MAJOR LEAGUES
The Detroit Tigers clinched their third straight American League (AL) Central division title and St Louis moved to the brink of taking the National League (NL) Central, while the New York Yankees’ postseason hopes ended on Wednesday as the MLB playoff picture became clearer.
Led by pitcher Max Scherzer, who notched his 21st win of the season, the Tigers beat Minnesota 1-0 to seal the division title.
Photo: AFP
The wild-card places in the AL remain up for grabs into the last week of the regular season, as Tampa Bay, Cleveland and Texas all won.
In the NL Central, St Louis moved three games clear on top by defeating Washington and now need only one more win in their last three games or one more loss by nearest rival Pittsburgh to seal the division.
Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, who trail the Pirates by one game, both lost and appear destined to meet in the sudden death wild-card game.
Photo: AFP
Detroit’s only run came via Torii Hunter’s single, followed by a leadoff triple by Austin Jackson in the first inning, but that proved enough, thanks to Scherzer (21-3) who pitched seven scoreless innings.
Scherzer struck out 10 and lowered his ERA to 2.90, while ensuring he will finish the season with the most wins in the major leagues.
While Tigers fans could celebrate, it was a contrasting scene in New York where the Yankees lost 8-3 to Tampa Bay, ending their slim playoff hopes.
It will be only the second postseason in 19 years without the Yankees.
Evan Longoria homered twice for the Rays, who won their sixth straight game to retain their hold on the top AL wild card.
New York fans knew their fate even before the game ended, as Cleveland — holding the second wild card — completed a 7-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
Rookie Danny Salazar (2-3) struck out eight in 5-1/3 innings for the Indians, who won their final six home games and beat the White Sox for the 14th time in a row.
Nick Swisher hit a two-run homer for the Indians in the fifth inning.
Cleveland lead Texas by one game for the second wild-card slot. They are one game behind Tampa Bay for the top spot.
Texas kept up in the tight race with a 7-3 win over Houston. Leonys Martin hit a three-run double and Ian Kinsler homered for the Rangers, who have won 11 in succession against their state rivals and now prepare for a home series against the out-of-contention Los Angeles Angels.
It was the 12th straight loss for the Astros, who now have a team-record 108 defeats this season.
Kansas City were officially eliminated from wild-card contention after a 6-0 loss to Seattle, who got eight scoreless innings from Hisashi Iwakuma and two homers from Mike Zunino.
St Louis wrapped up a vital three-game sweep of Washington with a 4-1 victory which put the Cardinals on the brink of the NL Central title.
Rookie Shelby Miller (15-9) allowed only one run in six-plus innings.
Yadier Molina had the go-ahead hit for St Louis ,who are a season-high 29 games above .500.
Pittsburgh’s division title hopes took a near-fatal blow with a 4-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. With three games remaining in the regular season for each team, the Pirates trail division-leading St Louis by three games.
The Pirates, who already have clinched a playoff spot, hold a one-game lead over Cincinnati for the first wild-card slot. Pittsburgh and the Reds finish up with a three-game set in Cincinnati this weekend.
Darnell McDonald hit a three-run homer for the Cubs among his three hits.
Cincinnati also had a costly loss against a lowly opponent, beaten 1-0 at home by the New York Mets.
Eric Young Jr drove in the only run and Daisuke Matsuzaka (3-3) pitched 7-2/3 scoreless innings for the Mets, who had long been out of playoff contention, but finished their road season with a 41-40 record.
The shutout loss was Cincinnati’s 11th of the season, after only four last year.
In other games, Los Angeles’ Jered Weaver pitched seven impressive innings to steer the Angels to a 3-1 win over Oakland, doing more damage to the Athletics’ home-field playoff hopes.
Baltimore’s Ryan Flaherty hit a pair of two-run homers and Jonathan Schoop had a solo shot in his big league debut as the Orioles beat Toronto 9-5 to snap a six-game skid.
Milwaukee’s Kyle Lohse pitched a shutout as the Brewers beat Atlanta 4-0, overcoming the ejection of Carlos Gomez for precipitating a first-inning brawl.
Miami’s Adeiny Hechavarria drove in three runs, including a go-ahead run in the eighth inning, to lift the Marlins to a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
San Diego’s Ian Kennedy pitched solidly and was backed by high offensive production throughout the lineup as the Padres routed Arizona 12-2.
San Francisco’s Barry Zito won in what likely was his final hurrah, steering the Giants to a 6-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Colorado’s Todd Helton homered, doubled and drove in three runs in his final game at Coors Field, but Boston used Will Middlebrooks’ two homers and career-high seven RBIs to beat the Rockies 15-5.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
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