Xavier Nady drove in Nyjer Morgan with a 10th-inning single and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Atlanta Braves 4-3 on Thursday.
The Braves used seven pitchers after Mike Hampton’s comeback was postponed by a chest injury suffered in pregame warmups. Jeff Bennett started in place of Mike Hampton, who was scratched before the first pitch. Hampton’s absence forced the Braves to get creative with their bullpen. Chris Resop started the 10th on the mound, moved to left field for a batter to set up a lefty-on-lefty matchup, and then went back to the mound. Once there, Resop (0-1) gave up Nady’s go-ahead single.
The Pirates also have a new injury concern, after shortstop Jack Wilson left the game after straining his left calf.
PHOTO: AFP
Phillies 8, Nationals 7, 10 innings
At Philadelphia, Jesus Colome walked Jayson Werth to force in the winning run and Philadelphia overcame a 5-0, first-inning deficit to avoid opening the season with a three-game sweep at home for the third straight year.
Jimmy Rollins reached on an infield single to start the bottom of the 10th against Colome (0-1). Rollins advanced all the way to third on Shane Victorino’s perfect sacrifice. After Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were intentionally walked to load the bases, Werth walked on four pitches.
Padres 3, Astros 2
In San Diego, Trevor Hoffman kept up his seesaw season when he earned the save in San Diego’s victory over Houston.
Hoffman pitched a perfect ninth less than 24 hours after blowing the save and taking the loss by giving up four runs in the ninth inning of a 9-6 defeat, including Lance Berkman’s two-out, three-run homer.
It was Hoffman’s second save in three chances, extending his big league record to 526.
Cubs 6, Brewers 3
In Chicago, former closer Ryan Dempster was a winner in his return to the rotation, Aramis Ramirez homered and Alfonso Soriano had two RBIs for the Cubs.
Moved back to the leadoff spot after hitting second the first two games, Soriano drew a bases-loaded walk in the fourth to force in the go-ahead run and added an RBI single in the sixth to snap a season-starting 0-for-11 slump.
Reds 3, Diamondbacks 2
In Cincinnati, Johnny Cueto allowed nothing more than Justin Upton’s solo homer in seven innings, striking out 10 in an overpowering debut for Cincinnati.
The 22-year-old right-hander struck out eight of his first 13 batters. His 10 strikeouts were the most by a Reds pitcher in his MLB debut since 1900.
Cardinals 3, Rockies 0
In St. Louis, Brad Thompson had a career-high six strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings to lead the Cardinals to the win.
St. Louis took two of three from the defending NL champions, who totaled five runs in the series.
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