MLB Wrap: Posey homers to back Zito, Giants beat Padres 5-0

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Barry Zito shook off the worst outing of his big league career to give the Giants another impressive effort from their starting rotation.

Buster Posey's first home run of the season made sure it held up.

Zito and Chad Gaudin combined on a six-hitter and San Francisco beat the San Diego Padres 5-0 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Zito (3-1) bounced back five days after getting shelled by the Milwaukee Brewers when he failed to make it out of the third inning.

He allowed five hits in seven innings against the Padres, struck out four, walked one and did not give up run for the third time in four starts.

"If you let outings bleed into the next one, that's when things kind of go bad, so you just have to stick with your approach," Zito said after beating San Diego for the first time in nearly two years.

"I felt pretty good in my game and the results weren't there last (time). I felt pretty good today and the results were there. That's just the nature of the game."

Zito's outing followed solid outings by San Francisco starters Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum, and helped the Giants sweep the Padres in a series of three games or more for the first time since Sept. 12-14, 2011.

San Diego, held scoreless for the last 21 innings, had opened its six-game trip by taking three straight from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Zito retired 13 of his final 16 batters before leaving to a standing ovation. He had given up nine runs in 2 2-3 innings during Tuesday's 10-8 defeat at Milwaukee, ending his streak of 16 starts without a loss.

Elsewhere in the National League, Cincinnati won for the sixth time in seven games with a 10-6 victory over Miami, the Mets beat Washington 2-0, Pittsburgh had a 4-2 win over Atlanta, Milwaukee beat the Cubs 4-2, Arizona edged Colorado 5-4 and Philadelphia beat St. Louis 7-3.

In the American League, Toronto beat the Yankees 8-4, Kansas City swept a double-header against Boston, the Dodgers beat Baltimore 7-4, Cleveland edged Houston 5-4, Texas thrashed Seattle 11-3, the L.A. Angles held off Detroit 4-3 in 13 innings, Tampa Bay routed Oakland 8-1 and Minnesota beat the White Sox 5-3.

At Milwaukee, the Brewers won their seventh straight game after Ryan Braun hit a three-run homer in the fifth then was ejected three innings later.

The Brewers are 18-2 over the past 20 meetings with the Cubs at Miller Park.

At Anaheim, Mark Trumbo homered leading off the bottom of the 13th inning and Albert Pujols doubled home two runs, lifting the Angels to their second straight series sweep of the Tigers.

Detroit lefty Phil Coke (0-2) intentionally walked Pujols with two outs and the bases empty in the 12th before striking out Josh Hamilton on three pitches. But Trumbo drove a 3-1 pitch into the top part of the double-decker bullpen in left field for his second homer of the season.

The Royals beat the Red Sox 4-2 in the first game and 5-4 in 10 innings in the second at Boston.

Ervin Santana pitched seven strong innings as the Royals ended Boston's seven-game winning streak in the opening match.

The nightcap was scheduled after Friday night's game was postponed because of the manhunt for a suspect in the Boston Marathon bombings.

Santana (2-1) allowed two runs on six hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. It was the third straight start in which he gave up two runs or less.

The Royals scored three runs in the fourth with Salvador Perez's two-run single breaking a 2-2 tie against Ryan Dempster (0-2).

The atmosphere at Fenway Park was more like a typical baseball game following the emotional pregame ceremony when the Red Sox returned to action Saturday.

In the night game, Lorenzo Cain drew a walk with two outs and the bases loaded in the 10th inning to give the Royals a sweep.

Alex Gordon had three hits in the second game, including a single with one out in the 10th. Alcides Escobar walked and, after Billy Butler struck out, Eric Hosmer reached on an infield single — his fourth hit of the day.

Texas completed a 3-0 sweep against the Mariners, with Nelson Cruz hitting his fifth career grand slam, one of four home runs by the Rangers.

Cruz went way deep, an estimated 431 feet to left-center field, to cap a five-run fifth that chased Aaron Harang (0-2).

At Toronto, J.P. Arencibia hit a two-run homer and Melky Cabrera had three hits as the Blue Jays rallied for a victory over the Yankees after Josh Johnson walked in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Brett Cecil (1-0) worked 1 1-3 innings for the win as the Blue Jays capped a seven-game homestand on a winning note.

Esmil Rogers worked 1 1-3 innings and Darren Oliver pitched the ninth for Toronto.

Chris Stewart hit a solo homer for the Yankees, who had won nine of their previous 11.