NATIONAL LEAGUE
The Philadelphia Phillies won 4-1 on Thursday to complete a series victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, taking a psychological edge in a clash of two teams that could well meet in a National League playoff series.
John Mayberry Jr hit a two-run homer for the Phillies, who took two of three games in the meeting of NL divisional leaders and have a 14-1-1 record in their past 16 series.
A thunderstorm delayed the game for 2 hours, 17 minutes after three innings. Neither starting pitcher returned when play resumed.
Philadelphia reliever David Herndon (1-2) struck out four over three scoreless innings to earn just his second career win.
Arizona starter Ian Kennedy (15-4) gave up three runs in three innings, ending a run of winning his previous seven starts.
The Diamondbacks remained 2.5 games ahead of San Francisco in the West division.
NATIONALS 3, REDS 1
In Washington, Jonny Gomes hit a two-run single that led Washington to victory over his old team Cincinnati.
Nationals catcher Jesus Flores also had his first home run in more than two years.
Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann (8-10) pitched 6-2/3 scoreless innings.
Reds starter Bronson Arroyo (7-10) got the loss.
DODGERS 5, BREWERS 1
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Clayton Kershaw throttled streaking Milwaukee with eight scoreless innings, leading Los Angeles to victory.
The NL Central-leading Brewers came in winners of 19 of 21 and were looking to complete a 7-0 homestand, but Kershaw (15-5) was tremendous, retiring 13 of his final 14 batters and never facing serious trouble after the third inning.
Rod Barajas hit a solo homer in the second and the Dodgers built a 5-0 lead by scoring twice in the seventh and two more in the eighth; the first runs allowed by Milwaukee’s bullpen in the past 10 games.
Brewers starter Marco Estrada (3-8) allowed three hits in five innings.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Braves 1, Giants 0
‧ Padres 3, Marlins 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles rookie Mark Trumbo hit a game-ending two-run homer as the Angels beat Texas 2-1 to avoid a four-game sweep and claw back one game on the Rangers in the American League West race.
Torii Hunter led off the ninth inning with a single, then Trumbo hit his 23rd homer of the season off Mike Adams (1-2) to end it, snapping the Angels’ five-game skid and ending Texas’ six-game winning streak with one dramatic swing.
Horacio Ramirez (1-0) got one out in the ninth for Los Angeles, which moved within six games of West-leading Texas.
RED SOX 4, ROYALS 3
In Kansas City, Missouri, Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs with a pair of well-timed singles as Boston edged Kansas City.
Jason Varitek drove in the other Red Sox run, while starting pitcher Josh Beckett survived a shaky start to go seven innings.
Beckett (10-5) allowed all three Royals runs in the first three innings and improved to 7-1 in his career against them.
Jonathan Papelbon made it through a perfect ninth to extend his career-best streak to 24 consecutive saves. It was his 29th of the season.
Kansas City starter Luke Hochevar (8-10) labored through 114 pitches in just six innings.
YANKEES 8, TWINS 4
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, New York hit three more home runs to add to its major-league leading total and overpower Minnesota.
Mark Teixeira hit his 33rd homer of the season — a two-run shot in the third inning — and Nick Swisher and Andruw Jones hit back-to-back deep balls in the fifth inning against Twins pitcher Brian Duensing (8-12).
New York starter C.C. Sabathia (17-7) gave up three earned runs over seven innings, struck out nine and walked only one.
The Yankees stayed half a game ahead of Boston in the AL East race.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Blue Jays 7, Athletics 0
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