NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
Jerry Hairston Jr homered with two outs in the 13th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 2-1 win over the St Louis Cardinals in the National League on Wednesday.
Hairston homered to left-center on the first pitch from Mitchell Boggs (0-2), the Cardinals’ seventh pitcher, to end the game. It was his second straight game-winning homer, as his solo shot on Tuesday was enough for the Padres to beat the Cards 1-0.
San Diego reliever Edward Mujica (2-0) pitched two perfect innings for the win.
The Cardinals got consecutive singles by Colby Rasmus and Yadier Molina opening the 11th, but a double play snuffed chances for a run.
METS 5, PHILLIES 0
Hisanori Takahashi pitched six scoreless innings as New York shut out Philadelphia for the second straight game.
Takahashi (4-1) did not walk a batter and struck out six, while Phillies starter Joe Blanton (1-3) gave up five runs and walked four.
Jose Reyes homered and drove in two runs in his fourth straight multihit game, while Rod Barajas had a two-run double and a sacrifice fly for the Mets.
Luis Castillo had two of New York’s four stolen bases in their fourth straight win.
DODGERS 8, CUBS 5
In Chicago, Chad Billingsley won his fourth consecutive start to lead Los Angeles over Chicago.
Billingsley (6-2) got the win despite conceding a season-worst 10 hits.
James Loney had three hits and was a home run short of the cycle, while Casey Blake homered and drove in two runs for the Dodgers.
The game was delayed for 18 minutes in top of the fourth inning after a nearby fire caused the lights to go out at Wrigley Field.
Chicago starter Tom Gorzelanny (2-5) gave up a season-worst seven runs in five-plus innings.
BRAVES 7, MARLINS 3
In Miami, Troy Glaus drove in two of Atlanta’s six runs in the seventh inning as the Braves downed Florida.
Atlanta sent 11 men to the plate in the seventh.
Braves starter Tommy Hanson (4-3) picked up the win, allowing two runs over six innings.
Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop (0-5) took the loss.
In other NL games, it was:
• Reds 4, Pirates 0
• Nationals 7, Giants 3
• Rockies 7, Diamondbacks 3
• Astros 5, Brewers 0
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, CLEVELAND
Mark Buehrle’s ejection in the third inning for arguing a balk didn’t rattle the Chicago White Sox, who regrouped after losing their starting pitcher to survive a dangerous ninth to beat the Cleveland Indians 5-4 on Wednesday.
Buehrle and manager Ozzie Guillen were both tossed by first-base umpire Joe West, who called two balks on the left-hander in the first three innings.
Mark Kotsay hit a two-run homer off Jake Westbrook (2-3) and Mark Teahen drove in two runs as Chicago won two of three over Cleveland to capture their first road series this season.
Bobby Jenks nearly blew a 5-1 lead in the ninth, allowing the Indians to score three runs before striking out Austin Kearns with the bases loaded and getting Russell Branyan to fly out.
YANKEES 1, TWINS 0
YANKEES 3, TWINS 2
At Minneapolis, Minnesota, fans got a double dose of action as the teams wrapped up a rained out game and followed up with a second game. Nick Swisher homered in the top of the ninth inning, allowing Mariano Rivera to record his second save in less than four hours for New York.
Swisher hit his solo shot off Twins closer Jon Rauch (1-1), the third two-out run scored by the Yankees in the second game.
Derek Jeter homered and made a highlight-reel play at shortstop in the sixth inning of the first game. Rivera pitched the ninth inning for the save in the first game, making up for his only blown chance of the season 10 days ago at Yankee Stadium against the Twins.
RED SOX 11, RAYS 3
At St Petersburg, Florida, Adrian Beltre homered twice and matched a career high with six RBIs to lead Boston to its eighth win in nine games and a three-game sweep of Tampa Bay.
Beltre had four hits, finishing a double shy of the cycle after his ninth-inning triple helped put the game out of reach. David Ortiz homered for the sixth time in 11 games.
John Lackey (5-3) allowed two runs over 6 1-3 innings, pitching his best with runners in scoring position.
ATHLETICS 6, ORIOLES 1
At Baltimore, Trevor Cahill allowed two hits over six innings, and Adam Rosales homered and drove in four runs as Oakland ended a six-game losing streak on the road with a win over Baltimore.
Cahill (3-2) allowed one run, walked three and struck out three, and Rajai Davis had three hits, stole a career-high three bases and scored twice for the A’s.
Brian Matusz (2-5) gave up six runs and eight hits in five-plus innings for Baltimore. The left-hander has lost five straight decisions.
In other AL action, it was:
• Angels 6, Blue Jays 5
• Mariners 5, Tigers 4
• Royals 5, Rangers 2
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