AMERICAN LEAGUE
The Yankees won their third game in a row over the Minnesota Twins on their final swing of the bat when Johnny Damon crushed a 10th-inning home run to give New York a 3-2 victory on Sunday.
The dramatic ending marked the first time in 37 years the Yankees had registered three successive walk-off wins.
PHOTO: AP
“It’s amazing,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi told reporters after his team extended its overall winning streak to five games. “I’ve never been a part of something like this three in a row. There’s probably a few more grey hairs in my head after these last three.”
Damon’s game-winning blast into the second deck in right field, his 10th homer of the season, came with one out in the 10th inning off reliever Jesse Crain.
New York reliever Alfredo Aceves (2-0) worked a scoreless frame to earn his second win in two days.
Alex Rodriguez was the hero on Saturday when he stroked a walk-off homer in the 11th inning. Melky Cabrera had the honors on Friday with a two-run single in the ninth that capped a three-run burst against Twins closer Joe Nathan.
Rodriguez also homered in Sunday’s game as New York improved to 20-17 and Minnesota fell to 18-20.
“Our team has a lot of confidence right now,” Yankees captain and shortstop Derek Jeter said. “This was a great game for us. I like what I see from our team right now.”
RAYS 7, INDIANS 5
A mistake on Tampa Bay’s official lineup card forced starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat on Sunday against Cleveland.
The Rays inadvertently listed both Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman on the card given to the umpires prior to the contest. In fact, Longoria was supposed to be the designated hitter and bat in place of Sonnanstine under American League rules.
“Designated hitter has to be designated on the lineup card and he wasn’t,” umpire crew chief Tim McClelland said. “That was just a miswrite, so to speak. That’s how we interpreted it.”
Rays manager Joe Maddon said he didn’t notice the mistake when he signed the card. He took the blame, but his burden was eased when Tampa Bay triumphed 7-5.
Sonnanstine even came through at the plate. After going hitless in his first two at-bats, Sonnanstine belted an RBI double in a five-run fourth inning that put the Rays up 7-3.
Sonnanstine became the first pitcher in the starting lineup of an AL home game since 1976. The last pitcher to notch an RBI in an AL home game was John Wetteland of Texas in 1997.
“I was just excited about it,” Sonnanstine said. “It’s a little different.”
“It was definitely a little different day on the baseball field,” Longoria said. “I was laughing [when Sonnanstine doubled]. It was great.”
In other AL action it was:
• Mariners 3, Red Sox 2
• Tigers 11, Athletics 7
• Blue Jays 8, White Sox 2
• Rangers 3, Angels 0
• Royals 7, Orioles 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
REUTERS, SAN FRANCISCO
The San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 2-0 on Sunday to snap a four-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep against the National League East leaders.
Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain allowed three hits over six innings and drove in a run with a fifth-inning single as the Mets were shut out for the first time this season.
The win also ended an eight-game Giants losing skid against the Mets, who had pounded San Francisco pitching for 24 runs and 42 hits in the first three games of the series.
“They had a lot of fight in them today,” Mets manager Jerry Manuel told reporters. “Even their fans seemed to be in a playoff-type atmosphere. They didn’t want the Mets to do the sweep here.”
Bengie Molina drove in the other Giants run, a first inning single off New York starter Mike Pelfrey (4-1), who had a rare three balks in his six innings on the mound.
It was just the second time a Mets pitcher had three balks, Don Rowe also did it in 1963 against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“I think maybe when I get on national TV I like making a fool of myself,” Pelfrey said. “It seemed like I almost had the yips.”
Cain (4-1) overcame early control problems and wound up walking five and striking out two before Bob Howry, Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson each tossed a scoreless inning.
Wilson picked up his ninth save in 11 opportunities after taking the loss in the first two games of the series to New York.
“You have to be careful pitching against them, they are so hot right now,” Cain said of the Mets hitters. “I didn’t want to give them too much to hit up there.”
In other AL action it was:
• Astros 6, Cubs 5
• Brewers 8, Cardinals 2
• Dodgers 12, Marlins 5
• Phillies 8, Nationals 6
• Pirates 11, Rockies 4
• Padres 3, Reds 1
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB