AMERICAN LEAGUE
The New York Yankees posted their first four-game winning streak of a stumbling season, beating the Seattle Mariners 12-6 in the American League on Saturday.
Starting pitcher Mike Mussina survived five shaky innings before turning it over to Joba Chamberlain and New York’s reshaped bullpen.
PHOTO: AP
The Yankees, who remain last in the East Division, have shown signs of stirring over the past four games, outscoring opponents 35-9.
New York improved to 5-0 this season against the Mariners.
BLUE JAYS 6, ROYALS 0
In Toronto, the home team shut down Kansas City, extending the Royals’ losing streak to six.
Jesse Litsch pitched a seven-hitter in his first career complete game and Brad Wilkerson hit a grand slam for the Blue Jays.
ANGELS 2, WHITE SOX 0
In Chicago, Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver pitched three-hit ball over eight innings to shut down Chicago.
Vladimir Guerrero hit a go-ahead home run in the sixth for the Angels, who have won five of six.
RAYS 11, ORIOLES 4
In St Petersburg, Florida, Evan Longoria homered twice and had six RBIs to lead Tampa Bay past Baltimore.
It was Longoria’s first career multihomer game.
INDIANS 5, RANGERS 2
In Cleveland, the home team snapped its seven-game losing streak with a win over Texas.
Ben Francisco hit a three-run homer for the Indians.
In other American League action on Saturday it was:
• Tigers 19, Twins 3
• Athletics 3, Red Sox 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, DENVER
The New York Mets eased some of the growing pressure on manager Willie Randolph by beating the Colorado Rockies 9-2 on Saturday, ending a five-game losing streak.
New York general manager Omar Minaya made the holiday weekend trip to Colorado, leading to speculation that Randolph’s job could be in jeopardy.
BRAVES 3, DIAMONDBACKS 1
In Atlanta, Jeff Francoeur hit a game-ending, two-run homer in the ninth inning as Atlanta downed Arizona.
The Braves overcame a 10-strikeout performance by veteran Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson.
CARDINALS 4, DODGERS 0
In Los Angeles, Kyle Lohse pitched six scoreless innings to lead St Louis past Los Angeles. Lohse struck out five and walked none, allowing only one runner past second base.
In other National League action on Saturday it was:
• Brewers 5, Nationals 2
• Astros 4, Phillies 3
• Pirates 5, Cubs 4
• Reds 7, Padres 2
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but