MAJOR LEAGUES
Texas’ Yu Darvish got much the better of an anticipated pitching duel that fizzled out as the Rangers piled on seven runs in the third inning to prematurely end the night for Detroit’s Justin Verlander and beat the Tigers 10-4 on Thurday.
Among other games, Seattle edged the injury-stricken New York Yankees, San Francisco came from six runs down to beat Colorado for the 10th straight time, Boston got a three-run double with two outs in the ninth to stun Tampa Bay, and the New York Mets arrested a six-game slide by beating St Louis.
Photo: AFP
In Texas, Verlander walked in two runs in the third inning, doubling his previous career tally of bases-loaded walks. Mitch Moreland’s two-out double broke a 3-3 tie before Geovany Soto hit a three-run homer as Texas raced to an 8-3 lead.
Darvish (7-1) won his fifth straight decision despite allowing two home runs for the third start in a row.
Verlander (4-4) had his shortest outing for three years, lasting 2-2/3 innings.
New York’s lengthy injury list grew as Andy Pettitte and Chris Stewart were hurt in the 3-2 loss to Seattle.
Pettitte (4-3) left after 4 2-3 innings because of an injured back muscle near his left shoulder, while Stewart, who took over as the Yankees’ starting catcher when Francisco Cervelli broke a hand last month, limped off after the seventh inning.
The Mariners had their own injury headaches as scheduled starter Aaron Harang twinged his back on Wednesday.
Hector Noesi was called up for his first start of the season and gave up only one unearned run in 4-1/3 innings.
San Francisco’s Angel Pagan broke a tie with a two-run single in the sixth as the Giants recovered from a bad start to beat Colorado 8-6.
Brandon Crawford added a three-run double to help San Francisco and Marco Scutaro extended his hitting streak to 15 games.
Giants starter Matt Cain (3-2) struggled early, giving up homers on consecutive pitches in the second, along with a three-run homer an inning later, but his batters allowed him to take the win.
Boston’s Will Middlebrooks had a three-run double with two outs in the ninth inning that lifted the Red Sox past Tampa Bay 4-3.
Rays closer Fernando Rodney (1-2) issued three walks in the ninth to load the bases with one out. After a strikeout, Middlebrooks lined a shot to left field to clear the bases.
New York’s Daniel Murphy and David Wright combined for five hits and three RBIs to lead the Mets to a 5-2 win over St Louis.
The Mets avoided a four-game sweep by getting to Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (5-3), who was coming off a two-hit shutout win over the Rockies.
Murphy went 4 for 4, doubled twice and walked, and was 9 for 15 in the series. Wright doubled, singled and drove in two runs.
Washington’s Stephen Strasburg pitched a career-high eight innings while Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche homered to lead the Nationals to a 6-2 victory against San Diego.
Pittsburgh’s Travis Snider homered for the first time in nine months and drove in three runs to lead the Pirates past a reeling Milwaukee 7-1.
Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips homered in the sixth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, helping the Reds complete their second three-game sweep in a row by beating Miami 5-3 in 10 innings.
Chicago’s Jeff Keppinger walked with the bases loaded to drive in the go-ahead run — his first base on balls in 141 plate appearances this season — as the White Sox rallied with three runs in the eighth to beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-4.
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