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.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or
Taiwan yesterday survived Bosnia and Herzegovina to win their Davis Cup World Group I tie at the Taipei Tennis Center. The tight series started on Saturday with world No. 123 Jason Tseng losing 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Mirza Basic in the opening singles matchup. However, teammate Tony Wu kept the tie even, dominating world No. 86 Damir Dzumhur 6-2, 6-1. Yesterday, 24-year-old Ray Ho and partner 25-year-old Hsu Yu-hsiou kept up the momentum, making short work of Basic and Nerman Fatic, winning 6-3, 6-4. Tseng then suffered another defeat, losing 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Dzumhur in a brutal match that lasted more than two