NATIONAL LEAGUE
Washington’s Ross Detwiler pitched seven scoreless innings as the Nationals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 on Thursday, staying 2.5 games clear atop the National League East standings.
Detwiler (6-4) gave up just three singles and retired his final 14 batters.
Adam LaRoche had a homer, three hits and two RBIs.
Phillies starter Cole Hamels (11-6) allowed eight hits in seven innings. The All-Star has only one win in his past seven starts and has lost both outings since signing a US$144 million, six-year contract last month.
REDS 9, PADRES 4
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Todd Frazier hit a two-run homer to lead surging Cincinnati to their 13th win in 14 games, beating San Diego.
Frazier had three RBIs to help push the Reds to 23 games over .500 (64-41) for the first time since Sept. 4, 2010.
Cincinnati starter Johnny Cueto (14-5) gave up two homers for the first time in more than two months, but only allowed eight hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in 7-1/3 innings.
The Reds chased Padres starter Ross Ohlendorf (3-2) while sending 12 batters to the plate during a six-hit, six-run second inning. Ohlendorf also was called for a run-scoring balk before leaving after just 1-2/3 innings, the shortest outing by a San Diego starter this season.
METS 9, GIANTS 1
In San Francisco, Ronny Cedeno drove in five runs to match his career high, while Jason Bay had only his second multi-RBI game this year as New York beat San Francisco.
In taking three of four from the Giants, the Mets won their first series in a month.
New York starter Chris Young (3-5) allowed one run in seven innings.
San Francisco starter Barry Zito (8-8) gave up seven runs in 4-1/3 innings.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Braves 6, Marlins 1
‧ Rockies 8, Cardinals 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, ARLINGTON, Texas
Texas slugger Josh Hamilton drove in four runs to power the Rangers to a 15-9 win over the Los Angeles Angels in an American League run-fest on Thursday.
The Rangers broke an 8-8 tie by scoring four runs in the seventh, including Hamilton’s two-run double, and added three in the eighth.
Ryan Dempster — acquired from the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday — made his first Rangers start and had a fortunate no-decision after allowing eight runs in just 4-2/3 innings.
Roy Oswalt (4-2) threw two scoreless innings in relief for the win.
Angels reliever David Carpenter (0-1) took the loss.
ATHLETICS 4, BLUE JAYS 1
In Oakland, California, Josh Reddick hit a two-run homer as Oakland downed Toronto, moving above L.A. and into second place in the AL West, 4-1/2 games behind Texas.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Twins 5, Red Sox 0
‧ Royals 7, Indians 6, 11 innings
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