Defending World Series champions the San Francisco Giants moved into the lead of the National League West Division after a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on a chilly Saturday.
Madison Bumgarner allowed two runs while pitching neatly into the seventh inning, and Marco Scutaro had three hits.
Pinch hitter Dioner Navarro hit a two-out, two-run homerun off Bumgarner in the seventh to pull the Cubs to 3-2. It was Navarro’s second career pinch homer in two days, each hit from a different side of the plate.
The Cubs threatened in the eighth, putting two on with no outs before Alfonso Soriano grounded out and Welington Castillo hit into a double play against Santiago Casilla, who earned his first save. Giants closer Sergio Romo was unavailable after throwing four of the past five games.
Bumgarner (3-0) struck out six and walked two — one intentional — in 6-2/3 innings.
Cubs starter Jeff Samardzija (1-2) allowed two runs and seven hits, struck out five and walked one in six innings. In his previous start, he struck out a career-high 13 and allowed four runs in 5-2/3 innings.
Gregor Blanco’s RBI single snapped a scoreless tie in the fifth. He drove in Andres Torres, who led off with a double.
The Giants went ahead 2-0 in the sixth on Pablo Sandoval’s RBI single. Scutaro scored after he led off with a single and advanced on a wild pitch. Samardzija struck out Torres looking to end the inning with runners at the corners.
Scutaro’s RBI single off Michael Bowden in the seventh made it 3-0. Bumgarner scored from second as right fielder Scott Hairston threw to the middle of the infield.
In San Diego, Wilin Rosario had a career-high four hits and drove in three runs, and Jhoulys Chacin beat San Diego for the second time this season to lead the Colorado Rockies over the Padres 9-5.
Rosario broke a 1-1 tie in the second with his fourth home run of the season, a two-run drive off Edinson Volquez (0-3). Rosario made it 5-1 with an RBI single in the third, singled off Thad Weber leading off the fifth and singled off Joe Thatcher in the ninth.
In other NL games, the Atlanta Braves beat Stephen Strasburg and the Washington Nationals 3-1 on Saturday for their eighth straight victory, the St Louis Cardinals ran in a 8-0 routing of the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Cincinnati Reds 3-1, the Miami Marlins edged the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-5.
In the American League, Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre each had two-out, RBI singles in the eighth inning to lift the Texas Rangers to a 3-1 win against the Seattle Mariners on Saturday night.
Joe Ortiz (2-0) pitched two innings for his second win in three days. Joe Nathan pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in four chances.
Carter Capps (0-1) walked Craig Gentry to lead off the eighth and then got two outs before Andrus broke the 1-all tie with his hit to right field. Andrus then stole second and kept going to third when Capps’ pitch went to the backstop, and scored on Beltre’s single.
Jason Bay had two hits and an RBI for the Mariners, who have lost four of five.
In New York, Nolan Reimold, Ryan Flaherty and Nick Markakis hit solo home runs as the Baltimore Orioles stopped the Yankees’ four-win streak with a 5-3 victory.
Nate McLouth doubled twice, singled and made a nifty catch to back Jason Hammel (2-1).
Orioles reliever Brian Matusz, Darren O’Day and Jim Johnson both pitched a scoreless inning, as Johnson closed for his fifth save.
Elsewhere in the AL, Mark Reynolds hit a grand slam to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 9-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox, Shane Victorino had a well-placed RBI single into a five-man infield in the 10th that lifted the Boston Red Sox to a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays, the Detroit Tigers downed the Oakland Athletics 7-3, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas Royals 3-2 and the Los Angeles Angels defeated the Houston Astros 5-4.
In interleague play, the New York Mets downed the Minnesota Twins 4-2.
Additional Reporting by staff writer
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and