NATIONAL LEAGUE
The New York Mets snapped an eighth-inning tie when Damion Easley was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and went on to beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 in the National League on Tuesday.
Easley was hit by Saul Rivera (3-5) to make it 4-3, and a beleaguered bullpen that has struggled badly without injured closer Billy Wagner held the lead.
Six times this season the bullpen has cost Johan Santana (10-7) a potential win — with five of the collapses coming in the ninth inning. Santana went seven solid innings, allowing three runs and eight hits.
DODGERS 4, PHILLIES 3
At Los Angeles, Andre Ethier singled home the winning run with one out in the bottom of ninth as Los Angeles edged Philadelphia.
Casey Blake had two RBIs for the Dodgers, including a sacrifice fly that tied it in the eighth.
Phillies reliever J.C. Romero (4-4) began the ninth by hitting Russell Martin with a pitch. Martin went to second on a groundout and scored when Ethier lined a 1-2 pitch into the outfield.
Kuo Hong-chih (郭泓志) of Taiwan pitched two hitless innings for the win.
Chase Utley opened the scoring in the first with his 30th homer.
Utley has five homers in his last 14 games after hitting just four in his previous 44.
REDS 5, PIRATES 1
At Pittsburgh, Edinson Volquez pitched into the seventh inning to snap a post All-Star break slump for Cincinnati.
Brandon Phillips and Javier Valentin homered to help the Reds end a season-worst six-game losing streak. Corey Patterson had two hits and two RBIs.
Volquez (14-5) allowed one run and five hits in six-and-two-third innings.
Jeff Karstens (2-1) took his first loss since being acquired from the Yankees.
MARLINS 4, CARDINALS 3
At Miami, Hanley Ramirez hit a three-run homer and Florida held St. Louis scoreless over the last eight innings.
Chris Volstad (4-2) pitched five innings for the win in his sixth major league start. He gave up five hits and three walks.
Four Florida relievers combined for four shutout innings after a rain delay of 1 hour, 53 minutes in the bottom of the fifth. Kevin Gregg pitched a perfect ninth for his 26th save.
Kyle Lohse (13-5) gave up four runs and six hits, losing for the third time in four decisions.
ASTROS 12, GIANTS 4
At Houston, Lance Berkman hit a grand slam in an eight-run seventh for Houston, two innings after San Francisco ace pitcher Tim Lincecum left the game with an injured knee.
The win was the sixth straight for the Astros.
Lincecum allowed one hit and struck out seven before he was hit in the right knee by Brad Ausmus’ line drive in the fifth.
The Giants’ ace limped off the field and went for X-rays which Giants manager Bruce Bochy said were negative. He said Lincecum was to be re-evaluated yesterday.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, ROCKIES 2
At Denver, Randy Johnson pitched six solid innings and singled in a run and Adam Dunn had a double in his Arizona debut.
BREWERS 5, PADRES 2
At San Diego, Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer and Jeff Suppan pitched eight strong innings to lead Milwaukee past San Diego for its seventh straight victory.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
Alex Rodriguez hit a tiebreaking homer in the 12th inning and Xavier Nady added a two-run shot as the New York Yankees overcame Mariano Rivera’s first blown save of the season to beat Minnesota 9-6 on Tuesday.
Both homers were off Matt Guerrier (6-6) and helped New York end a four-game losing streak — its longest this season. Johnny Damon hit a homer and finished with three hits.
Rodriguez was 0-for-5 when he broke the 6-6 tie with his 27th homer.
Behind another solid outing from Mike Mussina, New York led 6-3 when Rivera came to the mound with two on and one out in the eighth.
Delmon Young sliced a three-run homer inside the right-field foul pole, stunning Rivera, who was off to a career-best 28-for-28 start on save chances.
ATHLETICS 2, RAYS 1
At Oakland, California, Bobby Crosby hit a two-run homer and Gio Gonzalez got his first major league win as Oakland downed Tampa Bay.
Gonzalez (1-1) pitched out of a couple of jams in five-plus innings in his second career start and the A’s won for the second time in their last 14 games.
Jerry Blevins and Joey Devine combined to pitch three scoreless innings and Brad Ziegler got the final three outs for his second save in as many chances, running his scoreless streak to 38 innings.
ANGELS 7, MARINERS 3
At Anaheim, California, Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Juan Rivera homered to help Los Angeles rally past Seattle.
Jon Garland (11-7) allowed nine hits and three runs in seven innings for the Angels, who have won five straight and improved to 6-1 on their eight-game homestand. Francisco Rodriguez came in with runners on first and second and struck out Raul Ibanez for his major league-best 46th save.
In other games it was:
• Boston 19, Texas 17
• Toronto 6, Detroit 4
• Cleveland 7, Baltimore 5
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite