MAJOR LEAGUES
Boston’s Dustin Pedroia hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning that gave the Red Sox a 4-2 win over Oakland on Friday in a clash of the American League’s two top teams.
The win moved the Red Sox 4-1/2 games clear atop the AL East division while Oakland missed a chance to increase their AL West lead over Texas, who lost to Detroit.
Photo: AFP
In other key games, Bronson Arroyo pitched superbly to steer Cincinnati past Atlanta, while Carlos Beltran proved the difference as St Louis edged the Chicago Cubs.
Baltimore’s Chris Davis notched homer No. 35 for the season as the Orioles beat Toronto, and Pittsburgh needed 11 innings to beat the New York Mets.
Boston’s John Lackey (7-6) overcame a season-high four walks in seven innings to carry the Red Sox to their fourth straight win, allowing three hits while striking out five.
Athletics’ reliever Sean Doolittle (3-3) allowed one hit and hit a batter to take the loss when Ryan Cook gave up Pedroia’s two-out single.
Cincinnati’s Arroyo pitched seven sparkling innings to guide the Reds to a 4-2 win over Atlanta.
Arroyo (8-7) allowed three hits and walked one.
Brandon Phillips hit a two-run single in Cincinnati’s three-run first inning which set up the win.
Detroit’s Jhonny Peralta hit a two-run double in a five-run first inning which gave the Tigers a 7-2 victory over Texas.
The Tigers scored four runs before the first out.
Victor Martinez extended his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI double in the second that gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead. Miguel Cabrera hit a sacrifice fly for his 95th RBI of the year.
St Louis’ Beltran had three hits and drove in a run to help the Cardinals edge the Chicago Cubs 3-2.
St Louis starter Joe Kelly (1-3) earned his first win of the season, allowing one run in 5-1/3 innings.
Baltimore’s Davis hit his 35th homer while Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy each had a three-run shot as the Orioles defeated Toronto 8-5.
Davis upped his major league-leading home run total with a two-run drive in the second inning.
Jones connected in the third to put the Orioles up 5-3, and Hardy went deep in the sixth for a five-run cushion. All three home runs came off Mark Buehrle (5-6).
Pittsburgh’s Jordy Mercer came up with the game-winning hit with two outs in the 11th inning, sending a single up the middle off Gonzalez Germen to drive home Andrew McCutchen and give the Pirates a 3-2 win over the New York Mets.
McCutchen led off with a walk, stole second and then beat the throw home from center field to end the Mets’ four-game winning streak.
Vin Mazzaro (5-2) retired all three batters he faced to earn the victory. Starling Marte had two of Pittsburgh’s six hits, and Pedro Alvarez added his 24th home run.
Cleveland’s Corey Kluber pitched into the eighth inning to steer the Indians to a 3-0 win over Kansas City.
Colorado’s Juan Nicasio pitched seven scoreless innings to outduel Clayton Kershaw and set up the Rockies’ 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, while New York’s Hiroki Kuroda pitched five innings as the Yankees beat Minnesota 2-0.
Houston’s Jarred Cosart took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of his major league debut, helping the Astros beat Tampa Bay 2-1.
Arizona’s Patrick Corbin matched a career high with 10 strikeouts for the second straight start, as the Diamondbacks beat Milwaukee 2-1.
Seattle’s Raul Ibanez homered twice to earn the Mariners an 8-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels.
San Francisco’s Buster Posey drove in five runs to power the Giants to a 10-1 rout of San Diego, while Miami’s Marcell Ozuna drove in three runs in the Marlins’ 8-3 win over Washington.
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but