MAJOR LEAGUES
Texas’ Adrian Beltre had a three-run double among his four hits as the Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 7-0 on Friday in a clash of American League divisional leaders in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers had a season-high 18 hits while starting pitcher Derek Holland (2-2) threw eight scoreless innings and had a season-high nine strikeouts in taking his fifth-straight win over the Red Sox.
Elsewhere, A.J. Griffin was dominant as Oakland shut out the New York Yankees, A.J. Burnett was similarly commanding as Pittsburgh beat Washington, while Matt Holliday and Carlos Beltran both homered in St Louis’ victory over Milwaukee.
Buster Posey’s walk-off homer lifted San Francisco over the Los Angeles Dodgers, while Tampa Bay and the New York Mets both won in ten innings, over Colorado and Atlanta respectively.
Texas pitcher Holland is 5-1 with a 2.41 ERA in his six career starts against the Red Sox. The lone loss came as a rookie in 2009, his third career start.
Red Sox starter Felix Doubront (3-1) allowed a career-worst 12 hits in 3-2/3 innings.
Oakland’s A.J. Griffin held the Yankees scoreless into the eighth inning as the Athletics won 2-0.
The A’s began with a bang, as Adam Rosales — batting leadoff for the first time in his career as a fill-in for the injured Coco Crisp — hit C.C. Sabathia’s (4-3) opening pitch into the left-field stands.
Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett struck out nine in seven shutout innings, steering the Pirates to a 3-1 win over the Washington Nationals.
Burnett (3-2) gave up only one walk in winning his third straight after going 0-2 in his first three starts. He also raised his NL-leading strikeout total to 57.
Jordy Mercer’s two-run home run in the fifth inning completed the scoring. Mercer was recalled from the minors before the game when second baseman Neil Walker was placed on the disabled list with a right hand injury.
St Louis’ Shelby Miller pitched six strong innings to propel the Cardinals to a 6-1 win at the Milwaukee Brewers.
Miller (4-2) gave up one walk in six innings while striking out five, holding Milwaukee scoreless through the first five innings.
The Cardinals jumped in front in the third inning on a two-out, two-run home run by Matt Holliday.
San Francisco’s Buster Posey hit a game-ending home run into the left-field seats leading off the bottom of the ninth as the Giants beat the LA Dodgers 2-1.
Posey connected for his first career game-winning RBI of any kind on a 3-2 pitch from Ronald Belisario (2-3), who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous four appearances.
Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw pitched seven impressive innings for the Dodgers only two days after his father’s funeral.
Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning and Kelly Johnson later added a two-run homer as the Rays beat the Colorado Rockies 7-4.
Ben Zobrist led off the 10th with a double off reliever Matt Belisle (1-2), setting the stage for Longoria. Johnson provided some insurance by lining his fourth homer of the season.
New York’s David Wright hit the tying home run in the ninth inning and the Mets scored twice in the tenth to beat the Atlanta Braves 7-5.
The Mets, who have won two in a row after dropping six straight, scored four of their first five runs on homers before taking a two-run lead in the tenth.
Los Angeles’ Jason Vargas pitched a shutout for his first victory with his new club, leading the Angels to a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce had two RBIs and scored as the Reds held off the Chicago Cubs and won 6-5.
San Diego’s Yonder Alonso hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fifth inning as the revitalized Padres edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6.
Cleveland’s Drew Stubbs hit an RBI double in the 10th inning, lifting the Indians to a 7-6 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Detroit’s Alex Avila hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning to send Detroit to a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros, making it seven wins in eight games.
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez pitched eight scoreless innings to win his third straight start and steer the Mariners to a 4-0 win at the Toronto Blue Jays.
Philadelphia’s Jonathan Pettibone pitched neatly into the seventh to lead the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins.
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