AMERICAN LEAGUE
Baltimore’s Nick Johnson hit his first homer in two years as the Orioles edged Tampa Bay 4-3 on Friday to stay top in the American League East division, one game ahead of the Rays.
Johnson’s two-run drive off Joel Peralta (0-2) put Baltimore in front 4-3, and the bullpen made the margin stand up. After spending last season in the minors, Johnson received an invite to spring training, made the team and was batting .143 before his game-changing home run.
Adam Jones and Nick Markakis also connected for the Orioles, who lead the majors with 53 homers.
Baltimore starter Darren O’Day (3-0) pitched the seventh for the win and Jim Johnson got three straight outs for the save.
Tampa Bay, hitless after the fifth inning, have lost five of six.
RANGERS 10, ANGELS 3
In Arlington, Texas, Josh Hamilton hit two more home runs as Texas trounced Los Angeles in a rain-interrupted game.
Both of Hamilton’s solo shots came after a two-hour rain delay in the first inning when the Rangers went ahead to stay against Angels starter C.J. Wilson (4-3), their No. 1 starter last season who decamped to Los Angeles in the off-season.
Hamilton has eight homers in his past five games. He leads the majors with a .407 batting average, 17 homers and 40 RBIs.
Rangers starter Yu Darvish (5-1) struck out seven as he worked into the sixth inning, staying on even after the long rain delay. His last pitch came four hours after his first one.
YANKEES 6, MARINERS 2
In New York, Raul Ibanez hit a go-ahead, three-run homer against his former team to give New York victory over Seattle.
Ibanez’s shot came off former teammate Felix Hernandez (3-2), who lost for the first time at new Yankee Stadium, where he previously had allowed only one earned run in 24 innings.
Robinson Cano had four hits for the Yankees, while starter Hiroki Kuroda (3-4) went seven innings.
ATHLETICS 11, TIGERS 4
In Oakland, Brandon Inge hit a three-run homer against his old team and drove in four runs for the fourth time in five games, powering Oakland past Detroit.
Inge hit his fourth homer since joining the A’s on April 30 after the Tigers cut him. It was his second long ball in two nights after he hit a Grand Slam on Thursday. He also hit a game-ending Grand Slam on Tuesday against Toronto.
Inge’s big bat backed A’s starter Tommy Milone (5-2), who struck out six in seven innings and retired his last 10 batters.
Josh Reddick homered twice and had a career-high five RBIs for Oakland, which set a season high for runs.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Red Sox 7, Indians 5
‧ White Sox 5, Royals 0
‧ Twins 7, Blue Jays 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ST LOUIS, MISSOURI
Atlanta’s Jason Heyward hit a two-run homer in the 12th inning to lift the Braves to a 9-7 win over St Louis on Friday, putting damper on the Cardinals’ celebration honoring former manager Tony La Russa.
A sellout crowd was on hand to watch the Cardinals retire La Russa’s No. 10 in a pregame ceremony. However, seven Atlanta relievers combined for 7-1/3 innings of one-run ball.
The Braves ended a seven-game losing streak in St. Louis that included a three-game sweep last September that propelled the Cardinals past Atlanta for the National League wild card on the way to their second World Series -championship in five years.
Atlanta’s Livan Hernandez (1-0) got the win while Kyle McClellan (0-1) was charged with the loss.
NATIONALS 7, REDS 3
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Roger Bernadina and Danny Espinosa each hit two-run homers in one of Washington’s biggest scoring splurges of the season, beating Cincinnati.
Washington matched their season high for runs against Cincinnati starter Mike Leake (0-5), who lasted only three innings and remained winless in six starts. He gave up six runs, including the homers by Bernadina and Espinosa.
It is the second time Leake has failed to last four innings this season.
MARLINS 6, METS 5
In Miami, Greg Dobbs’ single with two outs in the ninth inning drove in the winning run as Miami rallied late to end New York’s five-game winning streak.
The Mets overcame an early 3-0 deficit and entered the ninth leading 5-4 before Giancarlo Stanton led off with a double off Frank Francisco (1-2). He took third on a flyout and scored on a single by Emilio Bonifacio.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Dodgers 7, Rockies 3
‧ Diamondbacks 5, Giants 1
‧ Astros 1, Pirates 0
‧ Brewers 8, Cubs 7, 13 inns
‧ Phillies 7, Padres 3
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