AMERICAN LEAGUE
Roy Halladay threw a two-hitter as Matt Stairs and Rod Barajas homered to lead Toronto to a 5-0 victory over New York on Friday.
Halladay (11-6) won his third straight start and threw his major league-leading seventh complete game. He struck out eight and walked one. The right-hander, who has 11 career shutouts, is 8-1 over his past 12 starts.
The Blue Jays extended their home winning streak to a season-high six games.
Playing in their third city in as many nights, the Yankees put just two runners in scoring position against Halladay. Leadoff hitter Brett Gardner was hit by a pitch and stole second in the first, and Derek Jeter hit a ground-rule double in the ninth.
The only other hit was Alex Rodriguez’s one-out single in the fourth.
ORIOLES 7, RED SOX 3
At Boston, Brian Roberts was a home run short of the cycle as Baltimore beat Boston’s Clay Buchholz in his first start against them since his no-hitter last season.
The Orioles snapped a five-game losing streak by handing Boston a rare home loss.
Brian Burres (7-5) allowed three runs and six hits, leaving with a 4-3 lead with one out in the seventh.
Buchholz (2-4) retired just one of the first five batters he faced and gave up four runs, five hits and five walks in five innings.
George Sherrill came on with two outs and two on in the ninth. He walked Dustin Pedroia before striking out Kevin Youkilis to earn his 28th save.
Roberts led off the game with a double, stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly. In the fifth, he had an RBI triple and scored on Aubrey Huff’s sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.
INDIANS 5, RAYS 0
At Cleveland, Cliff Lee pitched six stellar innings as Cleveland extended Tampa Bay’s season-high losing streak to five games.
Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run homer and an RBI double off James Shields (7-6) as the Indians beat the Rays in Cleveland for the 11th consecutive time since Sept. 29, 2005.
The Indians entered the four-game series on a 10-game losing streak — their longest in 29 years — but have consecutive wins for the first time since June 26 and June 27.
Tampa Bay had won seven straight to open a five-game lead in the AL East on July 6.
TWINS 3, TIGERS 2
At Detroit, Nick Punto drove in two runs as Minnesota’s bullpen shut down Detroit.
Punto had RBIs in the fourth and sixth innings and Delmon Young added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
Minnesota starter Glen Perkins (6-2) left after giving up Detroit’s second run in the seventh. Relievers Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier and Joe Nathan retired the next seven batters — three on strikeouts — to give him his second straight win.
Nathan earned his 26th save.
Alexi Casilla had three hits for the Twins.
ROYALS 3, MARINERS 1
At Kansas City, Missouri, Luke Hochevar allowed one run and five hits over seven innings and David DeJesus doubled in two runs as Kansas City downed Seattle.
Hochevar limited the Mariners to four singles over the first six innings and then Adrian Beltre opened the seventh with a double. Beltre went to third on a groundout and scored on Miguel Cairo’s grounder.
Hochevar (6-7) struck out four and walked none.
Joakim Soria pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save.
In other games, it was:
• Rangers 7, White Sox 2
• Athletics 9, Angels 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Damion Easley’s eighth-inning homer carried the New York Mets to a seventh straight win, 2-1 over the Colorado Rockies on Friday.
Easley hit his third homer of the season on a 3-2 pitch from reliever Taylor Buchholz (3-3) with two outs. Billy Wagner worked a perfect ninth for his 21st save.
The Mets have won seven straight for the first time since Aug. 17 to Aug. 24, 2006. They also held an opponent to three hits for the fourth straight game.
Pedro Feliciano (2-2) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth for the victory.
The Rockies loaded the bases in the sixth, seventh and eighth but couldn’t get any runs out of it.
Easley was two-for-three including his first homer since June 18.
CUBS 3, GIANTS 1
At Chicago, Aramis Ramirez broke a scoreless tie with a three-run homer in the eighth inning as Chicago downed San Francisco.
Shut down by starter Matt Cain for seven innings, the Cubs struck quickly against his replacement and held off a ninth-inning rally to send the Giants to their fifth straight loss.
Ryan Theriot led off the Cubs’ eighth with a single off Tyler Walker and was sacrificed to second. Walker (3-5) intentionally walked Derrek Lee before Ramirez hit his 17th homer.
CARDINALS 6, PIRATES 0
At Pittsburgh, Kyle Lohse limited Pittsburgh to six hits over seven innings and Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick homered for St. Louis.
Lohse (11-2) won his eighth in a row by limiting the Pirates to one extra-base hit. He hasn’t lost in 12 starts since May 9, giving up two runs or fewer in all but two of his last 10 starts.
Ankiel’s two-run drive followed Yadier Molina’s two-run double and finished off a decisive four-run third inning, with all the scoring occurring after Pirates starter Zach Duke (4-6) retired the first two batters. All six runs scored with two outs.
NATIONALS 10, ASTROS 0
At Washington, Ronnie Belliard homered twice and drove in five runs as Tim Redding finally got a victory after nine consecutive no-decisions for Washington.
Redding (7-3) allowed seven singles, walked none and struck out six in six innings. The Astros had hits in the first five innings, but Redding consistently wiggled out of trouble to record his first victory since May 19.
Austin Kearns homered and drove in three runs for the Nationals, who had lost seven of eight.
Steven Shell worked three innings for his first career save as Washington earned its seventh shutout of the season, and second in three days.
REDS 6, BREWERS 5
At Milwaukee, Jay Bruce scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning for Cincinnati on the third wild pitch by Milwaukee.
Edwin Encarnacion hit a ground-rule double off Brian Shouse (3-1) to start the inning, and he advanced when Bruce reached on a throwing error by third baseman Bill Hall. Solomon Torres relieved and walked David Ross. Pinch-hitter Adam Dunn hit into a fielder’s choice, and Bruce scored on a wild pitch.
Mike Lincoln (1-2) picked up the victory with an inning of scoreless relief. Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 19th save.
In other games, it was:
• Marlins 3, Dodgers 1
• Padres 4, Braves 3
• Phillies 6, D’backs 5, 12 innings
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set