MAJOR LEAGUES
The Oakland Athletics opened a three-game lead atop the American League West division by beating nearest rivals Texas 6-2 in a bloody encounter on Tuesday, with Brandon Moss and John Jaso hitting homers off star Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish.
In other important results, Pittsburgh inflicted the first loss of the season upon Cincinnati pitcher Mat Latos to close the gap between the teams to half a game, while Boston won both games of a double-header over Tampa Bay to extend their lead in the AL East.
Photo: Reuters
Baltimore stayed on Boston’s tail by getting the better of ace Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander, while the Chicago Cubs beat majors-leading St Louis.
San Francisco snuck home to end San Diego’s seven-game winning streak and Toronto beat Colorado to notch their seventh straight victory.
Oakland’s Jarrod Parker (6-6) limited the Rangers to three hits over seven innings to improve to 4-0 in his past five starts.
Darvish (7-3) struck out 10, increasing his majors-best total to 137, but still has not won in more than a month.
Moss put the Athletics ahead to stay with a homer leading off the second, while Jaso led off the next inning with his own long shot to make it 3-0.
The Rangers got within 3-2 in the third when Ian Kinsler scored on a vicious collision at the plate, his face slamming into the mask of catcher Jaso while sliding feet-first. Kinsler needed three stitches near his left jaw and had blood on his jersey when he returned to the field to play second base.
Pittsburgh’s Pedro Alvarez singled home a pair of runs in the first inning and that proved more than enough for the Pirates to beat Cincinnati 4-0.
No run support meant a loss for Reds starter Mat Latos (6-1), who had gone 21 regular-season starts — dating back to August — without suffering a loss.
Latos had nine of Cincinnati’s 17 strikeouts, which matched the club’s nine-inning record. The Reds also had 17 strikeouts on opening day, but that game went 13 innings.
Boston beat Tampa Bay 5-1, then 3-1 to take both games of a double-header.
David Ortiz drove in three runs in the opener and Alfredo Aceves (4-1) pitched five solid innings for his third straight win.
In the night game, Jonny Gomes hit a walk-off two-run homer in the ninth inning.
Daniel Nava was aboard on a leadoff walk when Gomes followed with a towering shot off Joel Peralta (1-3) that cleared the Green Monster.
Nava also homered in the second and Felix Doubront pitched eight shutout innings for Boston.
Baltimore’s J.J. Hardy and Adam Jones homered off Justin Verlander to help the Orioles to a 5-2 win over Detroit.
Hardy hit his third homer off Verlander (8-5) this month, connecting for a two-run shot in the fourth inning, while Jones added a three-run drive in the fifth.
Verlander gave up five runs in five innings.
Manny Machado hit a double and made two sparkling plays in the field for Baltimore.
Chicago’s Ryan Sweeney and Cody Ransom hit back-to-back homers in a four-run first inning that set up the Cubs for a 4-2 win over St Louis.
The four runs were plenty for Jeff Samardzija (4-7), who gave up two runs in 8-1/3 innings to steer the Cubs to their first win at St Louis in six attempts.
The Cardinals have lost three of five games, but still lead the majors with a 45-26 record.
San Francisco’s Juan Perez hit a tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning to lift the Giants to a 5-4 win over San Diego.
Perez’s clutch swing came after pinch hitter Jesus Guzman had given San Diego a 4-3 lead with a two-run homer in the top half of the inning.
Toronto won their seventh straight game by downing Colorado 7-3, with Edwin Encarnacion hitting a two-run homer, while J.P. Arencibia and Maicer Izturis added back-to-back shots for the Blue Jays.
It is the longest winning streak for Toronto in five years.
The Rockies have a 0-8 record in interleague games at Toronto.
Cleveland’s Michael Brantley hit a sacrifice fly which capped Cleveland’s three-run eighth inning, rallying the Indians to a 4-3 win over Kansas City.
The New York Mets beat Atlanta 4-3, then 6-1 in a double-header, with young pitcher Matt Harvey and debutant Zack Wheeler both putting in dominant performances from the mound.
Philadelphia’s Cliff Lee struck out nine in eight impressive innings, while Michael Young tied a career high with three doubles as the Phillies downed Washington 4-2.
Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt hit a leadoff home run in the ninth inning to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 victory over Miami, ending a four-game skid.
Seattle’s Kendrys Morales hit an RBI single in the 10th inning against his former team, leading the Mariners to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Minnesota’s Ryan Doumit hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning, lifting the Twins to a 7-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Houston’s Matt Dominguez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs to back another solid performance by Jordan Lyles as the Astros routed Milwaukee 10-1.
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