Rafael Palmeiro went 0-for-4 in his first game since returning from a 10-day doping suspension, making the final out with two runners on Sunday in the Baltimore Orioles' 7-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.
Orioles supporters welcomed back Palmeiro with a mixed response, but many of those remaining in the crowd of 30,954 began chanting "Raffy! Raffy!" as he stepped to the plate in the ninth inning.
Facing closer Miguel Batista, Palmeiro sent a routine fly to right field, the only time all afternoon he hit the ball out of the infield.
Tigers 8, Royals 7, Game 1
Tigers 1, Royals 0, Game 2
In Kansas City, Missouri, Mike Maroth came within one out of a shutout to help Detroit complete a doubleheader sweep and send the Royals to their franchise-record 15th straight loss.
Kansas City's losing streak is the longest in Major League Baseball since Tampa Bay also dropped 15 consecutive games in 2002. The only American League team to have a longer skid in the last 30 years was the 1988 Baltimore Orioles, who lost a league-record 21 in a row.
Yankees 10, Rangers 3
In New York, Hideki Matsui beat a rainstorm with a three-run homer that gave New York the lead, Alex Rodriguez hit his fifth home run in eight days and the Yankees completed a four-game sweep of Texas.
In a game delayed twice by rain, the Rangers lost their seventh straight.
Twins 2, Athletics 1
In Oakland, California, Joe Mauer doubled and scored on Matthew LeCroy's single in the ninth inning, leading Minnesota over Oakland.
Rich Harden struck out nine while allowing one hit in eight innings, but left without a decision because the A's managed just one run against Carlos Silva. Minnesota's only hit off Harden was Michael Ryan's long homer in the third.
Devil Rays 1, Indians 0
In Cleveland, pinch-hitter Travis Lee homered off Bob Wickman with one out in the ninth inning, sending Tampa Bay to its first series sweep in Cleveland.
The Devil Rays had lost four straight when they arrived in Cleveland, where they were 7-21 all-time. But they completed their 12-game road trip with a three-game sweep and hurt the Indians' wild-card chances.
The Indians entered the series on a six-game winning streak _ all on the road.
Angels 7, Mariners 6
In Seattle, Darin Erstad drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single, and Los Angeles beat Seattle to complete a three-game sweep and move back into sole possession of first place in the AL West division.
Vladimir Guerrero added to his impressive series with a three-run homer in the fifth, when the Angels scored five times and chased starter Gil Meche.
Guerrero was 8-for-14 in the series with three home runs and seven RBIs.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but