MAJOR LEAGUES
Milwaukee extended their winning streak to seven games by beating Pittsburgh 4-2 on Friday, with Aramis Ramirez hitting a two-run homer.
The Brewers’ 8-2 record is their best start since 1987 and they claimed the outright National League lead in the early stages of the season as Washington were beaten in 10 innings at Atlanta.
Elsewhere, San Francisco went joint top of the NL West division by edging Colorado, while Seattle moved above Oakland for top spot in the AL West.
Milwaukee starter Wily Peralta (1-0) allowed in only four hits in his seven innings, although Neil Walker finally got to him with a two-run homer in the seventh.
The Brewers had their own two-run shot from Ramirez off Francisco Liriano to open the scoring in the fourth.
Atlanta’s Jordan Schafer scored from first base on Justin Upton’s bloop single with two outs in the 10th inning, giving the Braves a 7-6 victory over Washington.
Chris Johnson singled with two outs and Schafer came in to run. With a 2-2 count, Schafer ran on the pitch and Upton dropped a single in front of the right fielder. Schafer already was rounding third when Bryce Harper fumbled the ball. No error was charged.
Upton also hit a solo homer in the eighth that tied the game 6-6. It was his third homer in two games.
San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs to make up for his shaky pitching performance and help the Giants edge Colorado 6-5.
Bumgarner, who hit a sacrifice fly in the third, had a moment to remember in the fourth as he hit only the second grand slam by a Giants pitcher since the team relocated to San Francisco in 1958.
On the mound, Bumgarner (2-0) allowed four runs in six innings.
Seattle Felix Hernandez (3-0) became the first Mariners pitcher to bring up three wins in the first nine games of a season as he helped the hosts beat Oakland 6-4.
Hernandez held the Athletics scoreless in the first seven innings and struck out 11.
Mike Zunino chased A’s starter Tommy Milone (0-1) with a two-run homer in the sixth and Brad Miller followed two batters later with a solo homer.
Los Angeles’ Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven scoreless innings to guide the Dodgers to a 6-0 win over Arizona.
Ryu (2-1) struck out eight and walked only one, retiring 18 of his past 19 batters.
Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-run homer in the first, doubled in two more in the third and had an RBI single in the eighth.
It was the Dodgers’ first visit to Chase Field since clinching the NL West title there in September last year, when they angered the Diamondbacks by celebrating in the ballpark’s swimming pool.
Chicago’s Conor Gillaspie had a career-high four RBIs to power the White Sox to a 9-6 win over Cleveland.
Chris Sale (3-0) pitched five innings in his first win against Cleveland since 2012. He allowed six hits from his 105 pitches.
Indians pitchers issued nine walks and walked in two runs.
Boston’s Grady Sizemore hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, which proved enough for the Red Sox to beat the New York Yankees 4-2.
Boston starter Jon Lester (1-2) boasted a 2.51 ERA coming into the game, yet was still at risk of falling to 0-3 for the first time in his career, but the Red Sox batters finally gave him a little run support.
Jonny Gomes homered leading off the sixth and the four-run inning was more than Boston had scored for Lester in his first two starts combined.
Toronto beat Baltimore 2-0 thanks to two unearned runs arising from throwing errors by Orioles third baseman Jonathan Schoop.
Blue Jays starter Dustin McGowan (1-1) went 6-1/3 scoreless innings to earn his first win since 2008.
Making his second start since September 2011, the oft-injured McGowan (1-1) finally beat Baltimore at his 14th attempt.
Philadelphia ended a four-game skid by beating Miami 6-3, with Marlon Byrd driving in two runs.
Chicago’s Welington Castillo hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning to give the Cubs a 6-3 win at St Louis.
San Diego’s Andrew Cashner pitched a shutout to lead the Padres to a 6-0 win over Detroit.
Tampa Bay won at Cincinnati for the first time ever, beating the Reds 2-1, with David Price taking a shutout into the ninth.
Texas’ Robinson Chirinos got the match-winning single in the 12th inning, breaking a long stalemate and giving the Rangers a 1-0 win over state rival Houston.
Los Angeles’ Hank Conger was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the 11th inning, completing a disastrous inning by New York rookie Jeurys Familia as the Angels beat the Mets 5-4.
Minnesota halted a run of eight-straight defeats at the hands of Kansas City by beating trouncing the Royals 10-1, with Chris Colabello driving in three runs.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Forget Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain, the world’s best soccer team — statistically speaking — might be a little-known outfit from the closed central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Founded last year, Arkadag, named in honor of former Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, have been unstoppable, notching up 36 consecutive domestic victories in a run still ongoing. The side have not lost a single competitive match and swept to a league and cup double in their inaugural season — success unthinkable almost anywhere else. However, in Turkmenistan, it could hardly have gone any other way. The energy-rich country is one of the most closed
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
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping