MAJOR LEAGUES
Francisco Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team, pitching a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Saturday to retain the American League Central lead.
Liriano only allowed a two-out homer to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings.
Paul Konerko homered and drove in three runs for the White Sox, who entered the day with a one game lead over Detroit in the American League Central.
Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez took also no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Tigers Detroit officially eliminated Cleveland Indians from the playoffs with a 5-3 win despite losing a run on an appeal.
Sanchez (3-5) struck out seven batters over 6-2/3 innings, but Carlos Santana spoiled his no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh.
Atlanta moved within 6.5 games of first-place Washington in the National League East after pinch-runner Jeff Baker scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning when Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus hit Andrelton Simmons’ uniform with a bases-loaded pitch.
Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman homered for the Braves in their 5-4 win over the Nationals.
Andrew McCutchen homered and reached base four times as the Pittsburgh Pirates broke a seven-game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Chicago Cubs, while Carlos Lee homered and drove in three runs to help the Miami Marlins claim a 6-4 home win over the Cincinnati Reds.
In other NL games, the San Francisco Giants edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2, the Houston Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0, the Milwaukee Brewers downed the New York Mets 9-6, the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the AL, Stephen Drew homered and made a pair of big defensive plays to back Jarrod Parker as the Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2, and the New York Yankees got back-to-back home runs from Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez in a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2, the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 and the Kansas City Royals were 3-2 winners over the Los Angles Angels.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite