Raul Mondesi of the Dominican Republic hit a bases-loaded triple to cap a five-run first inning as the New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox 7-3 Monday to snap a three-game losing streak and regain first place in the American League East.
David Wells (6-1) scattered nine hits and a walk over 6 2-3 innings, allowing one run and striking out four. Seven of the hits against him came with two outs, and the Red Sox stranded 10 in the game.
Jorge Posada reached base five times -- two hits, two walks and an error -- for the Yankees, who won 18 of their first 21 games before going 9-13 to fall into a first-place tie with Boston. They were swept at home by Texas last weekend and had lost six of seven overall.
PHOTO: AFP
Casey Fossum (4-2) gave up five runs on six hits and two walks, striking out four in six innings. All the damage came in the first before he settled down and retired 16 of the next 18 batters.
Indians 10, Tigers 9
In Cleveland, Casey Blake's two-run homer in the seventh inning helped Cleveland overcome a three-homer game by Detroit's Carlos Pena.
The Tigers have now lost five straight games.
The first of 19 matchups between the American League's two worst teams looked more like a weekend softball game as the clubs combined for 19 runs, 24 hits, three errors and a couple bonehead plays.
Pena had a career-high seven RBIs and hit a leadoff homer in the second, a grand slam in the third and connected for a two-run shot in the seventh for the Tigers, who blew 6-0 and 9-7 leads. With a chance to become the 15th player in history to hit four homers, Pena flied out to shallow center for the final out in the ninth.
Blue Jays 12, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Orlando Hudson drove in four runs and Cory Lidle pitched a seven-hitter as Toronto beat the slumping Chicago for its straight victory.
Shannon Stewart, Eric Hinske and Frank Catalanotto homered for the Blue Jays, who finished with 15 hits and won for the 13th time in 17 games. Lidle has won six consecutive decisions, including his last four starts.
The White Sox have lost four in a row to fall a season-worst four games below .500. Frustrated manager Jerry Manuel was ejected in the fifth inning for arguing a call by third base umpire Angel Hernandez. It was Manuel's fourth ejection of the season after only being tossed seven times over his first five years in Chicago.
Matt Morris threw a four-hitter and Albert Pujols homered as the St. Louis Cardinals retained a dominating home-field advantage against the Chicago Cubs, winning 2-0 on Monday.
The Cardinals took three of four in the series, outscoring the Cubs 17-8, and pulled two games behind the National League Central leaders. The Cubs are 2-11 at Busch Stadium the last two years and 4-23 there over the last four years.
Pujols hit his 11th homer on a 1-2 pitch from Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth for the Cardinals' second run, and was 5-for-14 in the series with a pair of homers and four RBIs. The other run scored on a double play ball in the third inning.
Morris (5-3) outdueled 21-year-old Carlos Zambrano (4-4), striking out eight and walking none for his fourth career shutout and first since blanking the Cubs 3-0 on May 13, 2002, in St. Louis. It was his third complete game of the year and 11th of his career.
Brewers 6, Padres 5
In Milwaukee, Matt Kinney's pitching and Geoff Jenkins' three-run homer helped Milwaukee beat San Diego in a game between the two worst teams in the National League. The Padres rallied for three runs in the ninth inning on Miguel Ojeda's two-run double and Dave Hansen's RBI single, but Mike DeJean struck out Ramon Vazquez with the bases loaded for his eighth save in 10 chances.
Kinney (3-3) gave up two runs on six hits in eight innings. He struck out six and walked none in sending the Padres to their sixth consecutive loss.
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3
In Phoenix, Tim Worrell walked Rod Barajas with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning to give Arizona a come-from-behind victory over San Francisco.
Benito Santiago and JT Snow hit solo homers off Curt Schilling for the Giants, who lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Worrell (1-2) walked Luis Gonzalez to start the ninth. David Dellucci put down a bunt, and first baseman Snow's rare throwing error pulled shortstop Rich Aurilia off second base to put runners at first and second.
Two outs later, Steve Finley was walked intentionally to load the bases for Barajas, who walked on a 3-2 pitch.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB