MAJOR LEAGUES
The Los Angeles Dodgers split a doubleheader to prevent the Washington Nationals wrapping up an early playoff berth in the National League on Wednesday.
Matt Kemp scored a run early, then hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth inning — right after Washington rallied with a six-run eighth — as the struggling Dodgers beat the Nationals 7-6 in the second game of the doubleheader.
Photo: Reuters
Kemp was credited with crossing home to give Los Angeles a 6-0 lead in the fourth, even though TV replays showed the inning’s last out already had been recorded on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s head-over-heels, reaching tag of runner Adrian Gonzalez.
That extra run loomed large when Washington — who won the opener 3-1 thanks largely to Jordan Zimmermann’s six innings of one-run pitching — wound up sending 12 batters to the plate while scoring six runs in the eighth.
Michael Morse had a homer and a two-run single as Washington chased Josh Beckett, who had allowed only two hits through seven innings.
Kris Medlen allowed four hits over eight innings to win his 21st straight start for the Braves in Atlanta’s 3-0 win over the Miami Marlins.
After losing the first two starts of his career in 2009, Medlen (9-1) has not taken a loss in any of his 26 starts since, with the Braves winning in the last 21 of those — making them the first team since the New York Yankees to have such a streak, according to STATS LLC.
The Yankees won 22 straight times when Whitey Ford started games from 1950 through 1953, a span interrupted by Ford serving in the Korean War.
Philadelphia kept their slim playoff hopes alive after Ryan Howard hit a go-ahead homer with two outs in the ninth inning as the Phillies rallied for a dramatic 3-2 victory over the New York Mets.
Baltimore got a huge boost in their race with the New York Yankees for the lead in the American League East when Adam Jones hit a two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning as the Orioles beat the Seattle Mariners 3-1 for their 15th straight extra-innings game.
Even with New York sweeping a doubleheader from Toronto earlier, the Orioles stayed just a half-game back in the division race. The Orioles moved into the top spot in the American League wild-card race after Oakland were handed a 6-2 loss in Detroit.
According to the Orioles, with information from the Elias Sports Bureau, their 15 straight extra-inning wins is the longest streak since the Cleveland Indians won 17 straight in 1949.
Ichiro Suzuki had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, his seventh hit of the day, to help New York win both games against Toronto — 4-2 and 2-1.
Suzuki made a difficult catch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener to preserve a lead for Andy Pettitte.
Suzuki had three hits in the opener batting leadoff in place of Derek Jeter, who rested his sore ankle in the first game of the day-night doubleheader. Jeter started at shortstop for the first time in a week and got his 200th hit on Ricky Romero’s first pitch.
Elsewhere, Desmond Jennings hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay’s seven-run sixth inning as the Rays beat the Boston Red Sox 13-3 to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 6-4, the Kansas City Royals blanked the Chicago White Sox 3-0 and the Texas Rangers downed the Los Angeles Angels 6-2.
In the National League, Marco Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings, while rookie shortstop Jean Segura hit a double and triple as the surging Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 to stay in contention for a post-season berth.
David Freese and Yadier Molina each hit their 20th home run of the season, while Lance Lynn threw 6-1/3 innings to lift the St Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 shutout of the Houston Astros.
In other games, the Cincinnati Reds edged the Chicago Cubs 6-5 over 11 innings, the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the San Diego Padres 6-2 and the San Francisco Giants downed the Colorado Rockies 7-1.
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