AMERICAN LEAGUE
Jeremy Hellickson retired Yankees newcomer Alfonso Soriano with the bases loaded to preserve an early lead and the streaking Tampa Bay Rays tagged C.C. Sabathia once again, beating New York 10-6 on Friday night.
The Rays have won 20 of 23 and took sole possession of the AL East lead for the first time since June 10 last year. Tampa Bay moved a half-game ahead of Boston.
Ben Zobrist, Yunel Escobar and Evan Longoria doubled during a six-run burst in the second inning, and James Loney later homered and drove in four runs.
Well supported all season, Hellickson (10-3) won his sixth straight decision. Fernando Rodney, the Rays’ fourth pitcher in a three-run ninth, got the last out for his 25th save.
Sabathia (9-9) was booed early and was hit hard for the third straight start, allowing 22 runs over 14 innings in that span.
INDIANS 11, RANGERS 8, 11 INNS
In Cleveland, Ohio, Ryan Raburn’s three-run homer in the 11th inning off Jason Frasor gave Cleveland a wild and sloppy win over Texas.
After Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana singled off Frasor (0-2), Raburn pulled a 2-1 pitch onto the home-run porch in left to rescue the Indians, who blew a 7-1 lead and nearly lost to a Texas team that committed three errors and had three wild pitches.
As he neared home plate, Raburn flipped his helmet high into the air and was pummeled by his teammates, who doused him with water. It was the seventh walk-off win this season for the Indians, who began a stretch of 14 of 17 games at home.
Bryan Shaw (1-2), Cleveland’s fifth reliever, stranded the go-ahead run at third in the 11th, and the Indians stayed within three games of first-place Detroit in the AL Central.
ORIOLES 6, RED SOX 0
In Baltimore, Maryland, Chris Tillman pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Adam Jones homered twice and Baltimore ended a three-game skid.
The loss dropped the Red Sox behind Tampa Bay in the AL East. Boston, who have dropped six of nine, had been alone atop the division since May 27.
Tillman (13-3) tied a career high with eight strikeouts in becoming the Orioles’ first 13-game winner since Erik Bedard in 2007. In his past three starts against Boston, the right-hander is 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA.
Jones hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fifth to help Baltimore bounce back from three successive losses in Kansas City. It was the third multi-homer game of his career.
Manny Machado and J.J. Hardy also homered for the Orioles, who improved to 6-2 against Boston this season.
John Lackey (7-8), who yielded a season-high tying five runs in 6-1/3 innings, gave up three of the homers.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ Blue Jays 12, Astros 6
‧ Royals 5, White Sox 1
‧ Athletics 6, Angels 4
‧ Twins 3, Mariners 2, 13 inns
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, ATLANTA, Georgia
Mike Minor allowed only one run to give Atlanta’s depleted rotation a lift, while Jason Heyward homered as the Braves beat Adam Wainwright and the St Louis Cardinals 4-1 in a matchup of division leaders on Friday night.
Minor (10-5) gave up four hits with no walks in seven innings. His sharp performance came two days after Tim Hudson was lost for the season with a broken right ankle.
The Atlanta rotation also is without left-hander Paul Maholm, who is expected to miss at least one start because of a bruised left wrist.
Wainwright (13-6), the NL leader in wins, took his first loss since a 2-1 decision to Texas on June 23.
Yadier Molina gave St Louis a 1-0 lead in the second inning with his eighth homer. The Braves answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
Wainwright allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits and one walk in seven innings.
MARLINS 2, PIRATES 0
In Miami, Henderson Alvarez earned his first National League victory, while Giancarlo Stanton hit his 12th homer as the Miami Marlins managed another low-scoring victory, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 on Friday night.
The Marlins are 4-4 since the All-Star break, even though they have totaled only 15 runs.
Jeff Locke (9-3) allowed only two earned runs in 6-2/3 innings and had a career-high nine strikeouts, but he lost for the first time in his past 10 road starts. His ERA rose to 2.15.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Mets 11, Nationals 0, Game 1
‧ Nationals 2, Mets 1, Game 2
‧ Rockies 8, Brewers 3
‧ Diamondbacks 10, Padres 0
‧ Dodgers 2, Reds 1
‧ Cubs 3, Giants 2
In interleague play, it was:
‧ Tigers 2, Phillies 1
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