Beckett Goes to 3-0 in Leading Red Sox

Josh Beckett has a fastball that reaches about 100 mph and a toughness that squelches rallies.

He showed both Sunday.

Beckett struck out Seattle’s Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre after a runner reached third with one out in the sixth inning, and the Red Sox went on to a 3-2 victory over the Mariners at Boston.

“I’d rather have a 1-2-3 inning every time, but I was fortunate to make some pitches there,” said Beckett, who added that he prided himself in the way he approached those situations. It “builds a lot of character,” he said.

Beckett, who joined Boston in an off-season trade from Florida, has given up one earned run in seven innings in each of his three starts for a 1.29 earned-run average. He gave up six hits, walked one and struck out five against Seattle, improving his record to 3-0 for the first time in his career.

Jarrod Washburn (1-2) gave up only three hits in six innings but issued four walks and threw two wild pitches as Seattle lost for the second time in its last five games.

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Detroit 1, Cleveland 0 -- Chris Shelton hit his major league-leading eighth home run, backing Mike Maroth and leading the Tigers at Detroit.

Shelton homered into the Cleveland bullpen off Cliff Lee (1-1) with one out in the fourth inning. Five of Shelton’s homers have been solo shots.

Maroth (2-0) gave up three hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked two after having his start pushed back three days because of elbow soreness.

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New York 9, Minnesota 3 -- Jason Giambi hit two long home runs at Minneapolis, and the Yankees avoided what would have been the Twins’ first three-game sweep of them since 1991.

Chien-Ming Wang (1-0) struck out a career-high eight in seven innings, and Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez each homered.

Brad Radke (2-1) gave up three homers, increasing his total to seven in three starts.

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Texas 5, Oakland 3 -- Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer in the ninth off Huston Street that tied the score 3-3, and Brad Wilkerson hit a go-ahead double off the Athletics’ closer at Oakland.

Street (1-1) had converted 21 consecutive save chances since last July 10 against the Chicago White Sox. This time he gave up four runs and five hits in two-thirds of an inning.

Francisco Cordero (1-1) allowed Oakland to load the bases in the ninth before retiring Nick Swisher on a game-ending fly-ball out.

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Chicago 6, Toronto 4 -- Matching his home run total from an injury-marred 2005 season, Jim Thome hit a two-run shot and Scott Podsednik broke his three-for-38 slump with a single and a triple to lift the White Sox at Chicago in a game stopped by rain after the top of the fifth inning after the second delay. Thome’s seventh home run equaled his total from last season with Philadelphia. Jermaine Dye also had a two-run homer.

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Tampa Bay 9, Kansas City 5 -- Carl Crawford hit a tiebreaking two-run triple to lead the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla. Jonny Gomes, Damon Hollins and Ty Wigginton homered for Tampa Bay, which has seven consecutive victories against the Royals dating to last season.