Curtis Granderson hit a go-ahead RBI double in a three-run eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.
The Tigers have won nine of 10, maintaining the best record in Major League Baseball and holding off the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central.
St. Louis has lost six straight for the first time since 2002.
Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman allowed one run, seven hits and a walk over seven innings, throwing a season-high 116 pitches. Wilfredo Ledezma (1-0) got the win and Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 20th save in 23 opportunities.
Sidney Ponson (4-3) gave up two runs and six hits over 7 1-3 innings.
Astros 10, White Sox 9, 13 innings
At Chicago, after Brad Lidge gave up a tying grand slam to Tadahito Iguchi with two outs in the ninth inning, Willy Taveras' RBI single in the 13th helped Houston avoid a three-game sweep in this World Series rematch.
The Astros blew an eight-run lead but recovered to end Chicago's nine-game win streak.
Adam Everett led off the 13th with a triple down the right-field line and Taveras singled to left off Brandon McCarthy (3-4) to break the tie.
The White Sox hit grand slams in three consecutive games for the first time, and they became the first team to do so since the Detroit Tigers from Aug. 10-12, 1993. This was Chicago's biggest comeback since rallying from down 8-0 to beat the Cubs on June 28, 2002.
Fernando Nieve (3-3) struck out Paul Konerko to end the 12th and worked the 13th.
Mets 7, Blue Jays 4
At Toronto, Jose Reyes had four hits again, including a leadoff homer, and Carlos Beltran hit a three-run shot off Josh Towers (1-9).
The streaking Reyes went 4-for-5 for the second consecutive game and the third time in five days. He extended his hitting streak to 13 games and is on a 32-for-57 (.561) tear that's raised his batting average from .246 to .302.
It was his fifth game this season with at least four hits, tying Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki for tops in the major leagues. Reyes also got his big league-leading 34th stolen base and scored twice.
Steve Trachsel (6-4) won his fourth straight start, allowing four runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out two and walked three. Billy Wagner pitched a scoreless ninth for his 15th save in 19 chances.
Reds 4, Indians 2
At Cleveland, Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn each hit a two-run homer to help Cincinnati claim its first series victory over Cleveland in nine years.
Griffey and Dunn both connected in the fourth inning to ruin the major league debut of Jeremy Sowers (0-1). Griffey's 549th homer broke a tie with Hall of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt and gave him sole possession of 11th place on the career list, 14 behind Reggie Jackson.
Elizardo Ramirez (3-6) pitched 6 1-3 innings to earn his first win in six starts since May 23 as the Reds took two of three in the series. Todd Coffey needed only five pitches to throw a perfect ninth for his sixth save.
Yankees 2, Marlins 1, Game 1
Marlins 5, Yankees 0, Game 2
At New York, Anibal Sanchez won his impressive major league debut, Miguel Cabrera homered and Florida beat New York to split a doubleheader.
In the opener, Mike Mussina outpitched Dontrelle Willis in a marquee matchup that lived up to its billing, and Johnny Damon homered to snap a seventh-inning tie as New York won its fourth straight game.
Sanchez (1-0) was called up from Double-A Carolina for an emergency start after rain postponed Saturday's game. He beat Shawn Chacon (4-2) and shut down the Yankees for 5 2-3 innings, allowing seven hits without a walk.
The Yankees, the only major league team that hadn't been shut out this season, lost second baseman Robinson Cano to a strained left hamstring when he doubled in the sixth.
The sparse crowd of 6,809 was the smallest at Yankee Stadium since April 7, 1994, for a game against Texas. More than 54,000 tickets were sold for Saturday's game.
Randy Messenger, Logan Kensing and Joe Borowski finished Florida's second shutout this year. Reggie Abercrombie stole home on a double steal for the young Marlins, who have won 11 of 14. They also took advantage of two throwing errors by first baseman Jason Giambi.
Mussina (9-3) threw seven strong innings to earn his 233rd win. He also became the 28th pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts. Kyle Farnsworth escaped an eighth-inning jam and Mariano Rivera got his 16th save.
Willis (4-7) allowed seven hits in his third complete game this season and the 14th of his career.
Braves 4, Devil Rays 1
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Chuck James (1-0) took a one-hitter into the seventh inning of his first major league start, leading struggling Atlanta to its fifth win in 26 games.
Todd Pratt hit a three-run homer off Mark Hendrickson (4-8) and Marcus Giles drove in Atlanta's other run with a sacrifice fly. James finished with eight strikeouts and four walks in eight innings.
Jorge Sosa pitched the ninth for his first save this season and the second of his career.
The game was delayed 19 minutes during the bottom of the third because of a power outage at Tropicana Field.
Nationals 9, Orioles 5
At Baltimore, Livan Hernandez (6-8) won for the first time in four starts, Royce Clayton hit a three-run double and Washington snapped a five-game losing streak.
Marlon Byrd homered for the Nationals, who averted a three-game sweep at Camden Yards. The teams, playing this year for the first time since the Montreal Expos moved to Washington in 2005, split six interleague games.
Washington exploited the wildness of Daniel Cabrera (4-5), who walked five, hit a batter and uncorked a team-record four wild pitches -- one shy of the AL mark -- in 4 2-3 innings.
Twins 8, Cubs 1
At Minneapolis, Brad Radke threw seven shutout innings to spoil Derrek Lee's return from two months on the disabled list, and Minnesota capped a three-game sweep of Chicago.
Radke (6-7) continued a strong June, scattering seven hits and striking out six. Torii Hunter and Luis Rodriguez homered for the streaking Twins, who have won four in a row and 14 of 16.
Sean Marshall (4-6) lasted just 4 2-3 innings for Chicago, but he didn't get much help from his offense or defense. The Cubs lost for the 10th time in 12 games.
Lee, who missed 59 games after breaking his wrist April 19, went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Royals 6, Brewers 0
At Kansas City, Missouri, Mark Redman pitched seven sharp innings to win his fifth straight start and Kansas City beat Milwaukee for its sixth victory in seven games.
Doug Mientkiewicz went 3-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Tony Graffanino drove in two runs and scored twice.
Redman (5-4) gave up six hits, improving to 6-2 with a 2.49 ERA in eight starts against the Brewers. He is the first Kansas City pitcher to win five consecutive starts since Darrell May from June 27 to July 19, 2003.
Jimmy Gobble got four outs for his first career save.
Rick Helling (0-2), making his second start this season after spending two months on the disabled list with a sprained right elbow, was pulled after 63 pitches and three innings.
Rockies 3, Rangers 0
At Denver, KimByung-hyun pitched seven outstanding innings and Jamey Carroll scored twice in Colorado's win over Texas.
It was the second consecutive start that Kim (5-4) did not allow a run. He went six shutout innings against Oakland last Monday. Kim scattered five hits, struck out seven and walked two in the longest scoreless start of his career.
It's the first time the Rockies (38-37) have been above .500 this late in the season since they were 60-59 on Aug. 9, 2003. During their six-game homestand, the Rockies had three shutouts.
Jose Mesa struck out two in the eighth and Brian Fuentes fanned two in a perfect ninth for his 15th save. It was the sixth shutout by the Rockies this year.
There have been eight shutouts at Coors Field this season, with the Rockies winning a club-record five. It's the most shutouts at Coors in its 12-year history. The previous record was six in 1997.
Vicente Padilla (6-5) allowed three runs and six hits in six innings.
Mariners 9, Padres 4
At San Diego, Richie Sexson went a career-best 5-for-5 with two homers, including the go-ahead shot in the eighth, to lead Seattle over San Diego.
Sexson drove in three runs and scored three times, and Ichiro Suzuki also had three RBIs. The Mariners took two of three and finished the season series 5-1 against the Padres. Overall, Seattle has won seven of nine.
Mike Cameron homered for the third straight game, and the Padres also got homers from Khalil Greene and Ben Johnson off Joel Pineiro.
Sexson broke a 4-all tie when he connected against Alan Embree (2-1). George Sherrill (2-1) pitched a perfect seventh for the win.
Athletics 10, Giants 4
At San Francisco, Jay Payton went 4-for-5 with three RBIs and Esteban Loaiza pitched his first complete game in more than two years, leading Oakland past San Francisco.
Bobby Crosby had two RBIs and scored twice, Antonio Perez added a two-run double and Jason Kendall finished with three hits. Payton also scored two runs and matched his career high for hits, including a ninth-inning triple.
Barry Bonds left after the second inning with irritation in his left knee, a day after connecting for his 719th home run. He is day to day.
Making his fourth start since coming off the disabled list, Loaiza (7-6) pitched a six-hitter for his 10th career complete game and first since April 18, 2004, for the Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay. He struck out two, walked one and got plenty of run support as the A's improved to 17-5 in June.
The teams split this year's edition of the Bay Bridge Series, with each club winning three games.
San Francisco's Matt Cain (6-6), who took a no-hitter into the eighth inning in his previous start, had won five straight decisions.
Diamondbacks 9, Angels 7
At Phoenix, Orlando Hudson homered for the second consecutive game and drove in four runs, helping Arizona beat Los Angeles to snap a five-game losing streak.
Conor Jackson went 4-for-5 with a double and scored two runs for the Diamondbacks, who won for only the third time in 20 games despite throwing five wild pitches. Arizona, which also improved to 1-8 in interleague play, is 2-10 in its last 12 at home.
Kendry Morales homered and drove in two runs for the Angels, who had their three-game winning streak snapped.
Hudson broke a 4-all tie with a three-run homer in the fifth off Kelvim Escobar (5-9).
Miguel Batista (7-5) overcame early control problems to earn the win. He gave up six runs in seven innings and added an RBI single to snap his three-game losing streak.
Jorge Julio pitched a hitless ninth for his sixth save.
Dodgers 7, Pittsburgh 4
At Los Angeles, Nomar Garciaparra hit his 200th home run, Rafael Furcal and Ramon Martinez each had two RBIs and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat Pittsburgh 7-4, handing the Pirates their 11th straight loss.
Brad Penny (8-2) pitched five-plus innings, allowing four runs and six hits -- including a homer by Joe Randa leading off the sixth. The right-hander is 6-1 over his last nine starts.
He was lifted with a 1-0 count on Jose Castillo, after Randa's second homer of the season narrowed the gap to 5-4. But Garciaparra led off the seventh against reliever Damaso Marte with his ninth homer of the season, Russell Martin made it 7-4 with his second run-scoring groundout, and Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save.
Kip Wells (0-2) gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings in his second start after missing the Pirates' first 71 games while recovering from surgery to repair a blocked artery in his pitching arm. The right-hander, who had an NL-worst 18 losses last season, lost his first outing at Kansas City after blowing a 4-0 lead.
The Pirates were swept in a series of three or more games for the seventh time this season and sixth time on the road, dropping their record to 26-51. They would have to go 55-30 the rest of the way to avoid their 14th consecutive losing season.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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