Red Sox Frustrate Yankees Again, 5-2

Alex Rodriguez slammed down his helmet, pawed at the dirt and gave it a few good kicks.

The All-Star who left the Texas Rangers in order to play in big games, was hitless in four at-bats again Saturday at Fenway Park in the New York Yankees’ 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

Hitless in eight at-bats with only one ball out of the infield in the first two games, it’s hardly the way the reigning league most valuable player and home-run champion hoped to join the Yankee-Red Sox rivalry.

Gary Sheffield and Javier Vazquez, two of New York’s other big acquisitions, haven’t done much better. Sheffield is hitless in six at-bats in the series, which started with Vazquez giving up three home runs in a 6-2 defeat Friday night.

The Red Sox took a 3-0 lead in the first three innings and went up 4-1 in the fifth on Manny Ramirez’s second homer of the series. Tony Clark’s fifth-inning homer was New York’s only run until Derek Jeter’s run-scoring single in the ninth.

Detroit 6, Cleveland 1 -- Just like the Tigers, Mike Maroth has turned it around in 2004. A 21-game loser a year ago, Maroth won his fourth consecutive decision by shutting down the Indians at Cleveland. Detroit, which lost a league-record 119 games last season, improved to 7-4. The Tigers didn’t get their seventh win last season until May 7, when they were 7-25.

Maroth (2-0) gave up one run and 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings and struck out seven.

Baltimore 5, Toronto 3 -- Larry Bigbie hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning, leading the Orioles to their third win in a row. Toronto fell to 0-5 at home and 3-8 overall. The Blue Jays also started the 1978 and 1981 seasons 3-8.

Chicago 4, Tampa Bay 1 -- Former Angel Scott Schoeneweis (1-1) yielded an unearned run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings at Tampa, Fla. Victor Zambrano (3-1) failed in his bid to become the first pitcher since Nolan Ryan in 1975 to win four times in his team’s first 10 games.

Minnesota 8, Kansas City 4 -- Former Dodger Henry Blanco had a two-run double and a run-scoring single at Minneapolis to lead the Twins to their fourth win in a row. Carlos Beltran homered for the fourth consecutive game for the Royals, who have lost five in a row.

Seattle 4, Texas 1 -- Jamie Moyer (1-1) pitched three-hit ball for eight innings at Seattle, and Dan Wilson hit a three-run double to help him beat the Rangers for the seventh time in a row. Scott Spiezio doubled and singled in his Mariner debut. He was on the disabled list through the first two weeks.