MAJOR LEAGUES
Atlanta catcher Brian McCann hit a two-run homer and an RBI single in only his third game this season after injury, boosting the Braves to a 6-3 win over San Francisco in Thursday’s clash of National League division leaders.
Also on Thursday, the New York Yankees pitchers were in command against Colorado, while Kansas City avoided a three-game sweep against Baltimore.
Photo: AFP
Washington’s bullpen came to the rescue to secure a close win over Detroit, and Minnesota capitalized on a fielding error to down Boston.
Atlanta pitcher Julio Teheran (2-0) pitched seven efficient innings after his last scheduled outing was rained out.
San Francisco were done in by the fifth inning when the Braves batted around. San Francisco (20-15) fell into a first-place tie in the NL West with Arizona.
The New York Yankees waited out a two-hour rain delay before beating Colorado 3-1.
New York starter C.C. Sabathia had to be replaced after the rain delay in the fourth inning, and combined with five relievers to hold Colorado to four hits.
Robinson Cano smacked a solo homer and also had an infield single in the third inning for his 1,500th hit.
Kansas City’s Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer homered in a four-run fourth inning as the Royals beat Baltimore 6-2.
Kansas City starter Jeremy Guthrie (5-0), facing his old team for the first time since being traded prior to last year’s season, allowed one earned run in six innings to lower his season ERA to 2.28.
Mike Moustakas also homered for the Royals, who hit three homers in a game for the first time this season, having gone into the game with an American League-low 19 long balls.
Washington almost blew a four-run lead before the bullpen kept Detroit in check as the Nationals beat the Tigers 5-4.
Washington starter Dan Haren (4-3) allowed nine hits in six innings, giving up a three-run homer.
Ryan Mattheus and Drew Storen did their job in relief before closer Rafael Soriano converted his 12th save in 13 chances, retiring Prince Fielder on a game-ending flyout to the center-field warning track with a runner on.
The Nationals notched their first four-game winning streak of the year.
Minnesota seized on a throwing error by Boston pitcher John Lackey to beat the Red Sox 5-3.
Lackey’s wild throw to second base on a potential inning-ending double play gave the Twins another chance in the sixth and they responded with four unearned runs to take a 5-2 lead.
Oswaldo Arcia hit a two-run homer in that rally.
Aside from his costly mistake, Lackey (1-3) was strong on the mound, going seven innings allowing only one walk, with eight strikeouts.
The Red Sox lost for the sixth time in seven games and fell out of first place in the AL East.
Arizona’s Patrick Corbin (5-0) won his fifth consecutive decision to start the season and drove in a run to help the Diamondbacks beat Philadelphia 2-1.
Cleveland’s Jason Kipnis, Nick Swisher and Mark Reynolds hit home runs, while Scott Kazmir struck out 10 in six innings, leading the Indians to a 9-2 win over Oakland and a four-game sweep of the Athletics.
New York’s rookie center-fielder Juan Lagares took a fine leaping catch at the wall to rob Andrew McCutchen of a go-ahead hit in the top of the ninth inning, then Mike Baxter’s single in the bottom half sent the Mets to a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh.
Tampa Bay’s Luke Scott drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the 10th inning to give the Rays a 5-4 win over Toronto.
Los Angeles’ Mark Trumbo hit a two-run double in the eighth inning before Alberto Callaspo’s go-ahead sacrifice fly sent the Angels to a 6-5 win over Houston.
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