AMERICAN LEAGUE
Alex Rios hit a game-ending Grand Slam in the 10th inning to lift the Chicago White Sox to a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians on Saturday.
Rios’ one out, first-pitch shot off Chris Perez (3-7) was Chicago’s first game-ending home run this season and his first career Grand Slam.
Alejandro De Aza doubled twice, walked and scored two runs for Chicago. Gordon Beckham had a double, two walks and two RBIs.
Sergio Santos (4-4) threw a scoreless inning to get the win in relief. Santos combined with Chris Sale to strike out six straight batters during the late innings.
Shelley Duncan doubled, homered and scored two runs for Cleveland. Matt LaPorta added a two-run double and Jim Thome singled twice.
ANGELS 6, YANKEES 0
In Anaheim, California, Dan Haren pitched a four-hitter for his fifth career shutout and retired 18 straight batters as the Los Angeles Angels climbed within one-and-a-half games of the AL West lead with a victory over C.C. Sabathia and the New York Yankees.
Haren (15-8) went the distance for the 15th time in 253 career starts, striking out seven and walking none for the 13th time this season. He threw 113 pitches and held the AL East leaders to a pair of eighth-inning singles after giving up a ground-rule double to Derek Jeter on his second pitch and a single by rookie Jesus Montero leading off the second.
Jeff Mathis and Torii Hunter homered for the Angels, who have won six of seven and are as close to first-place Texas as they’ve been since Aug. 10.
Sabathia (19-8) threw 119 pitches in six innings, allowing a run and eight hits. He struck out five and walked four, but failed in his bid to become the first Yankees in 31 years with back-to-back 20 win seasons.
In other AL games, it was:
‧ Athletics 8, Rangers 7
‧ Tigers 3, Twins 2
‧ Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4
‧ Rays 6, Red Sox 5
‧ Royals 4 Mariners 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Aramis Ramirez hit a two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning to lead the Chicago Cubs past the New York Mets 5-4 after they blew a three-run lead in the eighth on Saturday.
Jason Bay had given the Mets a 4-3 lead in the eighth with a two-out, two-run single. However, some more sloppy play by New York in the ninth and another meltdown by Bobby Parnell (3-6) helped the Cubs even a three-game series.
The Mets made four errors, two each by Jose Reyes and David Wright.
Kerry Wood (3-5) earned the win despite giving up two runs in the eighth in relief of Randy Wells, who pitched neatly into the eighth inning.
ROCKIES 12, REDS 7
In Denver, Colorado, Jordan Pacheco’s first home run broke a fifth-inning tie and he added a two-run single in the eighth to lift Colorado over Cincinnati.
The teams combined for nine home runs in the first five innings.
The Reds teed off on Alex White (2-1) in the fifth when Heisey, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce hit successive home runs in a nine-pitch sequence that tied the game at 7.
Pacheco, playing in his fourth game in the big leagues, homered against Matt Maloney (0-2).
The Rockies hit three homers in the first two innings, knocking out Bronson Arroyo.
In other NL games, it was:
‧ Phillies 3, Brewers 2
‧ Cardinals 4, Braves 3
‧ Marlins 3, Pirates 0
‧ Astros 9, Nationals 3
‧ Dodgers 3, Giants 0
‧ D-backs 6, Padres 5, 10 inns
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but