MLB roundup: Smoltz struggles as Nationals spoil his AL debut

WASHINGTON — Whether it was nerves, rust or age — or a combination of the three — John Smoltz had a rough debut inning for the Boston Red Sox.

The 42-year-old right-hander allowed four of the first five batters to score before settling down in his first major league game in more than a year, a 9-3 loss to the Washington Nationals.

Smoltz, who spent all of his previous 20 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, needed 34 pitches to get through a four-run first while wearing an American League jersey for the first time in his career.

After that, Smoltz (0-1) looked more like the pitcher who has 210 career wins and 154 saves. His final line: five innings, seven hits, five earned runs, one walk, a hit batter and five strikeouts in 92 pitches.

Jordan Zimmermann (3-3), who took the mound with 208 fewer wins than his counterpart, had the best start of his young career to get his first win since late April. The rookie right-hander allowed one run and five hits with six strikeouts over seven innings.

TIGERS 6, CUBS 5: At Detroit, Magglio Ordonez ended a career-long, 40-game drought without a home run by connecting for the go-ahead shot, leading the Tigers to their seventh straight victory. Armando Galarraga (4-7) gave up four runs over six innings and won for the first time since April 26.

ASTROS 5, ROYALS 4: At Houston, Lance Berkman homered twice and drove in four runs to help the Astros overcome an error-filled day and beat Kansas City. Berkman became the third player in franchise history to reach 1,000 RBIs.

TWINS 6, BREWERS 4: At Milwaukee, Denard Span tripled, walked three times and scored three runs in his first game back from the disabled list, and Minnesota took its fifth win in six games against the Brewers this season.

WHITE SOX 6, DODGERS 5 (13 INNINGS): At Chicago, Scott Podsednik lined a two-out RBI single in front of diving center fielder Matt Kemp in the 13th inning to give the White Sox a victory over the Dodgers. It was the second game-ending hit in two weeks for Podsednik, who was signed to a minor league contract in April after Colorado cut him.

MARINERS 9, PADRES 3: At Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki lined the 29th leadoff homer of his career into the right-field seats and finished a triple short of the cycle, and Seattle gave starter Jarrod Washburn his first win in more than two months.