MAJOR LEAGUES
The New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians shared a doubleheader on Monday, as Vidal Nuno allowed just three hits over five innings in his first major league start in the Yankees’ 7-0 win after losing the opening game 1-0.
Justin Masterson allowed four hits for his third career shutout for the Indians’ win in the first game that stopped the Yankees’ five-game winning streak.
Pitching in just his second game for the Yankees, Nuno (1-1) walked three and struck out three. Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay had two RBIs each.
In Oakland, California, Yoenis Cespedes and Brandon Moss hit consecutive home runs and A.J. Griffin matched his season high with eight strikeouts to lead the Athletics over the Texas Rangers 5-1.
It was Texas’ first trip to Oakland since being swept in the final three games of the regular season last year and giving up the American League West title to the surprising A’s. The Rangers (24-14) arrived in the Bay Area having won seven of nine and began the day with the best record in the majors, but again ran into their division nemesis.
Detroit’s Andy Dirks hit his first career grand slam in a six-run fourth inning as the Tigers downed the Houston Astros 7-2.
In the National League, Justin Upton broke a 14-game homerless drought and had four hits to help the Atlanta Braves thrash the Diamondbacks 10-1 on his return to Arizona.
Upton was playing his first game at Chase Field since the offseason trade that sent him and third baseman Chris Johnson to Atlanta in a seven-player deal.
Upton followed his brother B.J., who was hit on the left shoulder by Wade Miley (3-2) to lead off the sixth, and powered a fastball onto the porch above the center field fence for his 13th home run and first since April 27 in Detroit.
Johnson hit a two-run homer to cap Atlanta’s three-run fifth and Brian McCann also homered for the Braves.
In Los Angeles, Jordan Zimmermann won his NL and major league-leading seventh game, and Ryan Zimmerman drove in three runs as the Washington Nationals defeated the Dodgers 6-2 after losing Bryce Harper in a violent collision with the wall in right field.
Harper left the game in the fifth inning after hitting the scoreboard wall face-first while tracking a ball hit by A.J. Ellis over his left shoulder. Harper bounced off the wall and crumpled to the ground, with Ellis getting a triple.
In other games, the Kansas City Royals trounced the Los Angeles Angels 11-4 and the Minnesota Twins downed the Chicago White Sox 10-3 in the AL, while in the NL, the Chicago Cubs downed the Colorado Rockies 9-1, the St Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Mets 6-3 and the Milwaukee Brewers were 5-1 winners over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set