MAJOR LEAGUES
Mark Teixeira hit a grand slam for his first homer of the season as the New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians 7-4 on Monday to spoil Nick Swisher’s first game back in the Bronx.
Brett Gardner had a tiebreaking single in the sixth inning, after Andy Pettitte lasted only 4-2/3 innings in a wild return from the disabled list — his 500th career start. Shawn Kelly (3-0) got the win and Mariano Rivera retired Swisher with a flyball to left field with a runner on second for his 20th save in 21 chances, securing New York’s second win in nine games.
Photo: AFP
Yankees designated hitter Travis Hafner, wearing Swisher’s old No. 33, homered against his former team in the seventh off Justin Masterson (8-4), who matched a season high by allowing seven runs.
Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera had to be helped off the field after straining his right quadriceps running out a grounder in a three-run fifth. Manager Terry Francona said Cabrera is likely headed for the disabled list.
Swisher was greeted warmly when he came to the plate for the first time in the first inning, and again when he took his position at first base in the bottom half. He played for New York for four years before signing with Cleveland in the off-season.
Also in the American League, the last-placed Houston Astros completed a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 2-1 win after Chris Carter homered and Erik Bedard pitched seven strong innings for his first victory of the season.
Brandon Barnes drove in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning as the Astros finished a perfect six-game road trip with their seventh win over the big-budget Angels in 10 meetings this season.
In Seattle, Raul Ibanez hit a two-run homer to help the Mariners down the White Sox 4-2 for Chicago’s seventh consecutive loss.
In the National League, Domonic Brown hit his eighth homer in eight as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 7-2 .
Delmon Young and Erik Kratz also went deep for the Phillies, while Kyle Kendrick allowed just six hits.
Brown, the NL player of the month for last month, continued his torrid hitting by going three-for-four. He had 12 homers and 25 RBIs last month, and already has connected twice and driven in six runs this month. He leads the NL with 17 homers.
Kendrick (6-3) retired his last 15 batters and beat the Marlins for the 12th time in 14 decisions. He lowered his ERA to 3.12 with his second complete game of the season and the fourth of his career.
Atlanta’s Brian McCann, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman each hit a two-run homer as the Braves downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2, while Cincinnati pitcher Bronson Arroyo limited the NL’s most prolific offense to four singles in eight innings and Jay Bruce had a two-run homer among his three hits to lead the Reds past the Colorado Rockies 3-0.
In other games, the St Louis Cardinals thrashed the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-1, the Los Angeles Dodgers edged the San Diego Padres 2-1 and the Oakland Athletics were convincing 10-2 winners over the Milwaukee Brewers in the only interleague matchup.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later