Last-place Seattle swept the American League West-leading Los Angeles Angels for the second time this season, winning 10-9 on Yuniesky Betancourt's ninth-inning single on Wednesday.
Raul Ibanez homered and drove in four runs for the Mariners, while Richie Sexson also homered.
The Angels, who remained one game in front of Oakland in the division, rallied from deficits of 6-0, 7-4 and 9-7 to tie the score in the ninth on a two-out RBI single by pinch-hitter Bengie Molina off closer Eddie Guardado (2-2).
PHOTO: AFP
Jose Lopez doubled against Francisco Rodriguez (2-5) with one out in the ninth. After an intentional walk, Betancourt singled to left for his third hit.
Ibanez went 4-for-5 with his 19th homer and finished 9-for-14 with two homers and six RBIs in the three-game series. Sexson hit his 36th home run.
The Mariners finished 9-9 against Los Angeles this season. They swept a four-game series in Anaheim before the All-Star break.
Red Sox 5, Blue Jays 3
At Toronto, David Ortiz hit his career-high 42nd homer, a tiebreaking two-run drive in the eighth inning that led Boston over Toronto.
Boston's Gabe Kapler ruptured his left Achilles' tendon while rounding second base on Tony Graffanino's fifth-inning homer.
David Wells (13-7) won for the fourth time in five starts, allowing three runs in seven innings. Mike Timlin pitched the ninth for his eighth save in 14 chances.
At 3-all, Bill Mueller singled with two outs and Ortiz homered off Josh Towers (11-11), the 17th time he has tied a game or put the Red Sox ahead. He has 38 as a designated hitter, one more than the major league record set by Seattle's Edgar Martinez in 2000.
Indians 6, Athletics 4
At Cleveland, Ronnie Belliard's three-run homer in the seventh inning on Barry Zito's 122nd and final pitch kept Cleveland ahead of the AL wild-card pack.
Belliard pulled a pitch from Zito (13-12) over the wall in left for the Indians, who have won nine of 10 and are a major league-best 30-11 since July 31.
Cleveland remained one game up on the New York Yankees in the wild-card chase, and extended their lead over the A's to 3{ games.
Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer, and Mark Kotsay homered for the A's. Jake Westbrook (15-14) allowed just two hits in seven innings. Bob Wickman earned his league-leading 41st save.
Yankees 6, Devil Rays 5
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Derek Jeter hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh inning, and New York remained 2{ games behind first-place Boston in the AL East, and one behind Cleveland in the wild-card race.
New York has won the first two of a three-game set after losing its four previous series against the Devil Rays, who have won 11 of 18 meetings this year.
Chien-Ming Wang (7-4) allowed five runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings for his first win since July 8. This was his second start since missing two months with a shoulder injury. Mariano Rivera, the fourth Yankees reliever, worked the ninth for his 38th save.
Carl Crawford had two RBIs, including a run-scoring grounder that pulled Tampa Bay to 6-5 in the seventh.
Tigers 4, Twins 2
At Detroit, Craig Monroe hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the eighth for Detroit.
Curtis Granderson's two-run homer in the third gave the Tigers a lead they clung to until the eighth, when Michael Cuddyer's two-out single tied the score at 2.
Craig Dingman (2-2) got the final four outs to help the Tigers avoid a three-game sweep. Detroit had lost 11 of 13.
Juan Rincon (6-5) entered in the eighth and gave up three singles and a walk.
Minnesota's Johan Santana, who was scheduled to pitch, had his start pushed back to Saturday because of a blister on his middle finger.
Royals 10, White Sox 9
In Kansas City, Missouri, Angel Berroa's double in the ninth inning drove in the tying run, and right fielder Jermaine Dye's error allowed Mark Teahen to score the game-winner for Kansas City.
Chicago lost for the fourth time in 17 games against Kansas City this season, and had its AL Central lead cut to five games over Cleveland.
The Royals scored three runs in the ninth against Dustin Hermanson (1-4), who blew his fourth save in 38 chances, to snap a 104-game losing streak when trailing after eight innings. Matt Stairs started the rally with a one-out single. Emil Brown and Teahen followed with consecutive singles to score one run. Berroa doubled to right to tie it, and Teahen scored when Dye had trouble picking up the ball.
Chris Demaria (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for his first career victory.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
Playing soccer and competing for trophies is the best way that many transplanted Hong Kongers and Macanese have found to stay in touch, and to interact with Taiwanese society, said officials at the Taiwan-Hong Kong-Macau Football Friendship Cup, which was held on April 13. Twelve clubs, mostly of players and coaches originally from Hong Kong and Macau, took part in the tournament in New Taipei City. The event is sponsored by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Taiwan-Hong Kong Economic and Cultural Co-operation Council. Participating teams were from the wider Taipei area, Hsinchu, Taichung, Kaohsiung and other areas. They divided into two