OAKLAND, California: Jon Lester, so long a presence for the Boston Red Sox, did his usual thing yesterday, but in a green-and-gold A’s uniform.
After 242 games with the Red Sox, Lester made his Oakland debut after a trade by Boston and came away with the victory as the A’s smashed through their recent scoring drought to beat the visiting Kansas City Royals.
The left-hander came out of the game in the seventh inning to a standing ovation and tipped his cap to the fans.
Lester gave up one run in the third, on a sacrifice fly by designated hitter Salvador Perez, and two more in the seventh.
It was the first time in nine starts that Lester (11-7) had allowed more than two earned runs.
Meanwhile, New York right-hander Jacob de Grom carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, when the Mets ended Jake Peavy’s perfect game bid by busting out for four runs en route to a win over the San Francisco Giants.
DeGrom, who is 6-1 with a 1.52 ERA over his last eight starts, gave up the two runs on four hits and one walk while striking out seven.
He allowed only the walk through 6 2/3 innings before Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval ended deGrom’s bid for the second no-hitter in Mets history by lacing a clean double to left-center field.
Peavy was even better in pursuit of the Giants’ fifth no-hitter since 2009. The right-hander, making his second start for the Giants, retired the first 19 batters on just 71 pitches before things fell apart in a hurry.
Mark Teixeira homered and Derek Jeter delivered a two-run double that powered the visiting New York Yankees to a win over the Boston Red Sox.
Rookie right-hander Shane Greene pitched into the fifth inning and designated hitter Carlos Beltran went 2-for-5 with a double and RBI as the Yankees won for just the second time in their past seven games.
Rick Porcello gave up five hits in eight innings to win his 13th game and reached double digits in strikeouts for the third time in his career as the Detroit Tigers defeated the Colorado Rockies.
Porcello (13-5) had 10 strikeouts, walked two and retired 11 batters in a row at one point while sending the Rockies to their sixth loss in seven games.
Justin Masterson, a trade deadline acquisition from Cleveland, made it through six innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers.
Masterson (5-6) allowed seven hits and five runs, walking three and striking out four. He also poked a two-out single in the second that led to a five-run inning, and he laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that set up a run in the fourth.
Robinson Cano hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning and the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles.
Cano’s eighth homer of the season came against Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez and broke a 1-1 tie.
Left fielder Christian Yelich hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to lead the Miami Marlins to victory over Cincinnati as the Reds lost for the 11th time in 15 games.
Anthony Rendon had three hits and four RBIs.
Reuters
