NATIONAL LEAGUE
REUTERS AND AP, SAN FRANCISCO
PHOTO: AP
Tim Lincecum tossed eight scoreless innings to carry the San Francisco Giants to a 2-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Friday, the NL Cy Young winner helping keep the home team firmly in the playoff hunt.
In a rematch of a dramatic four-game series between the teams a week ago, Lincecum dazzled with eight strikeouts in a 127-pitch performance to pull the Giants (70-59) within two games of the Rockies (72-57) in the NL Wild Card race.
“These are really big games. We’ve got to buckle down,” Lincecum told reporters after San Francisco recorded its MLB-best 17th shutout of the season. “This kind of sets the pace a little bit for the next couple of games.”
PHOTO: AP
Lincecum (13-4) again found himself in a pitcher’s duel against starter Ubaldo Jimenez, who got the better of him in Colorado’s 4-2 win on Sunday.
Jimenez was sharp again in allowing just two runs over seven innings, but the San Francisco ace got his revenge against a team that won three contests in the four-game set that concluded on Monday.
On Friday, third baseman Pablo Sandoval returned from a calf injury to blast his 20th home run of the year in the fifth inning and San Francisco got an insurance run when Eugenio Velez hit an RBI single in the sixth.
PHOTO: AP
Closer Brian Wilson locked down the ninth inning for his 31st save of the season.
Rockies first baseman Todd Helton went 2-for-3 and was stranded in the ninth after leading off the inning with a single.
Colorado managed just five hits in support of Jimenez (12-10), who suffered his first loss since July 10 and has blossomed into the team’s primary pitcher.
“Obviously, you hate to lose but if there are two young pitchers who, within a five-day period, lived up to a marquee pitching matchup, I’d have to say those two guys passed the test,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy said.
The defeat was the third straight for the Rockies, who have gone off the boil since beating the Giants on a 14th-inning walk-off home run by Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs on Monday.
PHILLIES 4, BRAVES 2
In Philadelphia, Ryan Howard homered twice during a perfect night at the plate as Philadelphia beat Atlanta.
Howard gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with a homer in the second.
In the fourth, he drove a two-run shot to center for his 22nd career multi-homer game and fifth this season. He had a double and walked to finish 3 for 3 with three RBIs.
PADRES 9, MARLINS 5
At Miami, Will Venable had two RBI singles and Kyle Blanks added a two-run homer in San Diego’s six-run second inning to set up victory over Florida.
Blanks’ two-run homer was a costly shot for both the Padres and Marlins. He aggravated a sore right foot as he rounded the bases and neither he nor Florida pitcher Chris Volstad finished the inning.
San Diego sent 12 batters to the plate in the second.
REDS 4, DODGERS 2
In Cincinnati, Ohio, pitcher Homer Bailey gave the best performance of his career, holding the NL’s top team scoreless for eight innings as Cincinnati beat Los Angeles.
Bailey had a career-high seven strikeouts while going eight innings for the first time in his career.
The out-of-contention Reds have won a season-high five straight.
In other NL action, it was:
• Cubs 5, Mets 2
• Cardinals 3, Nationals 2
• Diamondbacks 14, Astros 7
• Brewers 8, Pirates 6
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Robinson Cano hit a three-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning to give the New York Yankees a 5-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox in the American League on Friday.
Chicago reliever Randy Williams retired the first two batters in the 10th before walking two batters, setting up Cano to hit a 2-2 into New York’s bullpen in right-center for his first game-ending homer.
The Yankees maintained a six-game lead atop the AL East while the White Sox have lost five of six to fall five games behind AL Central-leading Detroit.
TIGERS 6, RAYS 2
In Detroit, Brandon Inge homered and scored twice for Detroit in their win over Tampa Bay.
After the game, the Rays announced they traded two-time All-Star pitcher Scott Kazmir to the Los Angeles Angels for pitcher Alex Torres and infielder Matt Sweeney.
Detroit took a 1-0 lead on Inge’s 25th homer in the second, then took control with five runs in the fourth.
The Tigers retained a four-and-a-half game lead in the AL Central.
TWINS 3, RANGERS 2
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, rookie pitcher Brian Duensing struck out eight in seven innings in his third career start, steering the home team past Texas.
Duensing allowed three hits and walked just one for the Twins, who overtook Chicago for second place in the AL Central.
The Rangers scored in the ninth and had the tying run on second base when Chris Davis was struck out looking on a close call.
Texas fell two-and-a-half games behind Boston in the wild card race.
RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 5
In Boston, the home team twice rallied from behind to edge Toronto.
The Blue Jays led 3-0 and 5-3, scoring two more home runs off Red Sox ace Josh Beckett, who has conceded 12 homers in his past four starts.
It was 5-5 when Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek tagged out a runner just before a rain delay in the top of the eighth. When play resumed, Boston quickly got the final out of the eighth.
In the bottom of the inning, Casey Kotchman hit a fielder’s choice grounder to make it 6-5.
ANGELS 11, ATHLETICS 7
In Anaheim, California, Los Angeles scored seven in the seventh inning to set up victory over Oakland.
In other AL action, it was:
• Mariners 6, Royals 3
• Orioles 13, Indians 4
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