Ben Zobrist set a Tampa Bay record with eight RBIs, hitting a home run and two doubles in the Rays’ 15-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
Zobrist went four-for-six and scored twice. He hit an RBI single in the first inning, a three-run homer in the sixth and added two-run doubles in the seventh and ninth.
Zobrist broke the team RBIs record of seven set by Carlos Pena in 2007.
Photo: AFP
Johnny Damon had three hits, including an RBI triple, to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
B.J. Upton also had three hits to help the Rays match a season high with 19 hits.
Zobrist hit his sixth home run and Casey Kotchman hit his first.
Indians 8, Royals 2
In Cleveland, Ohio, Fausto Carmona, backed by four solo home runs, pitched seven solid innings as Cleveland earned their 10th straight home win, beating Kansas City.
Choo Shin-soo and Carlos Santana connected for consecutive homers with two outs in the first inning off Kyle Davies (1-3). Grady Sizemore opened the third with his fourth homer and Shelley Duncan began the fourth with his first of the year to make it 4-0.
Jeff Francoeur stretched his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games for Kansas City.
He doubled in the seventh and Wilson Betemit followed with a two-run double to make it 8-2.
Thursday’s other results:
‧ Blue Jays 5, Rangers 2
‧ Yankees 12, White Sox 3
‧ Red Sox 6, Orioles 2
‧ Mariners 7, Tigers 2
AP, HOUSTON, Texas
St Louis slugger Lance Berkman homered and drove in four runs in a nine-run sixth inning as the Cardinals beat his old team the Houston Astros 11-7 in the National League on Thursday.
Berkman’s three-run shot off Fernando Abad (1-2) gave St Louis a 5-4 lead and he then added a solo shot in the ninth. He finished with four hits
Matt Holliday drove in three runs during the sixth, while Kyle McClellan and David Freese each drove in a run as St Louis sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth as Houston went through four pitchers.
McClellan (4-0) allowed eight hits in 5-2/3 innings for the victory. Fernando Salas worked the final 1-1/3 innings for the save.
Giants 5, Pirates 2
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ryan Vogelsong won in his first start in almost seven years, pitching effectively into the sixth inning against his former team in San Francisco’s victory over Pittsburgh.
Making just his third appearance in the majors since 2006, the 33-year-old Vogelsong (1-0) tied a career-high with eight strikeouts.
Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his seventh save.
San Francisco had lost five of their previous six.
Aaron Rowand had three RBIs and stole home as part of a double steal. He hit a two-run double during the Giants’ four-run third against Jeff Karstens (2-1).
Thursday’s other results:
‧ Nationals 4, Mets 3
‧ Diamondbacks 11, Cubs 2
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