INTERLEAGUE PLAY
Angels rookie sensation Mike Trout hit a go-ahead homer and scored from first base on a single as the hosts rallied from an early five-run deficit to beat the Dodgers 8-5 on Friday in their all-Los Angeles interleague clash.
Angels starter Dan Haren (5-7) allowed nine hits over five innings with five strikeouts.
Photo: AFP
Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley (4-6) gave up six runs in five innings. He is 1-5 with a 5.36 ERA in seven career starts against the Angels.
METS 6, YANKEES 4
In New York, Ike Davis hit a three-run homer off a fielder’s glove as the Mets hung on to beat the Yankees in the New York subway series.
The game began after a rain delay of nearly an hour and the Mets immediately set up a big buffer, scoring five runs with two outs in the first inning.
Justin Turner had a two-run single and Davis followed with a fly ball to rightfield that a leaping Nick Swisher got his glove on.
However, when he hit the wall, the ball was nudged over the top of the fence for a 5-0 lead.
Still, the homer-happy Yankees rallied with three late drives. Alex Rodriguez and Andruw Jones went long against Jonathon Niese (5-3). Robinson Cano added a two-run shot in the eighth to cut it to 6-4.
That brought out Mets closer Frank Francisco, who made headlines in New York this week by saying: “I can’t wait to face those chickens,” and expressing his desire to strike out the side against the Yankees.
In a heavy drizzle, Francisco got the last out on a popup with two runners on base, sending the Yankees to their third straight loss.
BRAVES 4, RED SOX 1
In Boston, Atlanta pitcher Jair Jurrjens made an impressive return to the majors by limiting Boston to one run.
Jurrjens, an All-Star last season when he topped the Braves with 13 wins, worked 7-2/3 innings, giving up only two hits.
In other interleague play, it was:
‧ Orioles 2, Nationals 1
‧ Giants 5, Athletics 4
‧ Pirates 4, Tigers 1
‧ Rangers 4, Rockies 1
‧ Blue Jays 12, Marlins 5
‧ Brewers 1, White Sox 0,
10 innings
‧ Cardinals 11, Royals 4
‧ Twins 5, Reds 4
‧ Indians 2, Astros 0
In the National League, it was:
‧ Diamondbacks 6, Cubs 1
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set