NATIONAL LEAGUE
Carlos Beltran hit a bases-loaded triple and drove in five runs to back Johan Santana’s first home win for the Mets, and New York beat the Cincinnati Reds 12-6 in the first game of a day-night doubleheader Saturday.
Carlos Delgado and Brian Schneider hit New York’s first consecutive homers of the season, helping the Mets score 12 runs for the second consecutive game.
PHOTO: AP
David Wright broke out of a 1-for-13 slump with two hits and three runs.
GIANTS 8, PHILLIES 2
In San Francisco, Tim Lincecum (5-1) struck out eight in eight impressive innings to outpitch 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, and the Giants ended a season-worst five-game skid.
Omar Vizquel had three hits and scored a run in a successful return from the disabled list, Randy Winn hit his first home run of the year and Aaron Rowand connected against his former club for the second time in just more than a week.
Moyer (2-3) faced a pitcher 22 years his junior for the second straight start. The 23-year-old Lincecum was born on June 7, 1984 — eight days after Moyer signed his first contract.
CUBS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2
In Chicago, Alfonso Soriano had four hits, including a go-ahead double in a six-run seventh inning, and showed some flair on the bases to help the Cubs beat the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Kosuke Fukudome’s first homer since opening day capped the seventh-inning rally as the Cubs won their second straight against the team that swept them in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs last October.
CARDINALS 5, BREWERS 3
In Milwaukee, Ryan Ludwick hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning, and St. Louis’ shaky bullpen held on as the Cardinals snapped a season-long three-game skid.
Prince Fielder hit a tying homer in the eighth for Milwaukee, and Ben Sheets set a franchise record for strikeouts with 1,086. Still, the slumping Brewers lost for the seventh time in eight games as Eric Gagne (1-2) took the loss.
Russ Springer (1-0) earned the win and Ryan Franklin, who took over the closer’s role on Saturday from struggling Jason Isringhausen, got three outs for his third career save and second this year.
PADRES 3, ROCKIES 2
San Diego hurler Greg Maddux became the ninth pitcher in Major League Baseball history to reach 350 wins on Saturday as the Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 3-2.
A four-time National League Cy Young Award winner, Maddux allowed an unearned run and three hits with no walks and one strikeout over six innings.
The future Hall of Famer’s only blemish on the night came in the sixth. Willy Taveras laid down a bunt, and 17-time Gold Glove winner Maddux skipped his throw to first into right field.
Taveras advanced to third on the play and scored on Omar Quintanilla’s groundout.
“He is a master craftsman and he’s going to go into the Hall of Fame,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said of Maddux. “He stayed away from the barrel, he changed speeds, and he got outs. He was very effective.”
The 42-year-old hurler needed five attempts to join Cy Young, Walter Johnson, Pete Alexander, Christy Mathewson, Pud Galvin, Warren Spahn, Kid Nichols and Roger Clemens in the exclusive 350-win club.
Clemens is just above him on the wins list with 354.
In his first bid for No. 350, Maddux was hammered for nine runs and 13 hits in seven innings of a 9-0 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 18.
On April 23, Maddux tossed seven scoreless innings but did not get a decision as the Padres suffered a 3-2 defeat to the San Francisco Giants.
On April 30 he allowed four runs and seven hits in 6-and-one-third innings of a 7-4 setback at Philadelphia. The future Hall of Famer then was roughed up in last Sunday’s 10-3 loss to the Florida Marlins, relinquishing five runs — four earned — and 11 hits.
Maddux set a major league record by winning at least 15 games in 17 consecutive seasons from 1988 through 2004. He was the winningest pitcher in the major leagues in the 1990s.
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