expected to get the day off Sunday. ... Mills started in place of LHP Jo-Jo Reyes, who was designated for assignment last week. ... Holland is two shutouts shy of matching the club record for shutouts in a season shared by Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins (1974) and Bert Blyleven (1976). ... Holland is the second Texas pitcher to record three shutouts in a month. The others are Jenkins (1974) and Gaylord Perry (1975).

Stark: Ranking the trade chips

Jayson Stark covers the latest trade rumors on Hunter Pence, Ubaldo Jimenez, Hiroki Kuroda, Aramis Ramirez, Heath Bell and more. More Podcasts " But even if the Reds and Yankees back off, the Rockies still have several potential trade partners out there -- particularly the Red Sox and Indians. Teams that have spoken with Boston seem certain they WILL add at least one starter by the deadline. And an executive of a club that has been in touch with Cleveland says the Indians are sending signals that their list of "untouchables" in lesser deals wouldn't apply for someone like Jimenez. That could mean names such as Alex White and Drew Pomeranz would be in play for a pitcher whose talent and contract fit perfectly into the Indians' blueprint. And if that's the case, the Rockies could have the makings of a deal. If not, Colorado continues to tell clubs it's fine with keeping Jimenez if it doesn't get its price. 3. Heath Bell Was it only 24 hours ago that people were predicting a trade of Bell -- most likely to Texas -- could happen "quickly"? Yep. It sure was. But it appears the Padres got bogged down Thursday in a world in which the teams they were speaking with had too many other balls in the air. The Phillies, for instance, continue to have strong interest in a much bigger deal with San Diego that could involve Mike Adams, Ryan Ludwick, Brown and quite a few other names. But that deal would disappear if the Phillies trade for Pence. So the Padres appear to be playing a waiting game on that front until Pence's status gets resolved. The Braves and Indians also have interest in Ludwick and the Padres' relievers. But they too have a bunch of other options. Then there's Texas, a team that seems to be in pursuit of just about every name you've ever read in Rumor Central in your lifetime. And that complicates their dealings with the Padres, as well. Other clubs still expect the Rangers to wind up with Bell. In fact, an official of one team who has been speaking with them went so far as to call it "a lock." But an executive of another club said Texas believes it's the only team out there that's pursuing Bell and truly matches up with the Padres' shopping needs. So Texas continues to balk at the asking price, which could be up to three of the Rangers' top dozen prospects, according to one executive who has spoken with both teams. But Bell told reporters Thursday he's virtually certain he'll get traded in the next two days. And our best bet, here at the Daily Rumble, is he's right. 4. B.J. Upton

Trumbo's five RBIs lead Angels past Tigers

DETROIT -- Mark Trumbo isn't your typical seventh hitter.The Los Angeles Angels rookie proved that again Thursday, putting together the biggest game of his young career to help the Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 12-7.Trumbo homered and drove in a career-high five runs, and is now hitting .256 with 19 homers and 53 RBIs this season."Power and production are what I need to do," he said. "That's what first basemen are known for."He also tripled, doubled and scored three times. Needing a single for the cycle, he grounded out leading off the ninth inning."I had an idea what I needed, because I'm usually aware of what I've done in the game," he said of his last at-bat. "It was in the back of my mind, and if it happened, great, but I had already produced in the game."Bobby Cassevah (1-0) worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the win."What Bobby did kept us in the game," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "That was just a big outing, and hopefully, he'll keep contributing like that, because he has a big arm."Trumbo hit a two-run homer in the Angels' three-run second. He tripled in the fourth and doubled in the seventh.Tigers manager Jim Leyland was ejected in the third for arguing that a pitch had hit Austin Jackson."That's a tough call for an umpire, because the knob of the bat and the hand come together, but Austin has a bruise the size of a baseball on his hand," Leyland said. "I talked to Jerry after the game, and there's no problem. It is just one of those things that happens. You have to defend your players."Los Angeles led 7-6 after six innings, then scored five times in the seventh. Tigers reliever David Purcey started the inning, but gave up a single and two walks without getting an out. Phil Coke came on and allowed a two-run single to Howie Kendrick and Trumbo's two-run double.After the Angels' three-run second, the Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Miguel Cabrera's 22nd homer -- a 428-foot drive that landed in the shrubbery above the center-field fence.Detroit made it 3-2 on Brennan Boesch's RBI single in the third, but the Angels scored four more in the fourth.Kendrick started the inning with an infield single and Trumbo followed with a triple. Peter Bourjos hit his second double of the game to put Los Angeles up 5-2, which resulted in Tigers starter Brad Penny yelling at catcher Victor Martinez. The two were calmed down by pitching coach Jeff Jones, but Penny was pulled two batters later after Erick Aybar's RBI single.Penny downplayed the incident, saying it was a discussion about how Martinez was calling the signs with a runner on second base, but the catcher refused to talk about the incident."Next question," Martinez said. "Don't ask about that."Trumbo was startled by the argument."I've seen stuff like that before, but I've never heard it as loud as that," he said.Penny (7-8) gave up seven runs and nine hits in 3 1/3 innings.Charlie Furbush allowed an RBI single to Torii Hunter, making it 7-2, but the Tigers scored four times in the bottom half.Jhonny Peralta and Boesch had RBI singles, while Andy Dirks drove in two runs with a base hit.Wilson Betemit finished the scoring with a homer off Scott Downs in the eighth.Game notes Former Tigers closer Fernando Rodney was booed when he came in to pitch a 1-2-3 seventh inning. ... Tigers reliever Al Alburquerque did not pitch after being bothered by a sore elbow during Detroit's visit to Chicago. Alburquerque was on the disabled list from June 30 to July 16 with the same problem.

MLB admits umpire missed call in Pirates game

MLB Executive VP of Baseball Operations Joe Torre says it appeared to him that umpire Jerry Meals missed the call at the end of the Pirates-Braves game. He talks about whether replay could help the games and what happens with the Pirates' formal complaint. More Podcasts " In the bottom of the 19th, with the Braves and Pirates locked in a 3-3 duel, Atlanta's Scott Proctor hit a ground ball off Pittsburgh's Daniel McCutchen to third base. Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez fielded it and threw home to catcher Michael McKenry, who appeared to apply the tag to Atlanta's Julio Lugo before Lugo touched the base. Meals called Lugo safe.

Padres chase Lee to avoid sweep in Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA -- Chris Denorfia robbed a home run in one game and stole home in the next.Denorfia sparked San Diego with its first steal of home since 2005. It had only seemed that long since the Padres were able to defeat Philadelphia.Aaron Harang outpitched Cliff Lee, Denorfia stole home and the San Diego Padres beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the first time in more than a year, 5-4 on Monday.Harang (9-2) gave up four runs in six innings to help the Padres avoid a four-game sweep and defeat the Phillies for the first time since June 7, 2010. The Phillies had beaten the Padres 10 straight times, their second-longest streak against them since winning 11 from 2004-06.Lee (9-7) lasted only four innings, his second-shortest outing of the season. He allowed 10 hits, five runs and made a pickoff blunder that allowed Denorfia to steal home.His soft toss to first gave Denorfia the opening he needed to bolt from third and give the Padres a 3-1 lead."I started to walk and when it looked like a pick, I took off," Denorfia said.Heath Bell pitched the ninth for his 29th save. Domonic Brown opened the ninth with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice. Ross Gload, who leads the majors with 13 pinch hits, struck out swinging on a 95 mph fastball. Bell retired Jimmy Rollins on a flyout to save it for Harang.Harang improved to 4-0 with 2.17 ERA over his last nine starts."He kept us in the game and our hitters did a good job," Padres manager Bud Black said.Not Lee.After the Phillies staked Lee to a 1-0 lead, he unraveled in the second. Lee, who had allowed only three runs over 14 innings in his last two starts, gave up four in the inning.Jesus Guzman led off the inning with a double and scored on Rob Johnson's tying double. Johnson came around on Denorfia's single to left. Denorfia advanced to second on the throw home, stole third, then scored when Lee attempted to pick off Jason Bartlett at first. Chase Headley's RBI double to center made it 4-1 and the Phillies couldn't recover.Lee said he soft-tossed to first because he saw Bartlett wasn't trying to steal. His rare mental mistake was all Denorfia needed to become the first Padre to steal home since Mark Sweeney on July 6, 2005."That's the first time that's ever happened," Lee said. "I didn't even consider that as a possibility right there. Next time I'm in that situation, I need to make a more firm throw to first and not allow that to happen."Denorfia's steal came a day after he sprinted with his back to home plate, twisted his body at the last second and extended his arm over the short wall to rob Raul Ibanez.The Phillies held a Christmas in July promotion and fans brought signs that read "Merry Cliff-Mas." There was little good cheer after Ryan Ludwick's sacrifice fly made it 5-1.The Padres, in last place in the NL West, snapped a three-game losing streak. They did it without getting a hit after the fifth inning.The loss appeared to be just a minor blip for the Phillies. They open a three-game series Tuesday at home with defending World Series champion San Francisco. The Giants eliminated the Phillies in last year's NL Championship Series."I don't walk around saying I want revenge on these guys," Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino said. "Revenge would be bringing the trophy back to Philly."There's plenty of time for that, and the Phillies should have a familiar arm in the bullpen to help them chase the championships.Philadelphia's highlight came in the seventh when former closer Brad Lidge made his season debut. Lidge had been out with a partially torn rotator cuff. He threw 11 pitches in a scoreless inning of work and received a standing ovation as he left the mound. Lidge will forever be remembered in Philadelphia for going 48 for 48 on save opportunities in 2008 when he led the Phillies to the World Series championship.The Phillies squandered two big scoring chances that could have led to a sweep.In the eighth, Victorino was stranded on third after a two-out triple. And Ryan Howard was easily thrown out at home on Victorino's two-out double off the right-field wall in the first.Brown's first career triple and Carlos Ruiz's run-scoring single in the fourth off Harang cut it to 5-3. Ibanez added an RBI single in the sixth.Denorfia collided with right fielder Ludwick on Brown's hit and both fielders were down as the ball scooted away. Denorfia's left shoulder crashed into Ludwick's head. The team trainer and Black both visited their shaken-up outfielders. Ludwick left the game in the sixth. Denorfia moved to right and Will Venable took over in center."I was a little bit woozy, but my body parts were OK," Ludwick said.Game notes Phillies All-Star 3B Placido Polanco (back) said he hoped to play two rehab games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley and return to the lineup Saturday. ... Phillies RHP Jose Contreras (mild right forearm strain) is set for a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection soon. ... RHP Joe Blanton (elbow) is set for an exam on Tuesday. ... The Padres finished 4-3 on their road trip. ... The Padres have stolen a base in every game since July 10, a stretch of 12 straight games.

Pirates edge Cards on d'Arnaud's sac fly in 10th

PITTSBURGH -- Xavier Paul scored on Chase d'Arnaud's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 on Sunday.Paul legged out an infield hit with one out against St. Louis reliever Jason Motte (3-2), then stole second and advanced to third when catcher Gerald Laird's throw rolled into center field.D'Arnaud lined to center and the speedy Paul easily beat the throw from centerfielder Colby Rasmus as the Pirates snapped a three-game losing streak.Joe Beimel (1-1) retired the Cardinals in order to pick up his first victory as a Pirate in more than eight years.Ronny Cedeno and Eric Fryer had two hits apiece for Pittsburgh.Rasmus had two hits, including his 10th homer of the season for the Cardinals, who blew their 18th save of the season to fall into a virtual tie with the Pirates in the NL Central standings.When Paul scampered home with the winning run, it marked the first time during the three-game series that the Pirates took the lead.St. Louis went up three times on Sunday, but on each occasion Pittsburgh found a way to claw back.Rasmus appeared to put the Cardinals in charge with a deep homer to right field in the sixth off starter Charlie Morton, but Pittsburgh tied it in the seventh off St. Louis reliever Lance Lynn.Cedeno led off the inning with a double and moved to third when Lynn and third baseman Daniel Descalso miscommunicated on a bunt attempt by Fryer. Cedeno tied it up on a double play by Steven Pearce and Pittsburgh's bullpen shut the door.The Cardinals never got a runner to third over the final 4 2/3 innings, as Jason Grilli, Chris Resop, Joel Hanrahan and Beimel held them in check.St. Louis dominated the first two games of the set, badly outplaying the Pirates on Friday and Saturday to dull a bit of the buzz generated when they briefly moved into first place in the division with a win over Cincinnati on Tuesday.Manager Clint Hurdle pointed to a tentative effort by the starters, who were a little too wary of St. Louis' vaunted lineup of sluggers. Paul Maholm and Kevin Correia combined to give up 12 runs in 10 2/3 innings as the Pirates were outscored 15-5.Morton's sinker proved sharp enough to keep Pittsburgh in it, though he struggled with his command. He walked five in 5 1/3 innings and throwing a wild pitch that allowed Descalso to sprint home from third to put St. Louis up 2-1.Morton exacted a bit of revenge with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at two but Rasmus wasted little time putting St. Louis back in front, drilling a Morton fastball into the seats in right field for his first home since July 1.It looked like it might be enough for St. Louis starter Kyle Lohse.The veteran right-hander has struggled this month, entering the game with an 0-3 mark and a 7.64 ERA in July.The team was so concerned about his performance it ordered the 32-year-old right-hander back to St. Louis last week to have the inflammation on the middle finger of his right (pitching) hand examined.The tests revealed no significant damage and he was effective if not overpowering against Pittsburgh's slumping lineup. Lohse gave up two runs in five innings, striking out four while throwing 45 of his 64 pitches for strikes.His numbers would have been even better if not for some uncharacteristically sloppy defense.The Pirates scratched a run across in the third behind the first career steal by Fryer, who advanced to third when shortstop Ryan Theriot misplayed the throw from Laird.The steal was the first against Lohse since Pittsburgh's Jose Tabata swiped second against him on Aug. 23, 2010. The sequence was repeated almost exactly in the 10th as the Pirates avoided their longest losing streak since dropping six straight in May.Pittsburgh begins a seven-game road trip through Atlanta and Philadelphia on Monday while St. Louis begins a user-friendly portion of the schedule with home series this week against also-rans Houston and Chicago, who began the day a combined 32.5 games out of first.Game notes Pittsburgh OF Alex Presley missed his second straight game after sustaining a left thumb contusion on Friday. He is day-to-day. ... The series drew 112,994 fans to PNC Park, the third-highest total for a three-game set in the park's 11-year history. ... St. Louis RF Lance Berkman went 1 for 5 to extend his hitting streak to eight games ... St. Louis pitcher Jake Westbrook served as a pinch runner in the eighth. ... The game was delayed several minutes in the eighth when home plate umpire John Hirschbeck was hit in the groin with a foul ball. Hirschbeck was tended to by trainers but remained in the game.