Tampa Bay: Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer became the first man to begin a season 12-0 in 27 years as the Tigers took down the Tampa Bay Rays 6-3 yesterday.
Miguel Cabrera also starred in the win, belting two home runs in a 4-for-4 display, but Scherzer stole the show by striking out nine and claiming another win.
The 28-year-old becomes Major League Baseball’s first 12-0 starter since Roger Clemens opened the 1986 season with 14 straight wins for the Boston Red Sox.
The win moved the Tigers to 43-35, maintaining their place at the top of the American League Central, while the Rays dropped to 41-39 to sit fourth in the tight AL East.
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Braves won the battle of National League division leaders, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-0.
Julio Teheran struck out 10 over six innings, allowing just four hits and one walk, and Andrelton Simmons homered to push the East leading Braves (46-34) past the West pace-setters, who fell to 42-37.
Washington left it late but rallied past the New York Mets for a 6-4 win.
Ryan Zimmerman tied the game with a three-run double in the eighth before Ian Desmond drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth to improve the Nationals to 40-39 and drop the Mets to 32-44.
Baltimore’s Nate McLouth broke a tie with a solo homer in the seventh to give the Orioles (45-36) a 4-3 win over the New York Yankees (42-37).
Pittsburgh’s (49-30) winning streak extended to seven games with a 10-3 triumph over the Milwaukee Brewers (32-46).
Michael Cuddyer hammered a two-run homer to lift his hitting streak to 25 games and help Colorado (40-41) to a 4-1 result over the San Francisco Giants (38-41).
The Cleveland Indians took care of the Chicago White Sox 19-10 in the first game of a double-header before backing up to win the night game 9-8, thanks to a four-run ninth inning.
Oakland were 6-1 winners over St Louis as the A’s rode Bartolo Colon’s eighth straight win to move half a game behind Texas in the AL West at 47-34, leaving the Cardinals a game behind Pittsburgh at 48-31.REUTERS
