NATIONAL LEAGUE
A.J. Burnett took a no-hitter into the seventh inning nearly 12 years after throwing the only one of his career, pitching the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 victory over the St Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night.
Burnett (1-2) lost his bid with two outs in the seventh on Carlos Beltran’s double to right-center. That was the lone hit given up by the 36-year-old right-hander in seven dominant innings.
Burnett struck out eight. He got the 2,000th strikeout of his 15-year career when he caught Beltran looking in the second.
Mark Melancon, Tony Watson and Jason Grilli completed the one-hitter.
Burnett’s no-hitter came on May 12, 2001, for the Florida Marlins in San Diego. That game was also notable for his nine walks. Burnett walked none against St Louis.
Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller (2-1) pitched well, despite taking his first loss in four career decisions.
PADRES 7, DODGERS 2
In Los Angeles, Clayton Kershaw gave up his first three home runs of the season in a span of three innings as the San Diego Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers to finish a three-game sweep.
Everth Cabrera, Chris Denorfia and Kyle Blanks all connected off Kershaw (2-2), who entered with a 1.16 ERA in three starts. However, the 2011 National League (NL) Cy Young Award winner left this one trailing 5-1, after throwing 109 pitches in 5-1/3 innings.
Boosted by the return of slugger Chase Headley from a broken thumb, the Padres pounded out 13 hits and beat one of baseball’s best pitchers.
It was the first series between the NL West rivals since their wild brawl last week in San Diego.
Cabrera had three hits and scored twice as the Padres sent Los Angeles to their fourth straight defeat. Headley was back at third base and went one-for-four with a late RBI single.
Brad Brach (1-0) retired Skip Schumaker on a comebacker with the bases loaded in the fifth.
In other play, it was:
‧ Nationals 6, Marlins 1
‧ Brewers 4, Giants 3
‧ Reds 1, Phillies 0
‧ Reds 11, Phillies 2
AP, CLEVELAND, Ohio
Converted closer Alfredo Aceves coasted through five innings, while Mike Napoli and Daniel Nava drove in two runs apiece as the Red Sox, bonded by the tragedy in Boston, struck quickly against Justin Masterson and beat the Cleveland Indians 6-3 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight win.
Aceves (1-0), who began the season in Boston’s bullpen, took a shutout into the sixth before giving up three runs. Andrew Bailey, filling for injured closer Joel Hanrahan, worked the ninth for his first save.
Napoli had an RBI single in the first when the Red Sox scored three off Masterson (3-1), who has already beaten two Cy Young Award winners this season and came in without allowing a run in 19 straight innings.
Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi homered for the Indians, who dropped their third in a row.
Shane Victorino, Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Carp had three hits apiece as the Red Sox built Aceves a 5-0 lead.
In other play, it was:
‧ Tigers 2, Mariners 1, 14 innings
‧ Rays 6, Orioles 2
‧ Athletics 7, Astros 5
‧ White Sox 7, Blue Jays 0
In interleague play, it was:
‧ Royals 1, Braves 0
‧ Yankees 4, Diamondbacks 3
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
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