MAJOR LEAGUES
Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels, who leads the major leagues in losses, provided an overdue reminder of his quality by pitching seven strong innings and leading the Phillies to a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in Thursday’s Fourth of July action.
Hamels (3-11) gave up one earned run, striking out eight without a walk. The former World Series Most Valuable Player won for the first time in a month.
Photo: AFP
Among other games, Boston handed San Diego their season-worst sixth straight loss, the Los Angeles Angels scored three runs in the ninth to edge St Louis and Detroit routed struggling Toronto. Texas avoided a series sweep by Seattle, Kansas City rallied past Cleveland and a passed ball accounted for the only run as Oakland beat the Chicago Cubs.
Boston’s Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run double and David Ortiz had a two-run single as the Red Sox beat the San Diego Padres 8-2.
Boston won eight of nine to match their best homestand in three years. The Padres have scored just seven runs over their six consecutive defeats.
Los Angeles’ Josh Hamilton hit a tying two-run homer in the Angels’ three-run ninth inning, leading the hosts to a 6-5 win over the St Louis Cardinals.
St Louis ace Adam Wainwright took a 5-3 lead into the ninth before giving up a leadoff single by Albert Pujols, who was one for 11 in his first series against his former team.
Cardinals boss Mike Matheny then brought in Edward Mujica and Hamilton drove the right-hander’s second pitch into the center field trees for his 11th homer.
Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo followed with singles, then Mujica (0-1) retired his next two batters before Erick Aybar drove in the winning run with single to left.
Detroit’s Justin Verlander pitched seven shutout innings to lead the Tigers to an 11-1 thrashing of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Verlander (9-5) won for the first time in a month and made his first start in Toronto since he pitched a no-hitter there in 2011.
Austin Jackson hit a two-run homer, went four for five with a walk and scored four times as the Tigers pounded out 16 hits, despite resting Miguel Cabrera.
Texas’ Adrian Beltre homered twice and the Rangers used a four-run seventh inning to edge the Seattle Mariners 5-4.
Beltre finished with three hits and two RBIs. With Texas trailing 3-1, Beltre led off the seventh with a drive against Hisashi Iwakuma (7-4). A.J. Pierzynski then singled and Lance Berkman walked, before Mitch Moreland bounced a tying single up the middle.
Elvis Andrus hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly and Ian Kinsler capped the big inning with an RBI single.
Kansas City’s Lorenzo Cain hit his first career grand slam to help the Royals record a comeback 10-7 win over the Cleveland Indians.
Kansas City trailed 5-0 before Cain’s slam and a solo shot by George Kottaras tied it in the sixth. The Indians regained the lead on Carlos Santana’s two-run double in the seventh, but the Royals answered in the bottom half on a two-run homer by Eric Hosmer.
Three straight walks to start the eighth loaded the Royals bases and pinch-hitter Salvador Perez hit a double down the left-field line to drive in three runs.
Oakland’s Derek Norris scored on a passed ball with two outs and that was enough for the Athletics to beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0.
Dan Straily (5-2) pitched seven scoreless innings for the A’s after being recalled from the minor leagues to give a sore Jarrod Parker two extra days of rest.
Colorado’s Michael Cuddyer hit a solo homer and drove in three runs to help the Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-5 and avoid a three-game sweep.
Chicago’s Adam Dunn hit a game-ending solo homer off Tommy Hunter in the ninth inning, lifting the White Sox to the 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
New York’s Vernon Wells drove in three runs as the Yankees pounded Minnesota Twins rookie Kyle Gibson in a 9-5 win which completed a four-game sweep.
Miami’s Donovan Solano had a go-ahead single off Atlanta closer Craig Kimbrel in the ninth inning to lift the Marlins to a 4-3 win over the Braves.
Arizona’s Cliff Pennington hit an RBI single with two outs in the 15th inning as the Diamondbacks outlasted the New York Mets 5-4.
Washington’s Wilson Ramos hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning on his return to the Nationals lineup, producing an 8-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Tampa Bay’s Yunel Escobar drove in three runs, including a tiebreaking double in the 11th, that sent the Rays to a 7-5 win over the Houston Astros.
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB