Maroth Yielding Wins for Tigers

Mike Maroth is making the most of a new year.

Maroth won again, pitching eight strong innings in leading the Detroit Tigers over the Oakland Athletics, 3-1, Thursday at Detroit.

Maroth (4-1) was 9-21 last season and did not post his fourth victory until July 5.

“We’ve come a long way,” Maroth said. “I think I’ve done a good job of learning how to pitch.”

Maroth, who ended the Athletics’ season-high three-game winning streak, gave up one run and five hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Ivan Rodriguez homered and Carlos Guillen had three hits and scored twice for the Tigers.

Minnesota 1, Seattle 0 -- Johan Santana (2-0) gave up six hits over seven innings, and the Twins completed their first home sweep of the Mariners in 12 years.

Michael Cuddyer hit an RBI double in the second inning, and Santana got some help from center fielder Torii Hunter to preserve the shutout.

With two outs in the second inning and Scott Spiezio on second, Santana gave up a single to Dan Wilson. Hunter’s throw just beat a sliding Spiezio, who was tagged out by Henry Blanco.

Baltimore 1-5, Chicago 0-6 -- Paul Konerko broke out of a two-for-31 slump with a go-ahead three-run homer and had five RBIs, and the White Sox gained a split of their doubleheader in Chicago. In the opener, Daniel Cabrera made an impressive major league debut, yielding two hits in six strong innings to spark the Oriole victory.

Baltimore’s Rafael Palmeiro homered in the second game, the 533rd of his career. He is one shy of tying Jimmie Foxx for 13th place all time.

Tampa Bay 6, Texas 3 -- Carl Crawford broke a sixth-inning tie at St. Petersburg, Fla., with an RBI single to help the Devil Rays end a season-high seven-game losing streak. Tampa Bay, the only team in the majors that hasn’t won consecutive games, won for the third time in 17 games.

Toronto 12, Boston 6 -- Orlando Hudson tied a franchise record with five runs scored, and Miguel Batista earned his first win with his new team as the Blue Jays beat Curt Schilling at Toronto. Batista (1-3) won for the first time in eight starts, yielding five runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 inning. Schilling (4-3), Batista’s former teammate in Arizona, pitched a season-low five innings, giving up three runs and eight hits.