AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, CLEVELAND, OHIO
Brett Cecil took a perfect game into the seventh inning for the Toronto Blue Jays before settling for a 5-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Monday.
The left-hander allowed one hit over eight innings, striking out a career-high 10.
Cecil (2-1) lost the perfect game when he walked Grady Sizemore with one out in the seventh. He then walked Choo Shin-soo but came back to strike out Austin Kearns before Jhonny Peralta lined a 2-2 pitch to left field, scoring Sizemore to get Cleveland within 4-1.
Kevin Gregg gave up a one-out single to Sizemore in the ninth. He walked Kearns with two outs, then fired a called third strike past Peralta on a full count to complete the two-hitter.
Jose Bautista’s two-run homer put Toronto ahead in the second.
Travis Snider hit his fourth of the year in the fourth and John Buck connected for his fourth in the eighth to make it 5-1.
RED SOX 17, ANGELS 8
At Boston, Dustin Pedroia’s three-run homer capped Boston’s seven-run sixth inning in a win over Los Angeles.
Bill Hall and Adrian Beltre each hit their first homers in a Red Sox uniform, both two-run shots, and Kevin Youkilis had a solo blast.
Boston snapped a three-game losing streak after getting swept by Baltimore over the weekend.
Clay Buchholz (3-2) gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 and 2/3 innings.
The Red Sox built a 5-0 lead with three runs in the second and two in the third off Joe Saunders (1-5).
Mike Lowell went 4 for 4 with four RBIs and three doubles for Boston, and J. D. Drew had four hits and drove in three runs.
Maicer Izturis hit a two-run double for Los Angeles.
In other games it was:
• Yankees 4, Orioles 1
• Twins 10, Tigers 4
• White Sox 5, Royals 1
• Rangers 4, Athletics 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, PHILADELPHIA
St Louis pitcher Jaime Garcia allowed one run in six innings, steering the Cardinals to a 6-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Monday’s clash between National League divisional leaders.
Garcia (3-1), a rookie left-hander, struck out six.
David Freese had three RBIs, including a bases-loaded double after Nick Stavinoha delivered a pinch-hit homer leading off the seventh against Joe Blanton (0-1).
Jayson Werth hit a solo shot for the Phillies and has reached base in all 25 games this season.
The Cardinals had 14 hits — 10 against Blanton.
ROCKIES 5, PADRES 2
In San Diego, Ubaldo Jimenez struck out a career-high 13, became the first six-game winner in the majors this season and hit an RBI single to lead Colorado over San Diego.
Jimenez (6-0) held San Diego to one run in seven innings. He was making his third start since throwing the first no-hitter in franchise history.
He retired the last nine batters he faced, striking out five of the final six. His ERA is 0.87.
San Diego starter Kevin Correia (4-2) allowed three runs in six-plus innings.
In other games it was:
• Reds 3, Mets 2, 11 innings
• Diamondbacks 9, Astros 1
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but