Barry Bonds hit his 740th home run on Sunday, connecting for the second consecutive game and helping Matt Cain earn his first win of the season in the San Francisco Giants' 2-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Cain (1-1) pitched a three-hitter for his third career complete game and first since a one-hitter on May 21 last year at Oakland. He struck out four and walked four.
Bonds moved within 15 homers of Aaron's Major League Baseball career record as, with two outs in the fourth inning, he sent the first pitch from Yusmeiro Petit (0-1) into the seats in the right-field arcade for his sixth homer of the season.
PHOTO: AP
Phillies 9, Reds 3
In Cincinnati, Ryan Howard homered in his first game back from an injury to help Freddy Garcia earn his first National League victory.
Howard missed the last three games with a sprained ligament just below his left knee.
The NL MVP hit his second homer of the season, a two-run shot in the ninth, and knocked in three runs.
Chase Utley had a pair of doubles and Wes Helms had three hits for Philadelphia, which has won three of four games and posted consecutive victories for the first time this season.
Braves 9, Mets 6
In New York, Kelly Johnson started the day with a home run against Tom Glavine and finished off the Mets with another homer off Aaron Heilman (1-2).
Johnson homered on the first pitch of the game, then hit a tiebreaking, three-run drive in the eighth inning for Atlanta.
John Smoltz allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings. Glavine went six for the Mets, giving up three runs and seven hits.
Brewers 4, Astros 3
In Milwaukee, Dave Bush pitched into the ninth inning to post another strong performance against the Houston Astros.
Bush (2-1) allowed three runs and five hits in eight-plus innings to improve to 3-0 in his career against the Astros. He struck out seven and walked one.
Marlins 12, Nationals 6
In Miami, Dan Uggla homered twice and drove in six runs and Miguel Cabrera hit a drive into the upper deck for Florida.
Wes Obermueller earned his first victory in almost two years and Josh Willingham also homered for the Marlins. Uggla had three hits.
Obermueller (1-0) allowed two runs and four hits in six-plus innings. He walked four and struck out five. Kevin Gregg pitched three innings to earn his first save.
Cardinals 12, Cubs 9
In Chicago, Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning, Scott Rolen rapped out a career-best five hits and St. Louis beat the Cubs after blowing a two-run lead in the ninth.
Preston Wilson singled to start the 10th inning against Ryan Dempster (0-1). One out later, David Eckstein singled off Aramis Ramirez's glove at third. Pujols then a drove a long homer to center field, his fifth of the season.
Rockies 4, Padres 2
In Denver, Jason Hirsh outpitched Greg Maddux for the second time this season to lead the Rockies to the win.
Hirsh (2-1) went seven innings, giving up two runs and four hits and striking out seven.
Brian Fuentes got three outs for his fourth save in as many chances. Khalil Greene hit his fourth home run for the Padres.
Pirates 7, Dodgers 5
In Los Angeles, Adam LaRoche homered and Pittsburgh snapped a four-game losing streak.
Chris Duffy had three hits, stole two bases and scored two runs and Tom Gorzelanny allowed three runs in six innings for the Pirates. Pittsburgh avoided a three-game sweep a day after failing to capitalize on three wild pitches and a throwing error by the Dodgers in a 7-3, 10-inning loss on Saturday.
Marcus Thames hit a tying homer with two outs in the ninth inning, Placido Polanco singled home the winning run in the 12th and the Detroit Tigers rallied to beat the Chicago White Sox 6-5 on Sunday.
Thames hit a two-run shot off David Aardsma to tie the score at 5 and help the Tigers avoid a three-game sweep against their rivals in the AL Central Division.
The Tigers lost their previous three extra-inning games at home this year and hadn't won one in Detroit since June 24 against St. Louis.
Rangers 4, Athletics 3
In Arlington, Texas, Hank Blalock hit a two-run single and Texas scored three times in the eighth to beat Oakland.
Eric Gagne got one out in the ninth for the Rangers before leaving with a strained right hip after he landed awkwardly after throwing a pitch to Mark Ellis.
Gagne eventually limped off the field and is day to day. Akinori Otsuka came on for his second save.
Angels 6, Mariners 1
In Anaheim, California, the Angels' Ervin Santana allowed one run over seven innings and Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep by handing Seattle its sixth straight loss.
Santana (2-2) scattered six hits, struck out five and walked one batter. The only run against him came in the fifth when Adrian Beltre led off with a tape-measure homer to left-center.
Royals 3, Twins 1
In Kansas City, Missouri, Jorge De La Rosa pitched a career-high eight innings and retired 16 in a row during one stretch to lead Kansas City over Minnesota for its first series victory of the year.
Mike Sweeney had three hits and an RBI for the Royals. Ross Gload hit a two-run homer.
De La Rosa (2-1) allowed five hits, struck out four and walked one.
Joakim Soria earned his second save.
Indians 6, Devil Rays 4
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Ryan Garko hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the ninth inning and Cleveland rallied past Tampa Bay to overcome an outstanding pitching performance by James Shields.
Shields matched a Devil Rays record with 12 strikeouts and B.J. Upton hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth to help Tampa Bay take a 4-2 lead.
But in the ninth, Victor Martinez made it a one-run game with a one-out RBI single off Brian Stokes (1-3). Garko then sent a 2-2 pitch into the left-field stands to put the Indians up 6-4.
Orioles 7, Blue Jays 3
In Baltimore, Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada each had three RBIs and Baltimore beat Toronto to complete its first three-game home sweep of the Blue Jays in 13 years.
Steve Trachsel (1-1) allowed one run in five innings to earn his first victory with the Orioles, who have won four straight and eight of nine.
It's Baltimore's second four-game winning streak of the season. The Orioles won four in a row only once last year.
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