Chris Denorfia doubled in the winning run off rookie Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth inning to give the San Diego Padres a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday and a share of the National League West lead with San Francisco.
The Reds’ magic number for clinching the NL Central was trimmed to two before the first pitch when the St Louis Cardinals lost 7-3 at the Chicago Cubs.
Denorfia’s shot off Chapman (1-2) went down the line, skipping past the glove of third baseman Scott Rolen and scoring Chase Headley from first. Left fielder Jonny Gomes made a sliding stop in foul territory before it got to the wall, but Headley beat the throw home.
Braves 5, Nationals 0
In Washington, Braves manager Bobby Cox earned his 2,500th win, getting five effective innings from Derek Lowe and a three-run homer from Alex Gonzalez.
The 69-year-old Cox, set to retire at the end of the season, became the fourth major league manager to reach the milestone. The Braves snapped a four-game losing streak.
Lowe (15-12) allowed five hits, walked one and struck out four, improving to 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in his last four starts.
D’backs 5, Dodgers 2
In Phoenix, Arizona, Cole Gillespie hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the sixth inning and Daniel Hudson turned in another outstanding outing as Arizona downed Los Angeles.
Hudson (8-2) allowed two runs and two hits in eight-and-two-thirds innings, coming close to his first career complete game.
With one out and a runner on second in the sixth, John Ely (4-9) intentionally walked Brandon Allen to get to Gillespie, the Diamondbacks’ No. 8 hitter. The rookie outfielder responded with a drive to left for his second career homer.
In other NL action, it was:
• Mets 5, Phillies 2
• Cubs 7, Cardinals 3
• Marlins 4, Brewers 0
• Pirates 6, Astros 4
AP , NEW YORK
Jon Lester took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning to become the first Boston left-hander in 57 years to win 19 games in a 7-3 victory over New York in the American League on Saturday.
Lester (19-8) was overpowering before Francisco Cervelli singled off the glove of diving rookie Daniel Nava in left field with one out in the sixth. Lester wound up allowing two hits in seven shutout innings. He won his sixth straight start, extended his scoreless innings streak to 15 and lowered his ERA to 2.96.
Lester joined Jesse Tannehill (1904-1905), Ray Collins (1913-14), Dutch Leonard (1914), Babe Ruth (1916-1917), Lefty Grove (1935) and Mel Parnell (1949 and 1953) as the only Red Sox left-handers to win 19.
Boston closed within five-and-a-half games of New York in the AL wild-card race. The Red Sox have eight games left — four against the Yankees, including last night’s series finale.
New York dropped out of first place in the AL East on Friday night, falling a half-game behind Tampa Bay.
Tigers 11, Twins 10, 13 inns
In Detroit, Michigan, Brandon Inge singled home the winning run in the 13th inning as Detroit damaged Minnesota’s chances of earning home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs.
The AL Central champions fell a game behind Tampa Bay in the race for the best record in the American League.
Johnny Damon and Miguel Cabrera opened the 13th with singles off Pat Neshak (0-1). Jhonny Peralta followed with a grounder to third that was misplayed by Danny Valencia for an error, loading the bases.
In addition to Justin Morneau (concussion) and Joe Mauer (knee), Minnesota played without manager Ron Gardenhire in the dugout after he was hit in the right ear by a thrown ball during batting practice.
In other AL games, it was:
• Rays 9, Mariners 1
• Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4, 11 inns
• White Sox 6, Angels 2
• Indians 7, Royals 1
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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