AMERICAN LEAGUE
Derek Jeter had four hits to stretch his hitting streak to 13 games and Alex Rodriguez belted career home run No. 632 as the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 7-4 on Monday.
C.C. Sabathia (2-0) struck out eight over eight innings for his 11th career win against two-time defending American League champions the Rangers, who won their first five series this season.
Photo: Reuters
The big left-hander was pitching with an extra day of rest after the Yankees’ scheduled series finale in Boston was rained out on Sunday night, a day after New York overcame a 9-0 deficit for a 15-9 win over the Red Sox.
Mariano Rivera worked a perfect ninth for his fourth save.
New York have won 10 of 13 since being swept in three games in Tampa Bay to start the season.
Josh Hamilton homered for the Rangers.
BLUE JAYS 4, ROYALS 1
In Kansas City, Missouri, Jose Bautista hit a two-run homer and Kelly Johnson also went deep as Toronto beat Kansas City to complete a four-game sweep.
The Blue Jays improved to 6-1 on the road this season, while Kansas City lost their 11th straight to finish up a winless 10-game homestand. The Royals became the first team to lose their first 10 at home since the Chicago Cubs dropped 12 in a row at Wrigley Field in 1994.
Eric Hosmer homered for Kansas City. Otherwise, Brandon Morrow (1-1) took care of the struggling Royals lineup for 6-2/3 innings. Francisco Cordero got some help from a double-play groundout in the ninth for his second save.
The four-game sweep was the Blue Jays’ first since May 2009 and their first ever in Kansas City. The last time they swept four on the road was in 2003 against the Yankees.
RED SOX 6, TWINS 5
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, Cody Ross homered twice, tying the game with a two-run shot in the seventh inning and giving Boston the lead with two outs in the ninth as the Red Sox beat Minnesota to snap a five-game losing streak.
Daniel Bard (1-2) recorded two critical outs in the eighth after the Twins put the leadoff runner on third. Alfredo Aceves picked up the save, his third in five tries, and all was right with the reeling Red Sox for at least one night.
Ross put the Red Sox in front with his drive off Matt Capps (0-1). Jon Lester allowed six hits, five runs and four walks over seven innings. He struck out four, but wasted a 3-0 lead.
WHITE SOX 4, ATHLETICS 0
In Oakland, California, Jake Peavy pitched a three-hitter, while Adam Dunn and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back homers as Chicago beat Oakland.
Two days after teammate Phil Humber pitched the 21st perfect game in major league history, Peavy allowed only a leadoff single to Jemile Weeks in the fourth inning, a double to Yoenis Cespedes in the seventh and a single to Coco Crisp in the ninth. He walked two and faced only four batters more than the minimum.
Alex Rios added three hits for Chicago, while Brent Morel had two hits and scored a run.
Oakland starter Bartolo Colon scattered seven hits over seven innings.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, NEW YORK
Madison Bumgarner pitched seven neat innings and Pablo Sandoval homered to match a team mark set by Willie Mays as the San Francisco Giants beat the New York Mets 7-2 for a doubleheader sweep.
The Giants took the opener 6-1 as Tim Lincecum posted his first win of the season, despite another uneven performance.
Slightly more than 1,000 fans bundled up in the stands when the opener began on a windy, raw afternoon better suited for the Bay Area. The crowd later picked up, but Citi Field was nearly empty for the final out. A rainout Sunday forced the doubleheader.
Sandoval hit a three-run homer in the first inning to back Bumgarner. The burly slugger has a 16-game hitting streak, tying the San Francisco record at the start of a season set by Mays in 1960.
CUBS 3, CARDINALS 2
In Chicago, Joe Mather’s two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning lifted Chicago to a comeback win over St Louis.
St Louis closer Jason Motte (1-1) had the Cubs down to their final strike when Mather, a former Cardinal, grounded a 2-2 slider up the middle, scoring Bryan LaHair and Geovany Soto.
LaHair battled Motte for 12 pitches, before drawing a one-out walk. Motte then walked Soto, before Steve Clevenger’s grounder moved the runners up to set the plate for Mather.
Rafael Dolis (1-1) picked up the win in relief.
BREWERS 6, ASTROS 5
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ryan Braun broke out of his slump with a homer and three hits, while Zack Greinke remained unbeaten at Miller Park as Milwaukee held off Houston.
Braun also singled in a run and doubled to end a two-for-20 slide. Greinke pitched six solid innings to improve to 13-0 at home with Milwaukee, who won their 10th straight against the Astros.
Greinke (2-1) handed Jose Veras a 6-2 lead to start the seventh, but five of the next six Astros batters reached base. Houston scored three runs on four hits, including Brian Bogusevic’s two-run triple, before Veras struck out Jose Altuve and got pinch-hitter Matt Downs to ground out to end the inning.
Monday’s other results:
‧ Diamondbacks 9, Phillies 5
‧ Dodgers 7, Braves 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