American LeagueJohan Santana struck out 11 in Minnesota's 12-1 victory over the Tigers on Sunday, pitching two-hit ball into the seventh inning and pulling the Twins within two games of first-place Detroit in Major League Baseball's American League Central Division.
Indians 5, White Sox 2
In Chicago, Victor Martinez hit a tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning, C.C. Sabathia pitched a four-hitter and Cleveland beat Chicago to split a four-game series. The White Sox remained 3 1/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central.
Athletics 9, Devil Rays 7
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Frank Thomas homered for the fifth consecutive game and drove in three runs to help AL West-leading Oakland beat Tampa Bay. Eric Chavez hit a two-run shot and had a tiebreaking RBI double off Shawn Camp (7-3) that made it 7-6 in the seventh. Marco Scutaro added an eighth-inning homer. Nick Swisher connected earlier.
Angels 4, Blue Jays 3
In Anaheim, California, Jered Weaver struck out Troy Glaus with the bases loaded to help preserve his 11th victory, and Los Angeles took advantage of a first-inning injury to Toronto ace Roy Halladay.
Yankees 9, Orioles 4
In Baltimore, Derek Jeter extended his career-high hitting streak to 20 games, going 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs to lead New York over Baltimore.
Red Sox 9, Royals 3
In Boston, David Ortiz hit his career-best 48th homer and Wily Mo Pena drove in two runs to help Boston snap a three-game skid with a win over Kansas City. The Red Sox avoided being swept at home by the Royals for the first time since April 1996. Boston remained 7 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the wild-card race.
Rangers 4, Mariners 2
In Seattle, Michael Young got three hits and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning to help Texas beat Seattle and end a three-game losing streak.
C.J. Wilson (2-2) earned the win and Akinori Otsuka worked the ninth for his 32nd save in 35 chances. The loss ended the Mariners' four-game winning streak.
National League
Dontrelle Willis threw a three-hitter and struck out a career-best 12 in his first shutout of the season, carrying the Florida Marlins to a 3-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday and earning them a split of a four-game series between NL wild-card hopefuls.
Willis (10-11) retired his last 13 batters and never allowed a runner to advance past second in his eighth career shutout. He threw 80 of his 122 pitches for strikes and walked only one.
Brewers 4, Astros 0
In Milwaukee, Dave Bush pitched a five-hitter and struck out a season-high 10 in his third career shutout, leading the Brewers past the Astros.
It was the second shutout this season for Bush (11-10), who earned his fifth win since Aug. 1. He has three complete games this year and six in his career.
Dodgers 9, Mets 1
In New York, Eric Stults pitched with unusual poise for a 26-year-old making his first Major League Baseball start, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a big September boost.
Reds 4, Pirates 2
In Cincinnati, Bronson Arroyo pitched eight solid innings for his third straight win and Brandon Phillips drove in the go-ahead run to help the Reds beat the Pirates.
Arroyo (13-9) allowed four hits and two runs with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Braves 2, Cubs 1
In Atlanta, Lance Cormier pitched seven solid innings and struck out a career-high 10, and Brian McCann doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth to help the Braves hand the Cubs their ninth straight road loss.
Cormier (3-4) allowed eight hits and didn't walk anyone. Bob Wickman struck out two in the ninth for his 13th save in 14 attempts.
Rockies 13, Nationals 9
In Denver, Todd Helton hit a tiebreaking grand slam in the seventh inning, Matt Holliday homered and drove in three runs, and the Rockies outslugged the Nationals to sweep their season series.
Helton was hitless in his previous 10 plate appearances before hitting his fourth career slam. Holliday finished 3-for-5 with his 28th home run of the year.
Diamondbacks 9, Cardinals 7
In Phoenix, Tony Clark and Eric Byrnes hit solo home runs in the eighth inning to lift Arizona over St. Louis. With two outs in the eighth, Clark and Byrnes homered on consecutive pitches from Cardinals reliever Jorge Sosa.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB