American League
Ramon Ortiz was lights out at Yankee Stadium.
With the main scoreboards blackened by a power problem, Ortiz pitched four-hit ball for eight stellar innings and led the Anaheim Angels over the New York Yankees 5-0 on Friday night.
Adam Kennedy and Garret Anderson homered and Anaheim took advantage of left fielder Hideki Matsui's error to win its third in a row. The playoff-contending Angels won for the eighth time in nine road games.
Right after Matsui misplayed the fly ball in the seventh inning, the power on all scoreboards went out, and the public-address and sound effects system went silent. But the stadium lights stayed on, and the game continued without a delay.
There was no immediate word on what caused the outage, which lasted until the end of the game. The problem also took the Yankees' YES Network broadcast off the air.
Ortiz (4-7) won for the first time since June 19, a span of seven starts. Jon Lieber (9-8) gave up a lot of hits early, yet was hurt only by Kennedy's solo home run in the second.
Tigers 8, Mariners 3
In Detroit, Craig Monroe went 4-for-5 with a tiebreaking homer, and Nate Robertson pitched seven solid innings in the Tigers' win.
Robertson (10-7) allowed two runs, six hits, struck out four and didn't walk a batter. Esteban Yan gave up Edgar Martinez's RBI single in the eighth, and Jamie Walker pitched a scoreless ninth.
Seattle star Ichiro Suzuki was back in the lineup after leaving Wednesday night's game against Kansas City when he was hit in the head by a pitch. He went 3-for-4.
Ron Villone (4-4) allowed five runs, four earned, and eight hits in six innings.
Athletics 9, Devil Rays 5
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Eric Chavez homered twice and Bobby Crosby went 3-for-5 with a home run to break out of a lengthy slump to lead the AL West-leading Athletics.
Crosby had just three hits in 40 at-bats and stopped an 0-for-14 slide with a second-inning double. Chavez homered twice for the 11th time in his career, the second this season, and raised his season total to 23.
Adam Melhuse also homered for Oakland, which has 11 homers in the past three games.
Rich Harden (8-5) won his fifth straight decision, giving up five runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings. With their fourth straight win, the A's moved a season-high 17-games over .500 at 69-52.
Three Oakland relievers combined for 3 1-3 scoreless innings, and Octavio Dotel got the last out for his 13th save in 17 chances.
Jorge Sosa (3-3) lost his third straight start, allowing six runs and seven hits in 5 1-3 innings.
Other results: Red Sox 10, White Sox 1; Rangers 5, Royals 3; Twins 5, Indians 1; Blue Jays 14, Orioles 4.
National League
Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu homered and Eric Milton pitched seven solid innings as Philadelphia ended a seven-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night.
Thome's 37th home run came in the ninth inning off Dave Burba, and gave the Phillies an insurance run. Tim Worrell pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save.
Milton (13-2), whose .867 winning percentage is best in the majors, is the first Phillies' pitcher to win 13 of his first 15 decisions since Hall of Famer Steve Carlton in 1980. Milton allowed two runs on five hits, walked three and struck out seven.
Abreu's 27th homer, a two-run shot off Doug Davis (10-10) in the sixth, broke a 1-all tie.
Cubs 9, Astros 2
In Houston, Sammy Sosa and Nomar Garciaparra each hit one of Chicago's season-high six homers, and the Cubs ended Houston's four-game winning streak.
Mark Grudzielanek homered twice, and Moises Alou and Corey Patterson each had two-run shots. Sosa's 567th homer moved him within six of Harmon Killebrew for seventh place on the career list.
It was the 28th homer of the season for Sosa, who also tied Mickey Mantle for 40th place on the career RBI list with 1,509.
Glendon Rusch (6-1) won for the first time since July 15, making a successful return to the rotation after working in relief for the past month. The left-hander allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings.
Pete Munro (2-5) gave up four of Chicago's six homers in his worst outing of the season.
Cardinals 5, Pirates 3
In St. Louis, Scott Rolen became the third St. Louis player to hit 30 homers this season and Chris Carpenter set a career best with his 13th win to lead the Cardinals to a day-night doubleheader sweep.
In the opener, Dan Haren (2-2) allowed three hits over 6 2-3 innings.
Rolen homered in the second inning of the night game, a drive off Nelson Figueroa. Rolen combined with Albert Pujols (37) and Jim Edmonds (31) to give the Cardinals three 30-homer players in one season for the first time.
Other results: Dodgers 3, Braves 2, 11 innings; Reds 2, Diamondbacks 0; Giants 7, Mets 3; Padres 6, Marlins 1; Expos 4, Rockies 3.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set