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BOSTON -- Dustin Pedroia spent the first month of the season just one home run shy of 100 in his career. Pedroia reached the milestone with a little panache, hitting a grand slam in the sixth inning and propelling the Boston Red Sox to a 7-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night. "I was pretty excited to hit a home run. Its been a while," said Pedroia, who had gone 160 at-bats without one. The skid ended when the Red Sox truly needed it, clinging to a 2-1 lead on a night when both clubs were failing to drive in runs. Pedroia drove an 0-2 pitch out to left field in the sixth inning for his second career grand slam and first homer since Sept. 17. "Honestly, I was just trying to drive one run in," Pedroia said. "As a team, weve been scuffling a little bit with guys on." The grand slam put Boston up 6-1 and the cushion was plenty for Clay Buchholz (2-2), who shut down the team with the top record in the American League. Buchholz pitched 6 1-3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and striking out five. He walked three and got himself out of several jams as the As left five on base and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position against Buchholz. "We hit some balls hard. We hit a lot of balls hard, actually -- right at people and then didnt get some hits when we did have some guys on base," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. John Jaso scored Oaklands only run, coming in on a wild pitch after leading off the third with a triple. Boston was having its own struggles with runners on before Pedroia came through in the sixth off of reliever Ryan Cook. Xander Bogaerts and A.J. Pierzynski started the sixth with back-to-back singles off Dan Otero, who began the inning. Otero struck out Will Middlebrooks, then walked Bradley to load the bases with one out. Cook relieved Otero and got Pedroia down 0-2, before he cleared the bases with a shot that just cleared the Green Monster. As manager Bob Melvin challenged whether the ball cleared the yellow line before a fan touched it and lost the appeal. The milestone homer put him in elite Red Sox company as only the second player in franchise history with 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases. Pedroia, who stole his 121st career base in the first inning, joins Carl Yastrzemski (452 home runs, 168 steals). "They told me that after the game. Thats crazy," Pedroia said. "I guess Im getting old. But just having your name anywhere said with his is an accomplishment." Boston hadnt scored since getting a pair of runs in the second inning off starter Dan Straily (1-2). Grady Sizemore led off with a double and scored on Pierzynskis single with one out. Jackie Bradley Jr. added a two-out double to drive in Pierzynski and Boston led 2-0. Straily pitched 4 1-3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He struck out three and walked three. "I felt like every single time, every batter I was behind 2-0. Thats just not the way to pitch," Straily said. "Its just a frustrating day." Bradley ended a potential rally for the As in the eighth with a leaping catch at the centre field wall, then hitting Pedroia with a strong relay throw. Pedroia threw to Mike Napoli as Josh Donaldson scrambled to get back after rounding second before seeing Bradley make the catch. Notes: The series continues Saturday afternoon with Boston LHP Jon Lester (2-4) scheduled to face Oakland lefty Tommy Milone (0-2). .. Oakland played its first game in May after tying the franchise record for wins in April at 18-9. ... Buchholz allowed 12 runs on 20 hits over 6 2-3 innings in his first two starts at Fenway Park this season. ... Boston rookie SS Xander Bogaerts has reached safely in 14 straight games. ... Boston C A.J. Pierzynski was played his 1,700th career game behind the plate. ... Pedroia could catch Yastrzemskis steal total of 168, but Yazs 452 homers are probably out of reach for Bostons pesky second baseman. 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Scherzer tossed a three-hitter in his 179th career start for his first complete game and Victor Martinez hit his 16th homer to lead the Detroit Tigers a 4-0 win over the Chicago White Sox.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Defending champion Spain and stars Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta will train in the Washington, D.C., area next week. England and Wayne Rooney arrive Sunday for a week of workouts in Miami. Ivory Coast and Didier Drogba have games in St. Louis and Texas. But instead of preparing for the World Cup against top teams and global stars, the United States arranged a sendoff series against No. 85 Azerbaijan, No. 39 Turkey and No. 44 Nigeria. Not that U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann didnt try to schedule tougher opponents. "Youre trying to find the best teams that suit you. Its not that easy anymore," he said leading to Sundays exhibition against the Turks at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey. When the U.S. contacted high-profile teams, Klinsmann said they backed off. "Has to do a little bit with our results of the last two years," he added. Since Klinsmann replaced Bob Bradley in July 2011, the U.S. beat Italy for the first time in 11 games over 78 years, defeated Mexico in Mexico for the first time in 75 years and qualified for its seventh straight World Cup. Klinsmann chose Stanford University for a two-week training camp that opened May 14, and the Americans started their prep schedule Tuesday with a 2-0 win over the Azerbaijanis — coached by Berti Vogts, a special adviser to Klinsmann. The American defence and goalkeeper Tim Howard were hardly tested, and the U.S. offence seemed to be slowed by heavy legs following a physically demanding training camp. "Now the teams start progressively getting harder," defender Omar Gonzalez said. "I think its a great three games for us, and its just an opportunity for us to shore things up, to gain a little bit of confidence." Turkey hasnt appeared at the World Cup since 2002, when the Crescent-Stars finished third after losing to eventual champion Brazil 1-0 in the semifinals, then lost to Germanny in the semis of the 2008 European Championship.dddddddddddd The Turks finished fourth in their qualifying group for this World Cup, behind the Netherlands, Romania and Hungary. Preparing for the start of 2016 European Championship qualifying, Turkey won 2-1 at Ireland last weekend on goals by Ahmet Ilhan Ozek and Tarik Camdal, then beat World Cup-bound Honduras 2-0 Thursday at Washingtons RFK Stadium when Mevlut Erdinc scored in the 70th minute and set up Caner Erkins goal on a counterattack in the 83rd. "Turkey is an unpredictable team. Its a team that has a lot of individual skills and they are good players that can make a difference in half a second," Klinsmann said. "We need games that really keep us on our toes. We need games that especially for our back line ... that challenges them not to lose focus and concentration, not even for one moment in our game. Otherwise you get punished, and that costs you badly." Four years ago, the U.S. rallied to beat the Turks 2-1 in Philadelphia, getting second-half goals from Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey in the Americans final game before they headed to the World Cup in South Africa. The Turks have been without Atletico Madrid midfielder Arda Turan, who missed last weekends Champions League final against Real Madrid because of a sore hip, but Borussia Dortmunds Nuri Sahin is on the roster. After this, the only pre-World Cup exhibition left for the Americans is on June 7 against Nigeria at Jacksonville, Florida. Thats followed by a scrimmage in Sao Paulo against Belgium on June 12. One question is whether Klinsmann changes his back four of right back Fabian Johnson, central defenders Geoff Cameron and Matt Besler and left back DaMarcus Beasley. "Were not worried about the results," Klinsmann said. "Even if we would have a negative result in these preparation games, we would take it the right way." ' ' '