Weaver Adjusts in Time to Beat Blue Jays, 4-0

Warming up in the bullpen, Jeff Weaver noticed his fastball didn’t have its usual pop.

So he made a few adjustments and pitched the New York Yankees to a 4-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday at Yankee Stadium.

“My fastball was for show today,” Weaver said after combining with reliever Chris Hammond on a five-hitter. “My curve and slider were for outs. I was glad I made the early adjustment and didn’t wait until the fourth or fifth inning to figure it out.”

Weaver (1-0) took a shutout into the eighth and Hammond got the last four outs. Yankee starters improved to 10-0 for the first time in franchise history.

Weaver, who yielded three hits in 7 2/3 innings, was in a scoreless duel with Pete Walker (1-1) until the fifth inning, when Raul Mondesi led off with a homer.

An inning later, Alfonso Soriano hit a first-pitch homer. After three walks loaded the bases, Hideki Matsui hit a two-run double off reliever Doug Creek.

Seattle 4, Oakland 3 -- Mark McLemore atoned for his game-tying error in the ninth inning with a two-out RBI single in the 10th at Seattle.

The Mariners won three of four from the Athletics, who have lost seven of eight after a 7-1 start.

With two out in the 10th, Mike Cameron walked and stole second. Jeremy Fikac (0-1) walked Carlos Guillen before McLemore blooped his single to left on a 3-1 pitch to drive in Cameron.

Oakland rallied from a 3-1 deficit against closer Kazuhiro Sasaki in the ninth, tying it on an error by McLemore at third base.

Chicago 8, Kansas City 2 -- Esteban Loaiza matched a career high with 11 strikeouts in winning his third straight start as he shut down the Royals at Chicago.

“This is the best three starts I ever had in my career,” said Loaiza (3-0), who lowered his earned-run average to 1.31 after giving up only four hits and a run in six strong innings.

Carlos Lee’s grand slam was one of four homers off Chris George (2-1).

Baltimore 6, Cleveland 4 -- Jeff Conine hit a two-out, two-run single in the 12th inning to give the Orioles the win at Cleveland.

Conine, who homered in the second inning, fouled off four pitches with two strikes before completing a 10-pitch at-bat by lining a single off Carl Sadler to score pinch-runner Jose Morban and Melvin Mora.

The Orioles won twice in the three-game series and evened the season series at 3-3. The teams won’t play each other again until 2004.

Minnesota 6, Detroit 0 -- Bobby Kielty hit two solo home runs and Kenny Rogers pitched eight scoreless innings as the Twins completed a three-game sweep at Minneapolis.

The Tigers had seven hits off Rogers (2-0), but stranded seven baserunners.

It was the fourth loss in a row for Detroit, which fell to 1-13. It’s the worst start in the majors since the Chicago Cubs opened 1997 with an 0-14 record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Detroit has lost 15 in a row to Minnesota -- the most games the Tigers have lost to one opponent in the franchise’s more than 100 seasons.