The visitors began brightly after the interval and forced three corners which were dealt with unconvincingly by Villa's keeper Scott Carson, who flapped at the ball on each occasion.

BBC: Aston Villa 4-0 Bolton

Michael Cuddyer and Todd Helton followed with hard singles to put runners at the corners and Kuroda's wild pitch sent Helton to second but Cuddyer had to hold up when the ball caromed off the backstop and back to catcher Chris Stewart.

WSJ: De La Rosa outduels Kuroda, Rockies beat Yanks 2-0