Casey Blake homered in both ends of a doubleheader and drove in seven runs to lead the Cleveland Indians to a sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Monday.
Blake had three hits and drove in two runs in the nightcap as the Indians won 8-5. Blake hit his first career grand slam and drove in five runs to lead Cleveland to a 10-5 win in the opener.
"I was lucky," Blake said. "I was worried that my timing might be off, after missing three days. But I got a lucky [hit] to drop in and that helped my confidence."
Matt Lawton and Blake each had two-run homers in the first inning of the nightcap off Kyle Snyder, who left the game after four innings with tightness in the right shoulder. His replacement, Les Walrond (0-2), was tagged for four runs and five hits in just one-third of an inning.
Brian Anderson (5-6) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings for the win in the nightcap. Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his 19th save in 24 chances.
In the opener, Cliff Lee got his first major league victory before being shipped back to Triple-A Buffalo. The left-hander, who went six-plus innings and gave up three hits and two unearned runs, had been told he would go right back down after the one start.
Yankees 6, Orioles 5
In Baltimore, Ruben Sierra hit a pivotal three-run homer and Andy Pettitte won his fourth consecutive start as the New York Yankees beat Baltimore for their season-high eighth straight game.
Karim Garcia also homered for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 12 to open up a four-game lead over Boston in the American League East.
Baltimore led 4-3 in the seventh when Sidney Ponson (10-5) gave up singles to Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi. B.J. Ryan came in and gave up Sierra's homer.
Tigers 6, Blue Jays 2
In Detroit, Mike Maroth gave up two runs over seven innings as Detroit ended a nine-game losing streak with a win over Toronto.
With the victory, the Tigers (19-61) avoided tying the 1904 Washington Senators for the worst 80-game start since 1901.
Toronto took a 1-0 lead on Shannon Stewart's sacrifice fly in the fifth, but Detroit came back with five runs in the bottom of the inning.
White Sox 10, Twins 3
In Chicago, Magglio Ordonez homered twice and Jon Garland pitched seven strong innings to lead Chicago past Minnesota.
Ordonez had a two-run homer in the fifth inning, the 1,000th hit of his career, and added a solo shot in the seventh.
Mariners 3, Athletics 1
In Oakland, California, Jamie Moyer took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning on the way to his 11th win of the season as Seattle beat Oakland.
Moyer became the fifth 11-game winner in the majors, and the Mariners moved seven games ahead of the A's in the AL West.
Jim Thome's two-run homer in the seventh inning led the Philadelphia Phillies to their sixth straight win, 4-3 over the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Vicente Padilla (7-7) pitched seven strong innings as the Phillies won for the 11th time in 13 games to close within 5 games of first-place Atlanta in the National League East. Philadelphia was 10 games behind the Braves on June 18.
Giants 5, Cardinals 1
In St. Louis, Jason Schmidt threw his third consecutive complete game for San Francisco, holding down St. Louis on seven hits.
Marquis Grissom doubled twice with an RBI and Edgardo Alfonzo had three hits for San Francisco, which has won six of its past nine games. It was the first meeting this year between the teams that played in the 2002 NL Championship Series.
Mets 3, Expos 1
In New York, Steve Trachsel pitched seven neat innings and Ty Wigginton hit a two-run double as New York beat Montreal to snap a five-game losing streak.
Cliff Floyd added an RBI single for the Mets, who won for only the second time in 11 games. Trachsel (7-5) has been the Mets' most reliable starter of late with four solid outings in a row. He held Montreal to one run and five hits, striking out three and walking two.
Marlins 8, Braves 1
In Miami, Mark Redman pitched a five-hitter as Florida roughed up Greg Maddux and beat Atlanta. Ivan Rodriguez hit a three-run homer in the first inning off Maddux and Derrek Lee connected later.
Redman (6-3) settled down after giving up a run in the first inning, retiring 18 of 19 batters until Julio Franco singled in the seventh inning.
Maddux (6-8) gave up seven runs on six hits in four innings. Once again, he struggled in the opening inning.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two