NATIONAL LEAGUE
The San Francisco Giants wrested back sole possession of the National League West division lead by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1 on Wednesday.
San Francisco starter Ryan Vogelsong (9-1) won his career-best sixth straight decision, allowing one run in six innings with seven strikeouts as the Giants ended a form slump that had seen them lose five straight games and be outscored 31-8.
Orlando Cabrera drove in three runs, while Carlos Beltran tripled among his three hits, scored twice and drove in a run in his best game since joining the Giants from the New York Mets.
Arizona starter Jason Marquis (8-6) went four innings, allowing eight runs.
Braves 6, Nationals 4
In Washington, Dan Uggla hit a three-run homer and extended his career-best hitting streak to 25 games as Atlanta downed Washington.
Uggla’s streak is Atlanta’s longest since Marquis Grissom’s 28-game run in 1996, while Freddie Freeman had two hits and two RBIs to extend his own hitting streak to 18 games; the longest by a rookie in the majors this season.
Braves rookie starter Brandon Beachy (5-2) took a shutout into the sixth, but failed to get another out.
Wang Chien-ming (0-2) allowed six runs in five innings for the Nationals, whose four-game winning streak ended.
Phillies 8, Rockies 6
In Denver, Colorado, Roy Halladay fought through an erratic outing for his NL-leading 14th win, guiding Philadelphia past Colorado.
Halladay (14-4) allowed eight hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking only one as the NL East-leading Phillies won their sixth straight.
Ryan Howard drove in four runs with a homer and a double as Philadelphia completed the sweep.
Colorado starter Jason Hammel (6-11) gave up six runs in five innings in taking the loss, the Rockies’ fourth straight.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Brewers 10, Cardinals 5
‧ Cubs 1, Pirates 0
‧ Padres 3, Dodgers 0
‧ Astros 5, Reds 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, BOSTON
Jacoby Ellsbury got the winning hit for the second night in a row, homering with two outs in the ninth inning to give the Boston Red Sox a dramatic 4-3 win over the Cleveland Indians in the American League on Wednesday.
Cleveland pitcher Joe Smith (2-2) got the first two batters on groundouts before Ellsbury went long over the wall in center field.
Boston reliever Jonathan Papelbon (4-0) had pitched a perfect ninth to take the win.
Dustin Pedroia and Adrian Gonzalez each had two hits for the Red Sox.
The Indians fell to .500 for the first time since the fourth game of the year.
Tigers 5, Rangers 4
In Detroit, Michigan, Doug Fister pitched seven effective innings to win his Detroit debut, leading the Tigers past Texas.
Fister (4-12), acquired from Seattle, earned his first victory in 10 starts. He allowed two earned runs without a walk.
Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn hit homers for Detroit. Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 30th save in as many tries, despite allowing a solo homer.
Rangers starter Matt Harrison (9-8) took the loss, giving up four runs in six innings.
Yankees 18, White Sox 7
In Chicago, Derek Jeter had five hits and Curtis Granderson drove in five runs as surging New York racked up its highest score of the season, pounding Chicago.
Robinson Cano and Eric Chavez each had three hits and four RBIs for the Yankees, who have won six straight. Leadoff hitter Brett Gardner scored four times and Mark Teixeira drove in three runs in New York’s highest-scoring game of the season.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Rays 9, Blue Jays 1
‧ Angels 11, Twins 4
‧ Mariners 7, Athletics 4
‧ Royals 6, Orioles 2
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