SEATTLE -- Seattle starter Hisashi Iwakuma added to his dominant streak against the AL Central. The All-Star right-hander struck out seven and walked none in eight innings to run his scoreless streak against division teams to 48 2-3 innings in the Mariners 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night. It is the second-longest streak by any pitcher against one division dating to 1974. Orel Hershiser tossed 55 straight scoreless innings against NL West opponents in 1988. "Hes got a good two-seamer and his split was pretty much unhittable today," Kansas Citys Billy Butler said. "He was mixing a slider in there and had all three pitches working at any time. He was throwing them all for strikes." Iwakuma (2-0) scattered four singles and allowed only one baserunner to reach second in his second start of the season. Iwakuma, who began the year on the disabled list with a strained tendon on the middle finger of his pitching hand, bolsters a strong pitching staff that has helped the team win 11 times in the last 14 games since losing eight straight from April 15-22. "Hes getting better each and every time out," Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. "I think if you asked him, theres a lot more in there. Theres a lot of room for improvement, but that just goes to show how good he really is." Despite limiting the Mariners to just two hits and one run in six-plus innings, Danny Duffy (1-3) was the hard-luck loser for Kansas City. He has allowed two hits and a run in each of his first two starts this season after pitching out of the bullpen to begin the year. Both times he has been stuck with the loss. The Mariners pushed across the lone run in the third. Mike Zunino led off with a double for Seattles first hit and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, Duffy intentionally walked Robinson Cano. Corey Hart followed with a run-scoring single up the middle that proved to be the difference. Seattle hitters have driven in runs three out of the six times opposing teams have intentionally walked Cano this season. "Offense didnt win the game, Kuma obviously was dominant," Hart said. "Any time a pitcher throws like that, you try to scrap any run you can get across, and one was enough. A guy throws like that, you hate to lose." Kansas City managed just four singles and advanced a runner to second base only once during the first eight innings. The Royals had their best opportunity to score in the ninth when Fernando Rodney walked two, but the closer struck out Butler and induced a game-ending groundout. Rodneys 10th save in 11 chances kept the Royals off the board for the 27th straight inning, a streak that dates to September 2013. "Our guys are grinders," McClendon said. "I think theyve proven that they know how to get back up off the mat, so to speak. This has been a tough month and a half for us in a lot of different ways, but I think when its all said and done, maybe were not as bad as people thought we were going to be." NOTES: Seattle LHP James Paxton, on the DL with a strained left lat muscle, played catch and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session Friday. ... Mariners RHP Taijuan Walker is scheduled to toss in the bullpen Sunday after playing catch on Thursday. Walker is on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation. ... Royals 2B Omar Infante was not in the lineup for the second consecutive day due to back spasms. Manager Ned Yost said the team doesnt think Infante will have to go on the DL. Infante is day to day. . Leverkusen said on Friday it signed Schmidt on a two-year contract. He guided Red Bull Salzburg to the Austrian championship this season.
http://www.sabresauthority.com/.Y. - Phil Varone was the lone scorer in the shootout as the Rochester Americans edged the Toronto Marlies 3-2 on Sunday in American Hockey League action. . Liriano pitched in and out of trouble in his duel with Josh Beckett, and Ike Davis homered to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-1 Friday night. . "Back in 2011, when they announced that the game was coming here, we knew that it was going to be pretty important that we had a good year and hopefully could get into it, let alone win it, so I felt some pressure obviously within for sure," Taman said Monday, less than 24 hours after the Riders won the championship.ATLANTA - Julio Teheran pitched a six-hitter for his second shutout of the season, Justin Upton had three RBIs and the Atlanta Braves won their third in a row, beating the slumping Milwaukee Brewers 5-0 Tuesday night. It was another laugher in the matchup between first-place teams, the Braves jumping ahead with three runs in the third and cruising to victory after opening the series with a 9-3 rout. The Brewers have lost four in a row overall, their longest skid of 2014. Teheran (3-3) bounced back from the shortest start of his career at San Francisco, where he lasted just 3 1-3 innings in a 10-4 loss. The right-hander pitched his first career shutout last month, beating Philadelphia 1-0 with a three-hitter. Upton had a two-run single in the third and his 12th homer in the fifth, a solo shot. Yovani Gallardo (2-3) took a painful loss. He left the game in the fourth after twisting his left ankle jumping for a high chopper up the middle, extending his winless streak to more than six weeks. Gallardo hasnt been credited with a win since April 6 at Boston, his second start of the season. Since then, he is 0-3 with five no-decisions, despite allowing no more than four earned runs in any of those appearances. Andrelton Simmons put the Braves ahead in the third with his fourth homer, a drive into the left-field seats. Simmons was in the middle of things again in the fourth, pulling off a heads-up play on the basepaths. After B.J. Upton worked Gallardo for a walk, Simmons hit a high bouncer off second base, the ball rolling into short left field. Second baseman Scooter Gennett chased it down, then lazily threw it in to the third baseman. Simmons took off from first and appeared to get a hand in ahead of the tag with a tumbling slide. The umpire initially called Simmonns out, but the call was overturned after Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez challenged.ddddddddddddThe review took 2 minutes, 15 seconds. Teheran followed with another hopper over the mound, the ball bouncing away when Gennett and shortstop Jean Segura got tangled up trying to make the play. Upton came in to score, Gennett was charged with an error, and Gallardo came up limping after leaping for the ball and coming down awkwardly on his left foot. He was done for the night. Notes: The Braves scratched C Evan Gattis, who had been scheduled to hit cleanup, just before the first pitch because of "viral symptoms." Ramiro Pena moved up from eighth to second in the revised batting order, with Justin Upton sliding down to hit cleanup. Gerald Laird took over at catcher, hitting eighth. ... Brewers RHP Jim Henderson (shoulder) is scheduled to make a rehab appearance Friday for Double-A Huntsville (AL). The tentative plan is for Henderson to make three outing in the minors so he can go multiple innings as a long reliever for Milwaukee. ... Braves IF Tyler Pastornicky will need a few more days to get over a left calf injury. The problem flared up again when he took batting practice Monday. ... Milwaukee 3B Aramis Ramirez (left hamstring) ran for a second straight day but still feels some pain. "I think its encouraging," manager Ron Roenicke said. Ramirez is on the 15-day disabled list. ... A child sitting behind the Braves dugout was struck when Carlos Gomez fouled off a line drive in the seventh inning. Teheran grimaced and sank into a crouch when he saw what happened, and Gomez also looked toward the stands with concern. The child was hustled out of the stands for medical treatment. There was no immediate word on the condition. ' ' '
