AMERICAN LEAGUE
Asdrubal Cabrera turned the 14th unassisted triple play in major league history, and it wasn't enough for the Cleveland Indians to complete a doubleheader sweep.
Shannon Stewart hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, Aaron Hill added a two-run single and the Toronto Blue Jays beat Cleveland 3-0 on Monday to salvage a split of the doubleheader.
The nightcap featured terrific pitching performances from Toronto's Shawn Marcum and Cleveland's Cliff Lee, who got a big assist from Cabrera in the fifth inning.
With Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro on with singles, Cabrera made a diving backhand catch of a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base to force Mench and then tagged out Scutaro.
Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki made the last unassisted triple play in the majors, on April 29 of last year against Atlanta.
Oakland second baseman Randy Velarde last turned the trick in the American League, on May 29, 2000, against the Yankees.
RAYS 7, YANKEES 1
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Matt Garza pitched seven scoreless innings and the surging Tampa Bay beat nemesis Andy Pettitte and the New York Yankees for their fifth consecutive victory.
Garza (2-1) allowed five hits, walked one and struck out three.
Only one baserunner, Alberto Gonzalez in the sixth, reached as far as second base against the right-hander.
Jason Bartlett and Dioner Navarro each drove in two runs for the Rays (22-16), who climbed six games over .500 for the first time in franchise history and also extended their home winning streak 10 games.
TWINS 7, RED SOX 3
At Minneapolis, Livan Hernandez won again, Craig Monroe contributed another big hit, and Minnesota beat Boston.
Manny Ramirez finally went deep, hitting career homer No. 498 in the first inning for the Red Sox. The two-run shot was his second home run in 20 games.
Hernandez (6-1) rebounded after a rough start to finish six innings for another quality outing. The Twins are 8-1 when he's on the mound.
Red Sox starter Clay Buchholz (2-3) didn't make it out of the fifth, done in by control problems and timely hits by the Twins ??who took three games from the Red Sox. Minnesota has won nine of its last 12 games and scored 74 runs in the process.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania
Tim Hudson limited Pittsburgh to two hits and an unearned run over seven innings and the Atlanta Braves halted their seven-game road losing slide with an 8-1 victory that concluded on Monday's doubleheader.
In the opener, Freddy Sanchez hit a three-run double and Zach Duke pitched six shutout innings as the Pirates won 5-0 for their sixth consecutive win.
With Mark Kotsay and Brian McCann driving in three runs each, Atlanta avoided its first four-game sweep by Pittsburgh since Sept. 1-3, 1978. The Pirates' winning streak was their longest since they won 10 straight from June 25-July 5, 2004.
Hudson (6-2) held the Pirates to a lone single over his final six innings, finishing with five strikeouts and two walks. John Van Benschoten (0-2) took the loss.
In the opener, Duke (2-2) shook off five walks, three errors and five Braves hits to win.
REDS 8, MARLINS 7
At Cincinnati, Jeff Keppinger and Brandon Phillips hit two-run homers for Cincinnati in the seventh inning, breaking open a tied game and sending right-hander Aaron Harang to a win over Florida.
The Marlins arrived with a seven-game winning streak and the best record in the major leagues.
Things looked good early, when they piled up three solo homers off Harang (2-5), including another one by Dan Uggla. Harang hadn't won since April 10, going 0-4 despite one solid performance after another.
Keppinger, the Reds' most consistent hitter, snapped a 4-all tie with his homer off Taylor Tankersley (0-1), who came in to start the seventh. Phillips later connected for his seventh homer.
NATIONALS 10, METS 4
At New York, Odalis Perez, making his ninth start without a victory, had three hits and two RBIs and pitched into the seventh inning to lead Washington over New York.
On an unusually chilly night with winds gusting to more than 20 mph, Jesus Flores and Lastings Milledge each had two-run doubles and Washington ended a three-game slide by first taking advantage of wildness by Nelson Figueroa (2-3), then doing something they haven't been able to all season: get hits with runners on base.
Making his 200th career start, Perez (1-3) gave up a season-high 11 hits and four runs, but Washington scored at least four runs in one of his starts for just the second time this year.
CUBS 12, PADRES 3
At Chicago, Carlos Zambrano won his fifth straight decision and Alfonso Soriano homered in a six-run fifth inning as Chicago trounced San Diego for its fourth straight win.
Pitching with an extra day's rest after his start on Sunday was scratched because of rainy conditions, Zambrano (6-1) allowed six hits and three runs in seven innings and also chipped in with his bat.
He doubled to start the Cubs' six-run outburst against Randy Wolf (2-3) and added a single in the sixth when Chicago tacked on five more runs.
BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 3
At Milwaukee, Ryan Braun hit two home runs for the second game in a row, and St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina and manager Tony La Russa both were ejected from Milwaukee's victory.
Braun followed up on Sunday's two-homer performance by hitting two more off stingy Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (3-2).
ASTROS 7, GIANTS 3
At San Francisco, Hunter Pence hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the seventh, Lance Berkman had a tying two-run homer off Barry Zito and surging Houston beat San Francisco for its fourth straight win.
Roy Oswalt (4-3) retired the final 14 batters he faced to win his fourth straight decision since starting the season 0-3, and the right-hander struck out six in eight innings without giving up a walk.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two