NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington’s Bryce Harper scored the winning run when San Francisco’s first baseman Brandon Belt could not dig out a short-hop throw on a potential double-play ball in the ninth inning, giving the Nationals a 6-5 win over the Giants on Thursday.
Washington completed a sweep on a night in which the US capital celebrated fond memories of the 1924 World Series.
Photo: AFP
It was throwback night in Washington, as the “Senators” topped the “New York Giants” with a two-run rally off Santiago Casilla (2-4).
The National League East leaders recovered from a four-run deficit and have won four straight.
Tyler Clippard (2-2) pitched the ninth to get the win for the Nationals.
The home team went all-out to recreate the nostalgia of 1924, even though the game featured neither of the franchises from the Series the Senators won in seven games.
DODGERS 4, DIAMONDBACKS 1
In Phoenix, Arizona, Scott van Slyke and Elian Herrera hit solo home runs as Los Angeles sent Arizona to their sixth straight loss.
Van Slyke went deep off Wade Miley and Herrera hit his first big league homer to chase Arizona’s lone All-Star representative in the seventh inning.
Diamondbacks starter Miley allowed four runs in 6-2/3 innings.
Dodgers starter Nathan Eovaldi (1-5) finally notched his first win in his eighth start, allowing only one run in six innings.
METS 6, PHILLIES 5
In New York, David Wright singled with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, lifting New York over Philadelphia and preserving pitcher R.A. Dickey’s 11-game winning streak.
Mets catcher Josh Thole prevented a run in the eighth when he held on to the ball, despite being barreled over at home plate.
New York’s Ike Davis began the ninth with a double off Jonathan Papelbon (2-3). A sacrifice moved pinch-runner Ronny Cedeno to third, before a strike out. Papelbon then hit Jordany Valdespin with a pitch and walked Ruben Tejada to load the bases.
David Murphy lined a shot off Papelbon’s leg to tie the score, setting the stage for Wright.
Bobby Parnell (2-1) pitched the ninth to take the win for the Mets.
Thursday’s other results:
‧ Marlins 4, Brewers 0
‧ Pirates 2, Astros 0
‧ Padres 2, Reds 1
‧ Cardinals 6, Rockies 2
‧ Braves 7, Cubs 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, CHICAGO
Chicago rookie Jose Quintana allowed just two Texas hits in eight stellar innings as the White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Rangers with a 2-1 win over their rival American League divisional leaders on Thursday.
On a scorching day at US Cellular Field, Quintana (4-1) walked only one and struck out a career-high eight. He gave up only a leadoff single in the first and an RBI single in the fourth on a line drive that hit the pitcher near the hip and bounced past first base.
With a thunderstorm hitting the ball park in the ninth, Addison Reed pitched the final inning for his 12th save in 13 chances.
Kevin Youkilis took Rangers All-Star Matt Harrison (11-4) deep in the sixth to break a 1-1 tie — his second homer since joining the White Sox in a trade from Boston last month.
ANGELS 9, ORIOLES 7
In Anaheim, California, Kendrys Morales hit a two-run single in a five-run fourth inning that rallied Los Angeles past Baltimore.
LaTroy Hawkins (2-1), the second of six Angels pitchers, retired both batters he faced in the fourth inning and got credit for the victory.
The Angels climbed within four games of the American League West-leading Texas Rangers. The Orioles slipped 5-1/2 behind the idle New York Yankees in the East.
Baltimore’s Luis Ayala (2-2) took the loss.
INDIANS 3, RAYS 1
In Cleveland, Ohio, Josh Tomlin pitched seven stellar innings to guide Cleveland past Tampa Bay.
Tomlin (5-5) limited the Rays to two hits; easily his best outing since April.
Choo Shin-soo led off the first with a homer off Jeremy Hellickson (4-5), Michael Brantley connected in the second and Travis Hafner homered in the eighth.
Luke Scott went none-for-three and set the Tampa Bay record by going 39 straight at-bats without a hit.
Thursday’s other results:
‧ Royals 9, Blue Jays 6
‧ Tigers 7, Twins 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