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.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite