NATIONAL LEAGUE
Ryan Howard homered in his return to the lineup, while Roy Halladay continued the Phillies’ pitching dominance in Milwaukee, leading Philadelphia to a 5-3 victory over the Brewers on Friday.
The NL East’s top team won their fifth straight and bettered the NL Central-leading Brewers again.
Cole Hamels tossed a complete game in Thursday’s opener with Howard out because of a lingering heel injury. On Friday, the Phillies’ cleanup hitter staked Halladay a three-run, first-inning lead with his 32nd homer of the season.
Halladay (17-5) struck out nine to reach 204 for the season and scattered four hits and a run over eight innings.
DODGERS 2, GIANTS 1
In San Francisco, NL Cy Young pitching award contender Clayton Kershaw outdueled two-time winner Tim Lincecum, while pinch hitter Jamey Carroll drove home the go-ahead run in the ninth as Los Angeles beat San Francisco.
Rod Barajas singled to start the ninth against Santiago Casilla (2-2) and former Giant Eugenio Velez came in to pinch-run. Justin Sellers sacrificed him to second and Velez moved to third on a wild pitch. Second baseman Jeff Keppinger then threw home on Carroll’s grounder, but a sliding Velez just beat the tag by catcher Eli Whiteside.
In other NL games, it was:
‧ Cardinals 4, Braves 3, 10 inns
‧ Marlins 13, Pirates 4
‧ Nationals 4, Astros 3
‧ Mets 5, Cubs 4
‧ Reds 4, Rockies 1
‧ Diamondbacks 3, Padres 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, ST PETERSB
Wade Davis threw a six-hitter and John Jaso hit a three-run homer as the Tampa Bay Rays moved within five-and-a-half games of AL wildcard-leading Boston with a 7-2 victory over the Red Sox on Friday.
Davis (10-8) struck out eight in his second career complete game.
Jaso put the Rays ahead 3-0 with a three-run homer off John Lackey (12-12) in the second.
URG, FLORIDAANGELS 2, YANKEES 1
In Anaheim, California, pinch hitter Maicer Izturis drove home pinch runner Jeremy Moore with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the ninth inning as Los Angeles rallied to beat New York for their fifth win in six games.
Jered Weaver struck out 11 during eight innings of three-hit ball, but the Los Angeles ace left without a victory when his teammates could not solve Bartolo Colon, who yielded six hits and an unearned run in seven resilient innings.
After Alberto Callaspo led off the ninth with an infield single off Aaron Laffey (2-2), Vernon Wells singled to left off Luis Ayala, who then hit Peter Bourjos with a pitch.
In other AL games, it was:
‧ Orioles 2, Blue Jays 0
‧ Tigers 8, Twins 4
‧ Rangers 13, Athletics 4
‧ Indians 8, White Sox 4
‧ Mariners 7, Royals 3
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