NATIONAL LEAGUE
San Diego Padres pinch-hitter Mark Kotsay’s two-run double in the eighth gave the Padres a 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
With the Padres trailing 1-0, Orlando Hudson drew a one-out walk and Cameron Maybin dropped down a bunt single against Tyler Clippard (1-2).
Photo: Reuters
Kotsay followed with a double to right-center.
Andrew Cashner (1-1) pitched a perfect eighth inning for the win and Huston Street earned the save.
The National League East--leading Nationals (14-5) had won four straight and eight of 10.
GIANTS 6, REDS 5
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Angel Pagan hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning, lifting San Francisco over Cincinnati.
Joaquin Arias led off the ninth against Cincinnati closer Sean Marshall (0-2) with a walk, and Ryan Theriot followed with a single.
After a strikeout, Pagan lofted a pitch into the left field seats to snap the Giants’ losing streak in Cincinnati at seven.
Javier Lopez (2-0) pitched a scoreless eighth to earn the win. Santiago Casilla struck out the side in the ninth for the save.
METS 3, MARLINS 2
In New York, a bases-loaded walk and a two-out single in the ninth inning lifted New York to victory over Miami.
Pitching for the first time in a week, and working in a steady drizzle, Marlins closer Heath Bell (0-3) could not find the plate, walking four and throwing a whopping 46 pitches.
The Mets trailed 2-1 when David Wright drew a leadoff walk in the ninth. Two more walks loaded the bases for Justin Turner, who fell behind in the count 0-2, but fouled off seven pitches before his walk made it 2-2.
After a forceout at the plate notched the second out, Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a single off the right-field wall for the winning run. Before Nieuwenhuis’ hit, the Mets were 0-for-16 when batting with the bases loaded this season.
Ramon Ramirez (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings to take the win for the Mets, who completed a three-game sweep.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Baltimore’s Adam Jones led off the eighth inning with a tiebreaking homer as the Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 on Thursday to complete a three-game sweep with their fourth straight victory.
Jones ripped the first pitch from Casey Janssen (1-1) just above the glove of the leaping left fielder and into the first row.
Darren Oliver replaced Janssen after Jones’ home run and allowed Matt Wieters’ single before Chris Davis hit a two-run homer.
Darren O’Day (2-0) pitched two perfect innings in relief to take the win.
The Blue Jays have lost three straight and are 1-5 against the Orioles this season.
MARINERS 5, TIGERS 4
In Detroit, Michigan, Chone Figgins hit a tie-breaking double in the seventh inning as Seattle completed a three-game sweep of Detroit.
Figgins’ drive was misjudged by the right fielder and scored Brendan Ryan, who had reached on a two-out walk from Rick Porcello (1-2).
Former Tiger Charlie Furbush (1-1) got the win for the Mariners with a perfect inning of work.
RAYS 4, ANGELS 3
In St Petersburg, Florida, Brandon Allen hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift Tampa Bay over Los Angeles.
Allen, recently acquired from Oakland, homered off closer Jordan Walden (0-1) after B.J. Upton had a one-out single.
Brandon Gomes (1-0) worked a 1-2-3 ninth, helping the Rays win their fifth straight.
Angels’ big-money recruit Albert Pujols ended his career-worst 21 games without a hit, but has still yet to hit a homer for his new team and, dating back to last season, he has gone 105 at-bats without a long shot, equaling the longest drought of his career.
RED SOX 10, WHITE SOX 3
In Chicago, Illinois, Kevin Youkilis hit a grand slam and Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered twice and Boston roughed up Chicago starter Philip Humber.
Youkilis hit his second career grand slam during a five-run third inning against Humber, who was making his first start since pitching a perfect game in Seattle on Saturday.
Humber (1-1) walked the leadoff batter in the first, snapping his streak of 29 straight batters retired. He was tagged for a career-worst nine runs in five innings.
The resurgent Red Sox have scored 34 runs in winning their past four games, a streak coming on the heels of a five-game skid.
Boston starter Felix Doubront (1-0) went six innings for his first big league win since 2010.
ROYALS 4, INDIANS 2
In Cleveland, Ohio, Luis Mendoza pitched into the sixth inning and Kansas City’s bullpen made a lead stand up in the win over Cleveland.
Mendoza (1-2) was pulled with the bases loaded and no outs in the sixth, but the Indians scored only one run from that situation.
Cleveland starter Josh Tomlin (1-2) allowed four runs in 4-2/3 innings.
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