Dontrelle Willis became the first eight-game winner in the National League, and Carlos Delgado and Miguel Cabrera hit consecutive homers to carry the Florida Marlins past the Philadelphia Phillies 5-2 on Monday.
Willis (8-1) allowed two runs and seven hits in eight innings, to help Florida win its season-high fifth straight victory.
Delgado and Cabrera each extended their hitting streaks to 12 games. Todd Jones worked the ninth for his seventh save in eight opportunities.
Jon Lieber (5-4) matched Willis pitch for pitch and carried a 1-0 lead into the sixth before serving up the home runs.
Reds 5, Nationals 3
At Cincinnati, slumping Jason LaRue had three hits off Esteban Loaiza, including a solo homer, and the Reds recovered from the shock of losing closer Danny Graves by beating Washington.
A few hours before the game, the Reds designated their career-saves leader for assignment, abruptly ending his eight-year stay in Cincinnati. Dumbfounded players sat by their lockers and stared at the floor.
Left-hander Eric Milton (3-5), who hasn't pitched much better than Graves lately, settled his teammates by going a season-high eight innings and getting a pair of hits.
Hall of fame game
Minor leaguer Derek Nicholson hit a two-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on Monday, sending the Detroit Tigers to a 6-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball's annual Hall of Fame game.
Nicholson, who plays for the Class A Lakeland Tigers of the Florida State League, sent a 1-0 pitch from reliever Barry Hertzler of the Class A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League over the fence in left-center field. It was his only hit in four at-bats.
Carlos Pena went 4-for-4, scored two runs and hit a home run to earn the MVP honors.
It marked the third straight year the game was not played during induction weekend.
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