David Ortiz lined a three-run double to the left-center gap with one out in the ninth inning on Saturday to give the Boston Red Sox a dramatic, 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
It was the 18th game-ending hit of his career.
Hideki Okajima (4-3) pitched a perfect ninth inning.
PHOTO: EPA
Phil Coke (6-2) took the loss after coming in with one on in the ninth.
The Red Sox trailed 2-0 on Miguel Cabrera’s 26th homer in the first inning and fell behind 4-0 in the fourth.
Yankees 5, Rays 4
In St Petersburg, Florida, Robinson Cano’s 21st home run of the season snapped a ninth-inning tie as New York beat Tampa Bay to retain first place in the American League East.
While Alex Rodriguez failed for the ninth consecutive game to hit his 600th career homer, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher went deep for the defending world champions, who rallied from an early deficit against Matt Garza before beating All-Star closer Rafael Soriano (2-1) on Cano’s drive into the right field seats.
Rodriguez, 9-for-37 with eight RBIs since hitting career homer No. 599 on July 22, went 0-for-3 with a walk and one strikeout.
David Robertson (2-3) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 22nd save in 24 opportunities, ending Tampa Bay’s seven-game winning streak.
Twins 4, Mariners 0
In Minneapolis, Kevin Slowey pitched eight sparkling innings, Joe Mauer had three hits and the Twins won their seventh consecutive game.
Delmon Young added two hits and two RBIs, including a run-scoring triple in Minnesota’s three-run first.
Felix Hernandez (7-8) pitched seven innings for the Mariners, yielding three runs and seven hits.
Seattle has lost six straight and its 6-22 record for last month matched the franchise record for losses in a month, set by the 1977 expansion team in August.
Slowey (10-5) allowed three hits, tying a season low, and struck out five.
Indians 2, Blue Jays 1
In Toronto, Choo Shin-soo Choo doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning as Cleveland beat Toronto to snap a three-game losing streak.
Indians right-hander Jake Westbrook was scratched before the game and traded to St Louis as part of a three-team deal, with Josh Tomlin taking his place. Tomlin was working on three days’ rest and allowed only one run in five-and-one-third innings in his second major league start.
Jensen Lewis (3-2) worked one inning of relief for the win.
The loss snapped the Blue Jays’ four-game winning streak.
In other AL play, it was:
Athletics 6, White Sox 2
Royals 4, Orioles 3
Rangers 2, Angels 1
AP, DENVER, Colorado
Carlos Gonzalez hit a game-ending home run to complete the cycle as Colorado rallied to beat Chicago 6-5 on Saturday after blowing a three-run lead in the eighth inning.
Gonzalez became the sixth Rockies player to hit for the cycle and the first since Troy Tulowitzki did it last on Aug. 10 last year, also against the Cubs.
Chicago’s Derrek Lee hit a tying three-run homer in the eighth off Rafael Betancourt.
Melvin Mora, who went 2-for-2 during Colorado’s record-setting 13-hit, 12-run eighth inning on Friday night, went 4-for-4 on Saturday to stretch the streak to six hits in six at-bats.
Huston Street (2-2) retired the Cubs in order in the ninth and Gonzalez crushed the first offering from Sean Marshall (6-3).
Marlins 6, Padres 3
In San Diego, Ricky Nolasco took a two-hitter into the ninth inning and Dan Uggla hit his 144th home run to become Florida’s franchise leader as the Florida Marlins beat the National League West-leading San Diego Padres.
The Padres’ lead in the division is down to one-and-a-half games over the San Francisco Giants, San Diego’s slimmest lead since July 10 when it was one game up on Colorado.
With the Marlins leading 6-1, Nolasco (12-7) was two outs from his second complete game of the season and fifth of his career before giving up a two-run single to Adrian Gonzalez. Leo Nunez finished for his 26th save in 31 chances.
Kevin Correia (7-7) allowed three runs and four hits in six innings for the Padres.
Cardinals 11, Pirates 1
In St Louis, Albert Pujols hit his 24th homer and finished with three hits as St Louis routed Pittsburgh.
Jeff Suppan (1-6) allowed five hits in five-and-one-third scoreless innings to get his first win of the season. He also struck out five in what was also his first victory since Sept. 19 last year for Milwaukee.
Colby Rasmus hit a two-run homer and an RBI single for the Cardinals, who are 11-5 since the All-Star break. It was Rasmus’ career-high 17th homer and first since June 27.
Jeff Clement homered in the eighth for Pittsburgh.
Mets 5, Diamondbacks 4
In New York, Jesus Feliciano tripled and scored on Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, lifting the New York Mets past Arizona.
David Wright drove in three runs, including a tying single in the seventh off Arizona newcomer D.J. Carrasco. New York won it against Juan Gutierrez (0-6) to finally beat the last-place Diamondbacks for the first time in five meetings this season.
The Mets got a stellar start from Hisanori Takahashi and won for only the sixth time in 20 games. Francisco Rodriguez (4-2) struck out two in a perfect ninth for the win.
The rebuilding Diamondbacks, who made a flurry of deals leading up to Saturday’s non-waiver deadline, have lost eight of nine.
Justin Upton had three RBIs for Arizona and extended his hitting streak to a team-high 16 games.
Nationals 7, Phillies 5
In Washington, Ryan Zimmerman hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning to lead Washington past Philadelphia.
Zimmerman’s one-out drive onto the grass-covered batters eye in center field came on a fastball from Brad Lidge (1-1). Michael Morse led off the ninth with a single and Adam Kennedy walked before Zimmerman’s drive. It was Zimmerman’s 18th homer of the season.
Drew Storen (3-2) earned the win after facing two batters in the ninth.
In other NL play, it was:
Astros 6, Brewers 0
Reds 5, Braves 2
Giants 2, Dodgers 1
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set