MAJOR LEAGUES
Cleveland gave manager Terry Francona the satisfaction of victory upon his return to Fenway Park as the Indians beat Boston 12-3 on Thursday, staying top of the American League Central division, while preventing the Red Sox from going top of the East.
Francona, who led the Red Sox to two World Series titles in his eight years as manager, was let go by the team after 2011 and returned to see his new team piling on 16 hits to cruise to victory over his old one.
Also on Thursday, Pittsburgh won their fourth straight game by beating the Chicago Cubs.
Cleveland’s Drew Stubbs and Mark Reynolds drove in three runs each and every starting batter had a hit, while all but one scored. Carlos Santana reached base five times.
Cleveland’s Zach McAllister (4-3) allowed three runs in five innings.
He has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his nine starts this year.
Ryan Dempster (2-5) gave up four runs in three innings in his third straight poor start for Boston.
Pittsburgh’s Andrew McCutchen had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Pirates past the Chicago Cubs 4-2.
Leadoff hitter Starling Marte singled and scored in each of the first two innings as Pittsburgh built an early 4-0 lead. The Pirates moved a season-best 11 games over .500 with their 11th victory in 13 games.
Cubs starter Edwin Jackson (1-7) gave up two runs in the first inning and two more in the second. He lasted only three innings and has a 6.11 ERA through 10 starts.
Toronto’s Edwin Encarnacion hit his fifth career grand slam, while J.P. Arencibia homered and drove in four runs as the Blue Jays beat Baltimore 12-6, spoiling the debut of Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman.
Detroit’s Prince Fielder bounced a tiebreaking single off the pitcher’s glove in the eighth inning, leading the Tigers to a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Minnesota.
Los Angeles’ Mike Trout and Albert Pujols hit solo home runs, while Mark Trumbo hit a two-run shot to power the Angels to a 5-4 win over Kansas City.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was