Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang carried his bid for a perfect game into the eighth inning before Ben Broussard homered with one out. Facing a team that got 15 runs and 20 hits the previous night, Wang wound up allowing the Mariners two hits in eight innings.
Astros rookie Matt Albers, pitching on three days’ rest, held the Cardinals to three singles in 7 1/3 innings for his first major-league win. “He really set the tone,” teammate Mark Loretta said. “They were taking some swings you don’t usually see them take.”
Wilson Betemit, normally the Dodgers’ starting third baseman, hit a pinch-hit homer off Braves starter Tim Hudson in the eighth inning. Betemit, the former Brave, was hitting only .125 with no homers when he was benched by manager Grady Little.
THREE DOWN
Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter, sidelined since Opening Day with an elbow injury, will undergo arthroscopic surgery Tuesday after suffering a setback in his rehab program. Carpenter is optimistic he’ll be able to pitch the last two months of the season.
Pirates reliever Matt Capps was ejected in the seventh inning of Saturday night’s game after he hit Prince Fielder high on the right shoulder with a pitch following a three-run homer by J.J. Hardy. Capps had entered the game 2-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 16 appearances.
One day after saying he wouldn’t go on the DL despite a strained left hamstring, the Rangers’ Kevin Millwood (2-3, 5.88 ERA in six starts) landed there and will miss at least one start. “That hamstring, it’s still tender, he can’t finish his pitches,” manager Ron Washington said.
