AMERICAN LEAGUE
Pedro Alvarez homered in the 19th inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates won the longest game in the majors this season, outlasting the St Louis Cardinals 6-3 on Sunday.
It took 6 hours, 7 minutes to finish. Both teams scored a run in the 17th, and each club used eight pitchers.
Alvarez hit his 23rd homer, a solo shot off Barret Browning (1-3). Andrew McCutchen added a two-run single later in the inning.
Wandy Rodriguez (8-12), who was set to start for the Pirates on Monday night at San Diego, got the win with two scoreless innings of relief.
About 9,000 fans from the original crowd of more than 43,000 stayed until the end. This was the longest game by innings in the big leagues this year. At 6 hours, 7 minutes, it tied for the longest by time, matching a game between Baltimore and Boston on May 6.
NATIONALS 5, METS 2
In Washington, Bryce Harper homered and tripled, and Danny Espinosa also homered to lift Washington over New.
Gio Gonzalez (16-6) pitched into the sixth inning, allowing one run and seven hits. Tyler Clippard pitched a perfect ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.
Jeremy Hefner (2-5) took the loss as the Mets fell for the ninth time in 13 games.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, ASTROS 1
In Houston, Texas, the Astros lost in their first game under interim manager Tony DeFrancesco as Aaron Hill homered twice to give Arizona the win and a sweep.
DeFrancesco was the manager at Triple-A Oklahoma City before being promoted. The Astros, with the worst record in the majors, fired Brad Mills late Saturday night.
Houston dropped their fourth straight and fell to 7-33 in their past 40 games.
Arizona won their ninth in a row against the Astros. Hill, who connected for a three-run homer on Saturday night, kept going deep. He led off a five-run fourth with a shot off Armando Galarraga (0-4) and added another solo homer in the eighth. Hill also doubled.
DODGERS 5, BRAVES 0
In Atlanta, Georgia, Chad Billingsley combined with two relievers on a three-hitter to win his sixth straight start, and Luis Cruz homered for the second game in a row as Los Angeles beat Atlanta.
Mark Ellis drove in four runs, three with a bases-loaded double in the ninth.
Billingsley (10-9) gave up three hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking two.
Cruz homered deep into the left-field seats in the fifth off Mike Minor (6-10) for a 1-0 lead.
REDS 5, CUBS 4
In Cincinnati, Ohio, Xavier Paul led off the ninth inning with a pinch-hit triple and Ryan Hanigan followed with a single to lift Cincinnati over Chicago.
Paul lined the first pitch from Shawn Camp (3-6) over first base into the right-field corner. Hanigan hit the next pitch to left-center over the drawn-in Chicago outfield.
The National League Central-leading Reds took three out of four from the Cubs and finished a 5-2 homestand.
In other AL play, it was:
‧ Padres 7, Giants 1
‧ Rockies 3, Marlins 2
‧ Phillies 8, Brewers 0
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ANAHEIM, California
Matt Moore shrugged off home runs by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols to win his fourth straight decision as the Tampa Bay Rays completed a four-game sweep of the fading Los Angeles Angels with an 8-3 victory on Sunday.
Tampa Bay tagged Zack Greinke (1-2) and outscored the Angels 37-14 in the series — the Rays set a team record for runs in a four-game set, erupting right after Seattle’s Felix Hernandez pitched a perfect game against them.
Ryan Roberts hit a two-run homer and Matt Joyce and Carlos Pena also drove in two runs apiece for the Rays.
Tampa Bay won the season series 9-1 for their best showing against the Angels in the club’s 15-year history.
The Angels lost for the 13th time in 18 games overall.
Moore (10-7) allowed two runs and five hits in 6-1/3 innings.
ORIOLES 7, TIGERS 5
In Detroit, Michigan, Nate McLouth hit a go-ahead, two-run triple as Baltimore rallied to beat Detroit.
McLouth, Nick Markakis and Mark Reynolds each had two hits for the Orioles, who have won five of seven, including the last two of the key weekend series at Detroit. Chris Davis homered for the second straight game and J.J. Hardy had a two-run double. Baltimore lead Detroit by two games in the race for the second wild-card spot in the American League.
Jhonny Peralta hit a three-run homer for the Tigers, who led 5-0 after the first inning. Doug Fister (7-8) allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3-2/3 innings.
YANKEES 4, RED SOX 1
In New York, Ichiro Suzuki homered twice and Hiroki Kuroda pitched eight innings of four-hit ball to lead New York past Boston.
Derek Jeter had three hits and scored twice for the Yankees, who took two of three from Boston despite playing the entire series without slugger Mark Teixeira. The AL East leaders won for the ninth time in 12 games, ending a two-year streak of futility against Josh Beckett (5-11).
The right-hander was 5-0 in his previous seven starts against the Yankees since losing to them on Aug. 8, 2010. He kept his team in the game this time, but dropped to 0-4 in his past six outings overall. He is 1-7 in 13 starts since May 20 and has served up seven homers in his past three appearances -covering 16-1/3 innings.
While Beckett has struggled when the Red Sox needed him, Kuroda (12-8) has provided a major boost to the Yankees with ace C.C. Sabathia and veteran Andy Pettitte on the disabled list. The 37-year-old right-hander, coming off a two-hit shutout against Texas, struck out four and walked none while reaching 100 pitches for the 11th straight start.
ROYALS 5, WHITE SOX 2
In Kansas City, Missouri, Jeremy Guthrie flirted with a no-hitter and Salvador Perez drove in three runs as Kansas City completed a three-game series sweep of American League Central leading Chicago.
Paul Konerko reached on an infield single with two out in the seventh for Chicago’s first hit. Shortstop Alcides Escobar fielded Konerko’s grounder on the outfield grass and his one-hop throw was dropped by first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Official scorer Del Black ruled it a hit and the Kauffman Stadium crowd of 22,401 loudly booed when the “H” was flashed on the scoreboard.
Guthrie allowed two unearned runs and three hits in 7-2/3 innings. Greg Holland (6-3) retired the final four batters to pick up the victory.
RANGERS 11, BLUE JAYS 2
In Toronto, Michael Young hit a three-run homer and a two-run double to power Texas past Toronto.
David Murphy also connected and doubled twice and Geovany Soto had three hits as baseball’s highest scoring offense passed 600 runs for the season. The AL West leaders top the majors with 606 runs scored.
Matt Harrison (14-7) pitched eight strong innings to match his career high for wins, set last season. The left-hander allowed two runs and two hits, struck out seven and walked one.
In other NL play, it was:
‧ Marlins 5, Twins 1
‧ Athletics 7, Indians 0
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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
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