Roosevelt Brown drove in five runs Saturday as the Orix BlueWave crushed the Nippon Ham Fighters 17-2 to snap an eight-game losing streak.
Brown, formerly of the Chicago Cubs, belted a three-run homer in the first inning when Orix scored seven runs and added a two-run blast in the sixth at Nagoya Dome to lift the BlueWave out of their longest slump of the season.
Jose Ortiz, formerly of the Colorado Rockies, also homered twice and drove in five runs for the BlueWave, still last in the Pacific League standings.
Orix starter Masahiko Kaneda picked up the win after striking out seven and giving up two runs on six hits over eight innings.
Nippon Ham starter Hiroyuki Sekine took the loss after being rocked for seven runs on five hits after recording only one out in the first inning.
At Seibu Dome, Alex Cabrera hit a tie-breaking solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to lift the Seibu Lions to a 2-1 victory over the Kintetsu Buffaloes.
Cabrera, formerly of the Arizona Diamondbacks, connected off Kintetsu starter Hisashi Iwakuma for his league-leading 26th homer of the season as the Lions won their fourth straight and moved into sole possession of second place in the standings.
Seibu reliever Koji Mitsui came on in the seventh and held the Buffaloes scoreless over two innings to pick up the win and improve to 9-5 on the season.
Kiyoshi Toyoda retired the side in the ninth for his 22nd save of the season.
Iwakuma went the distance but took the loss as the Buffaloes lost their third straight contest and dropped into third place in the standings.
The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up a brief visit to Brazil on Friday with a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, but despite the defeat, the team outshone their divisional rivals in the fight for the hearts and minds of Brazilian fans. In Sao Paulo for just the second-ever NFL game in the city, Chiefs players — especially quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce — were treated as major celebrities throughout their stay, turning Corinthians Arena into a scene reminiscent of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium. Before kickoff, crowds of fans gathered around the Chiefs’ tunnel, eager to catch a
New Zealand stayed firm at their Eden Park fortress to claim an attritional 24-17 win over South Africa in a heavyweight clash between the world’s top two rugby sides yesterday. Under pressure after conceding a first-ever defeat on Argentine soil against the Pumas two weeks ago, the All Blacks responded with a performance of grit and discipline to stretch their unbeaten run at their Auckland stronghold to 51 matches. Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at halftime before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of
Mikel Merino on Sunday scored a hat-trick as a majestic Spain thumped Turkey 6-0 away in World Cup qualifying, while a brilliant Florian Wirtz free-kick helped Germany beat Northern Ireland 3-1 to get their bid up and running. European champions Spain were in unstoppable form in the central Turkish city of Konya, claiming their second biggest-ever away win in World Cup qualifying as Arsenal midfielder Merino scored his first professional hat-trick. Barcelona playmaker Pedri Gonzalez opened the scoring inside six minutes and later completed the scoring, with Ferran Torres netting the visitors’ other goal. The quality of Merino’s strikes was remarkable, with his
The Wallabies trusted their instincts to keep pushing for a late try instead of a potential equalizing penalty goal late in their Rugby Championship Test match yesterday against Argentina, with prop Angus Bell scoring the clinching try in the sixth minute of added time to give Australia a comeback 28-24 win. The Wallabies were awarded three kickable penalties after the 80th minute, but kept pushing in search of the match-winning try, which was finally delivered by an unlikely hero in reserve prop Bell. “It’s just relieving,” Bell said. “It’s just awesome we could get the win in the end; not go for