Wilson Makes His Pitch for the Royals

Kris Wilson gave the Kansas City Royals exactly what they wanted and needed at Oakland.

Mike Sweeney and Joe Randa hit home runs and Wilson combined with three relievers to help the Royals beat the Athletics, 3-1, Saturday, ending a seven-game losing streak against them.

Wilson made his first start in more than a year, replacing Runelvys Hernandez, who continues to nurse a sore elbow.

Wilson (1-0) yielded one run and four hits in five innings. He struck out one and didn’t walk a batter in his first start since Sept. 21, 2001. It was his longest outing since he pitched 6 2/3 innings at Baltimore on Aug. 15, 2001.

Sean Lowe, Jason Grimsley and Mike MacDougal combined for shutout relief. MacDougal earned his 12th save in 15 opportunities to help the Royals win for only the second time in eight games.

Boston 12, Cleveland 3 -- David Ortiz homered to cap a five-run first inning at Fenway Park. Nomar Garciaparra homered to extend his hitting streak to 24 games and was one of three Boston batters -- along with Ortiz and Manny Ramirez -- with three hits and a homer.

Detroit 1, Chicago 0 -- Gary Knotts outpitched Esteban Loaiza at Chicago to give the Tigers their third straight win. Knotts (2-3), who pitched 7 2/3 scoreless innings, and Franklyn German completed the combined three-hitter.

Brandon Inge tripled to lead off the third and scored on Omar Infante’s sacrifice fly. The White Sox lost for the sixth time in eight games.

Baltimore 10, Texas 3 -- Melvin Mora hit a go-ahead three-run homer and had five RBIs at Arlington, Texas, as the Orioles ended the Rangers’ seven-game winning streak.

Texas led, 3-1, after six innings, but Mora hit a three-run homer off starter John Thomson in the seventh to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead.

Minnesota 7, Seattle 2 -- Kyle Lohse pitched a six-hitter at Seattle for his second complete game of the season.

Lohse (4-3), a 13-game winner last season, threw the Twins’ fourth complete game of the season. He struck out seven and walked one.

Joel Pineiro (4-4) left after five innings with the score 6-2. He gave up 12 hits and walked two.