AMERICAN LEAGUE
Mark Teixeira belted a three-run homer in the seventh inning to lift the New York Yankees to a 5-3 comeback victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday, snapping a three-game losing streak.
Curtis Granderson, with a double and a home run, helped spark the Tigers to a 3-2 lead in support of rookie left-handers Lucas French and Taiwanese reliever Ni Fu-te.
PHOTO: AP
When hard-throwing right-handed reliever Joel Zumaya (3-3) came on to pitch, the Yankees rallied.
Derek Jeter fisted a lead-off single to right, Johnny Damon doubled high of the wall in right field and Teixeira turned on a 3-1 fastball and launched the decisive blast into the second deck in right.
“You don’t try to overswing when a guy is throwing that hard and I put a good swing on it,” Teixeira said of Zumaya, who hit 99mph on the radar gun during the inning.
Asked about Teixeira’s 22nd roundtripper of the year, New York manager Joe Girardi grinned.
“Three-run homers are nice, especially late in a game,” he said.
Phil Hughes (4-2) registered six outs, all by strikeout, to pick up the win in relief of starter A.J. Burnett in the team’s first game following the All-Star break.
“I guess the break gave me a little rest. I felt strong out there,” said 23-year-old Hughes, who is thriving this season out of the bullpen after being groomed as a starter.
“It’s nice to be in the game when it matters and counts,” he said. “I guess I’ve kind of found a comfort zone out there.”
After a rain delay of nearly an hour, Mariano Rivera came on to seal the victory in the ninth for his 24th save.
The victory improved the Yankees to 52-37 and dropped AL Central leading Detroit to 48-40.
RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1
In Toronto, Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homer to lift Boston over Toronto.
Boston’s Clay Buchholz pitched five-and-two-third innings to earn his first major league win in more than a year, in his first start this season.
Youkilis went long in the first inning to set the Red Sox away for a fourth straight win. The Blue Jays have lost 13 of 16 to drop a season-worst three games below .500.
TWINS 5, RANGERS 3
In Arlington, Texas, Jason Kubel hit a tiebreaking three-run homer to set up Minnesota’s win over Texas.
Kubel’s homer in the third, after consecutive hits, put the Twins up 5-2 before both side’s pitchers took control.
ATHLETICS 7, ANGELS 3
In Oakland, California, Rajai Davis scored the go-ahead run from first base on an errant pickoff attempt as Oakland snapped a four-game home losing streak to Los Angeles.
In other AL action, it was:
• Rays 8, Royals 7
• White Sox 12, Orioles 8
• Mariners 6, Indians 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, MIAMI
Chase Utley hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 12th inning as the Philadelphia Phillies edged the Florida Marlins 6-5 on Friday and extended their National League winning streak to seven.
The Phils were up 4-1 when pitcher Cole Hamels left after a rain delay midway through the sixth inning. The bullpen blew the lead and then escaped several jams in the final innings.
With the score 4-4, Jimmy Rollins led off the 12th with a single, took second on a sacrifice and came home on Utley’s single. Jayson Werth singled home another run.
In the bottom of the 12th, Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge, pitching for the first time in a week, walked two and gave up a run on a wild pitch but hung on to earn his 19th save.
The Phillies have won 11 of their past 12 games and have won seven straight games in Miami, five this season.
REDS 4, BREWERS 0
In Cincinnatti, Ohio, Bronson Arroyo threw seven shutout innings to steer Cincinnatti over Milwaukee.
Arroyo was coming off another shutout win, over New York on Friday. Edward Encarnacion tied his career high with the four hits, including a solo homer that left him 7 for 7 in the first two games of the series.
In other NL action, it was:
• Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 1
• Pirates 2, Giants 1, 14 inns
• Braves 11, Mets 0
• Cubs 3, Nationals 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