AMERICAN LEAGUE
Taiwan’s Chen Wei-yin pitched seven scoreless innings in the Baltimore Orioles’ 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, earning his 10th win in his major league debut season.
Chen’s 10 wins are also the most for a rookie Taiwanese pitcher, breaking his own record of nine wins on July 29, when he outdid the previous best-of-eight set by Wang Chien-ming in 2005.
Coming off his previous start, when he struck out 12 in his team’s 6-1 victory over the Oakland A’s, Chen was just as efficient on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Kaohsiung-native threw 100 pitches over seven innings, including 73 strikes.
He struck out four batters and walked just one to improve his record to 10-6.
Mariners 1, Yankees 0
Felix Hernandez dominated the New York Yankees in their own ballpark again, pitching his third shutout of the season to lead the Seattle Mariners to a 1-0 win on a sunny, sticky Saturday.
Hernandez outpitched Hiroki Kuroda (10-8) in a duel of right-handers who had not lost since June.
Mike Carp hit an RBI single in the second inning for Seattle, which had its seven-game winning streak snapped the night before. The Yankees have lost 10 of 15.
After Robinson Cano doubled with two outs in the first, Hernandez (10-5) did not allow another runner to second. He retired Curtis Granderson, Derek Jeter and Cano in order in the ninth, fanning Cano to end the game in a breezy 2 hours, 32 minutes.
King Felix has the lowest career ERA at the new Yankee Stadium of any pitcher with at least two starts. After his latest masterful performance, he lowered his ERA to 1.13 after his second shutout at the new ballpark. Overall, it was the seventh career shutout for the All-Star right-hander.
BLUE JAYS 3, ATHLETICS 1, 11 INNS
In Oakland, California, David Cooper hit a tying homer in the ninth inning and Edwin Encarnacion scored on catcher George Kottaras’ throwing error in the 11th, lifting Toronto over Oakland.
The Blue Jays ended a six-game skid a day after they lost to the A’s 5-4 in 15 innings.
Cooper hit a solo homer off Ryan Cook with one out in the ninth. Cook gave up a tying, three-run shot in the ninth on Friday night.
Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero gave up a run and three hits in seven innings. He is winless in his last eight starts, receiving a total of six runs of support during that span.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Rangers 4, Royals 2
‧ Tigers 6, Indians 1
‧ Angels 6, White Sox 5, 10 inns
‧ Twins 6, Red Sox 4
In National League play, it was:
‧ Phillies 3, Diamondbacks 0
‧ Nationals 10, Marlins 7
‧ Astros 3, Braves 2
‧ Reds 5, Pirates 4
‧ Cardinals 6, Brewers 1
‧ Giants 11, Rockies 6
‧ Mets 6, Padres 2
‧ Dodgers 3, 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