Oswalt sharp in first start as Rangers beat Rockies
* INTERLEAGUE
Roy Oswalt looked right at home in his debut with the Texas Rangers.
Making his first major league start in over eight months, Oswalt pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Rangers won their seventh straight game, beating the slumping Colorado Rockies 4-1 on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Oswalt, who pitched more than 10 years in the National League with Houston and Philadelphia, made four minor league starts after signing with the Rangers May 29.
The 34-year-old Oswalt won his 160th career game and his first since beating Atlanta on Sept. 27. He allowed nine hits and one run in 6 2-3 innings.
"I won't tell you I wasn't nervous," said Oswalt, who threw 81 of his 110 pitches for strikes. "If you don't have butterflies, you might as well get out of the game."
Oswalt last pitched in the majors on Oct. 5 - a Game 4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLDS.
The Rockies probably felt the time off hadn't hurt Oswalt. The right-hander improved to 9-2 lifetime against Colorado with a 1.89 ERA, his best mark against any of the 16 teams he's faced more than three times.
"He was ready to pitch and he pitched like Roy Oswalt," Rangers manager Ron Washington said.
Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli homered for Texas, which improved to a major-league best 13-3 in interleague play.
Braves 4, Red Sox 1: Jair Jurrjens of visiting Atlanta made an impressive return to the majors by allowing one run on three hits in 7 2/3 innings and shut down hot-hitting Boston.
Mets 6, Yankees 4: Ike Davis received a bit of help from the visiting New York Yankees on his three-run homer and Frank Francisco closed out the New York Mets' 6-4 victory after calling their crosstown rivals "chickens."
Davis followed Justin Turner's two-run single with a fly to right that a leaping Nick Swisher got his glove on. But when he hit the wall, the ball was nudged off the top of the fence and over for a 5-0 lead.
Twins 5, Reds 4: Moses Lake native Ryan Doumit and Ben Revere each had four hits, leading Minnesota at Cincinnati.
Pirates 4, Tigers 1: A.J. Burnett pitched six shutout innings to win his seventh consecutive start and Pittsburgh won for the fifth time in six games, beating visiting Detroit.
Orioles 2, Nationals 1: Jason Hammel pitched eight innings of five-hit ball and had a career high-tying 10 strikeouts to lead Baltimore over visiting Washington.
Cardinals 11, Royals 4: Former Spokane Indian Carlos Beltran hit two two-run doubles in his return to Kauffman Stadium, and visiting St. Louis pounded Kansas City.
Indians 2, Astros 0: Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff triple and Michael Brantley drove in a run late to back up a strong start by Ubaldo Jimenez and Cleveland won at Houston.
Blue Jays 12, Marlins 5: Jose Bautista homered and drove in three runs, Kelly Johnson also had three RBIs and Toronto won at Miami.
Brewers 1, White Sox 0, 10 inn.: Zack Greinke pitched three-hit ball over nine innings, Rickie Weeks drove in the lone run with a single in the 10th and Milwaukee won at Chicago.
Angels 8, Dodgers 5: At Anaheim, rookie sensation Mike Trout hit a go-ahead homer and scored from first base on a single as the Los Angeles Angels rallied from an early five-run deficit against Chad Billingsley to beat the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers.
Giants 5, Athletics 4: Brandon Belt hit a tying two-run double and scored on Hector Sanchez's single during a four-run ninth inning, and visiting San Francisco rallied past Oakland.
Rays-Phillies, ppd., rain: Tampa Bay's game at Philadelphia was postponed due to rain, and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on Sunday.
* NATIONAL LEAGUE
Diamondbacks 6, Cubs 1: At Phoenix, Jason Kubel hit a two-run homer and five relievers filled in for scratched starter Joe Saunders to lift Arizona over Chicago.