AMERICAN LEAGUE
Freddy Garcia put in the third straight dominant performance by New York’s starting pitchers, leading the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers in Wednesday’s meeting of American League divisional leaders.
Garcia (7-5) matched David Phelps and Hiroki Kuroda with another stellar start. He gave up only four hits in 6-2/3 innings as the Yankees notched a seventh win in eight games, including three in a row over the Rangers.
Photo: AFP
The two runs Garcia conceded were both homers by Josh Hamilton, who became the second player to reach 100 RBIs this season — Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera was first — with his career-high 33rd homer of the season. That came in the fourth inning and was followed by another in the sixth.
Nick Swisher gave the Yankees the lead with an RBI double in a three-run third inning.
Rafael Soriano struck out Hamilton leading off the ninth and recorded the save.
ORIOLES 5, Red Sox 3
In Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore sent 10 batters to the plate during a five-run sixth inning that rallied the Orioles to a 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox.
Baltimore trailed 2-0 before getting to Boston pitcher Aaron Cook (3-6), who sparked the turnaround with a throwing error on a potential inning-ending double-play. The miscue led to three unearned runs.
Rookie Miguel Gonzalez (5-2) allowed two runs in six innings to help the Orioles move a game ahead of Tampa Bay for the top AL wild-card spot.
WHITE SOX 9, BLUE JAYS 5
In Toronto, Adam Dunn hit his major league-leading 34th home run, while Dayan Viciedo and DeWayne Wise also connected as Chicago beat Toronto.
White Sox starter Gavin Floyd (9-9) allowed three earned runs in six innings to snap a three-start winless streak. He had an 0-3 record with an 8.25 ERA in three career starts at Toronto, but turned that around.
Blue Jays starter Ricky Romero (8-10) allowed six runs in six-plus innings.
MARINERS 1, RAYS 0
In Seattle, Washington, Felix Hernandez pitched Seattle’s first perfect game and the 23rd in majors history as the Mariners edged Tampa Bay.
The Mariners’ ace had 12 strikeouts in recording the third perfect game in the majors this season. The others to not allow any hits or walks over nine innings were Chicago’s Philip Humber and San Francisco’s Matt Cain.
With one out to go, Tampa Bay batter Sean Rodriguez got ahead of Hernandez 2-0 in the count. Hernandez came back with two straight breaking balls for strikes and completed the perfect game with a called third strike.
Rays starter Jeremy Hellickson (7-8) took the loss despite pitching seven impressive innings.
ANGELS 8, INDIANS 4
In Anaheim, California, Mike Trout and Chris Iannetta homered to help Los Angeles build a big lead en route to beating Cleveland.
Angels starter Ervin Santana (6-10) allowed one run and one one walk in seven innings. Santana had been 1-8 in his career against the Indians — the only win being a no-hitter in 2001 — but breezed to victory on Wednesday.
Roberto Hernandez, formally known as Fausto Carmona, took the loss in his season debut with the Indians.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Tigers 5, Twins 1
‧ Royals 3, Athletics 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, SAN FRANCISCO
Washington’s Stephen Strasburg outpitched Tim Lincecum in face-off of National League aces, leading the Nationals to a 6-4 win over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday.
Strasburg (14-5) did not have to face All-Star Game MVP Melky Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games earlier in the day for a positive testosterone test.
Strasburg struck out seven in six innings to win his third straight start, while Lincecum’s (6-13) latest shaky outing was over after just four innings.
Danny Espinosa hit a go-ahead two-run homerun in the third inning for the NL East-leading Nationals, who won their fourth straight series and now head home for key series against divisional opponents New York and Atlanta.
San Francisco lost their share of the NL West lead.
DODGERS 9, PIRATES 3
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Clayton Kershaw won his fourth consecutive start as Los Angeles beat Pittsburgh and moved into sole first place in the NL West.
Kershaw (11-6) allowed three runs in eight innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. He also contributed at the plate, hitting two singles.
Matt Kemp had a two-run double and scored during the Dodgers’ three-run fourth against Wandy Rodriguez (7-12).
The Dodgers have won six of their past seven games, claiming sole possession of the division lead for the first time since before July 13.
The Pirates have lost six of seven and might have also lost second baseman Neil Walker, who left the game in the first inning with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Reds 6, Mets 1
‧ Cardinals 5, Diamondbacks 2
‧ Braves 6, Padres 1
‧ Marlins 9, Phillies 2
‧ Rockies 7, Brewers 6
‧ Cubs 7, Astros 2
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB