AMERICAN LEAGUE
Carl Crawford hit a three-run homer and Cliff Floyd added a pair of run-scoring singles, helping the Tampa Bay Rays stop Ervin Santana from becoming the first seven-game winner in Major League Baseball’s American League with an 8-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday.
Santana departed with a 5-4 lead with one runner on and two outs in the sixth inning, but the game quickly shifted when Justin Speier (0-3) entered and gave up a double to Akinori Iwamura and Crawford’s third homer of the season.
PHOTO : AP
B.J. Upton doubled for the third consecutive hit off the Angels reliever. He took third base on a wild pitch and scored on another wild pitch by Speier, who struggled for the second time in three days against the Rays.
TWINS 9, RED SOX 8
At Minneapolis, Craig Monroe went 2-for-4 with two of light-hitting Minnesota’s three home runs and four RBIs, and the Twins hung on for a victory over Boston.
Joe Nathan gave up two runs in the ninth, but won a showdown with pinch-hitter Manny Ramirez by getting him to ground out to shortstop with the tying run on second base to pick up his 12th save in as many chances.
Monroe had his third career multihomer game and Adam Everett also went deep during an atypically brutal start for Tim Wakefield (3-2) in the Metrodome. Nick Blackburn (3-2) earned the victory.
ROYALS 4, ORIOLES 0
In Kansas City, Missouri, Brian Bannister allowed two singles in eight innings and the Royals ended their 12-game skid against the Orioles.
It was Kansas City’s first victory over Baltimore since July 25, 2006.
Bannister struck out five and walked two to end a personal four-game losing streak. He did not allow a runner to reach second.
Joakim Soria tossed a perfect ninth to finish Kansas City’s fourth shutout of the year.
ATHLETICS 12, RANGERS 6
In Arlington, Texas, Emil Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help the Athletics beat Texas, ending the Rangers’ season-best five-game winning streak on Sunday.
Frank Thomas drove in two runs to give him 1,695 RBIs, tying him with Cal Ripken for 21st all-time.
Ian Kinsler had three hits for the Rangers, who had won nine of their previous 11.
MARINERS 6, WHITE SOX 3
In Seattle, Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer in the third inning and the Mariners beat the White Sox to snap a five-game losing streak.
Jose Lopez and Ichiro Suzuki each went 3-for-4 for the Mariners, who finished with 13 hits.
Seattle got to Gavin Floyd (3-2), who has been one of the toughest pitchers to hit so far this season, for five runs and nine hits over 3 2-3 innings.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Carlos Beltran and Ryan Church hit consecutive homers in the fifth inning to support Oliver Perez and lead the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory on Sunday over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Reds batted out of order in the ninth after an earlier double switch, with backup catcher David Ross coming to the plate in the No. 8 spot instead of Corey Patterson. Ross flied out to right.
Once Mets manager Willie Randolph informed the umpires of the mistake, the out was charged to Patterson after a prolonged discussion by the umpires, and Ross batted again. This time, he singled.
MARLINS 5, NATIONALS 4
In Washington, Dan Uggla’s second home run was a go-ahead drive in the eighth inning that lifted the Marlins to their seventh straight win.
Uggla drove in two runs and has seven RBIs and three homers in two games; he hit a grand slam on Saturday and has 11 homers this season.
The Marlins have won all six of their games at Nationals Park, which opened this season, and their seven-game win streak overall is their best run since winning nine straight in August 2006.
BREWERS 5, CARDINALS 3
In Milwaukee, Ryan Braun hit a pair of solo home runs, Jeff Suppan pitched seven solid innings and Salomon Torres and Brian Shouse combined to pitch the Brewers through the ninth.
Torres allowed a leadoff double and a walk before giving way to Shouse with two outs. Shouse, a left-handed specialist, gave up an RBI single to Yadier Molina before finishing for his first save and fifth of his career.
The Brewers won for only the second time in nine games.
DIAMONDBACKS 4ARDINALS 3
In Chicago, pinch-hitter Daryle Ward delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Cubs rallied again to beat the Diamondbacks.
Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago’s three-game sweep of Major League Baseball’s National League West Division leaders.
GIANTS 4, PHILLIES 3
In San Francisco, Steve Holm hit a go-ahead, two-run drive in the seventh inning for his first major league home run, and the Giants held on for a victory in the rubber game against the Phillies.
Holm homered in his first at-bat on the first pitch he saw from J.C. Romero (3-1) after replacing Bengie Molina in the top of the seventh, sending the ball into the seats in left-center.
Romero had allowed only one homer in his previous 61 appearances and came in with an 0.63 ERA over his first 17 outings of 2008.
PADRES 6, ROCKIES 1
In San Diego, Scott Hairston and Khalil Greene homered to spoil Greg Reynolds’ first start, leading the Padres to a victory over the Rockies and their first series win in nearly a month.
The consecutive wins match the Padres’ season high, giving them just six in 24 games and still leaving them with the worst record in MLB (14-24).
ASTROS 8, DODGERS 5
In Los Angeles, Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the seventh inning for the Dodgers before the Astros broke out for seven hits and six runs in the eighth inning to pull out a victory.
Lance Berkman, Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence had RBI singles against reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-1), and Brad Ausmus added a two-run single against the right-hander as the Astros won for the eighth time in nine games.
Houston also completed its first three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles since Sept. 25-27, 1992.
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