Jack Hannahan hit a leadoff single and later drove in two runs, and Jack Cust hit a two-run homer as the Oakland Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox with a 6-3 victory on Sunday.
Jon Lester (3-3) allowed seven hits and four runs over five innings, taking the loss in his first start since throwing a no-hitter on Monday night against Kansas City. The Boston left-hander scuffled through early trouble before retiring the last six batters he faced.
Joe Blanton (3-6) labored through six inconsistent innings to win for the first time in five May starts, allowing five hits and four walks while striking out seven. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances.
PHOTO: EPA
White Sox 3, Angels 2
At Chicago, Carlos Quentin led off the ninth inning with his second homer off John Lackey (1-1), and Chicago beat Los Angeles to avoid a three-game sweep.
Rangers 2, Indians 1
At Cleveland, right fielder Ben Francisco misplayed a simple single into a costly error in the 10th, enabling Jarrod Saltalamacchia to score from first base with the winning run as Texas edged Cleveland.
Saltalamacchia drew a two-out walk on the 10th pitch he saw from Masahide Kobayashi (2-2).
Yankees 6, Mariners 5
At New York, Jose Molina hit a two-out RBI double to cap a four-run eighth inning, and New York rallied past Seattle for its fifth straight victory.
Blue Jays 3, Royals 1
At Toronto, Shannon Stewart drove in the go-ahead run on a fielder’s choice amd Toronto’s Dustin McGowan won for the first time in four starts. Kansas City have now lost seven straight.
Twins 6, Tigers 1
At Detroit, Jason Kubel hit a tiebreaking grand slam with two outs in the eighth inning and Glen Perkins shut down Detroit’s offense to take two of three in the series.
Rays 5, Orioles 4
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Evan Longoria drove in the winning run with a double in the ninth inning, giving Tampa Bay a three-game sweep of Baltimore.
AP, SAN DIEGO, California
The lights were on and the sun was going down when Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 18th inning on Sunday to give the San Diego Padres a 12-9 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
It was the fourth time the Padres played at least 13 innings this season. They played a 22-inning game at home against Colorado on April 17 and April 18, losing 2-1.
The last team to play a game of at least 22 and 17 innings in the same season was the 1989 Los Angeles Dodgers, who played two 22-inning games and a 17-inning game.
Scott Hairston started the winning rally with a one-out walk off Edinson Volquez (7-2), the second starting pitcher the Reds put on the mound in extra innings. Brian Giles reached on first baseman Joey Votto’s two-out throwing error, moving Hairston to third.
Gonzalez then hit a full-count pitch over the fence in straightaway center field for his 14th homer.
The game lasted five hours, 57 minutes. It was the third-longest game in Reds history.
Rockies 4, Mets 1
At Denver, Willie Randolph didn’t get the pick-me-up he needed when New York lost to the Colorado Rockies, whose patchwork lineup included four recent call-ups.
One of them, Seth Smith, hit his first major league homer, a three-run shot off John Maine to back an impressive start by Aaron Cook (7-3).
In other games it was:
• Phillies 15, Astros 6
• Pirates 6, Cubs 5, 11 innings
• Diamondbacks 9, Braves 3
• Marlins 8, Giants 6, 1st game
• Marlins 5, Giants 4, 2nd game
• Nationals 7, Brewers 6
• Dodgers 4, Cardinals 3
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