MAJOR LEAGUES
The Oakland Athletics completed a three-game road sweep of nearest divisional rivals the Texas Rangers with a 12-1 rout on Wednesday, moving three games clear at the top of the American League West.
On a day when four games had to be called off due to heavy rain on the East Coast, the St Louis Cardinals defeated Milwaukee to trim the Brewers’ big lead in the National League Central, the San Francisco Giants maintained their 1.5 game lead in the National League West by edging the San Diego Padres and the Miami Marlins abruptly ended the good run of Atlanta Braves pitcher Aaron Harang.
Photo: AFP
Oakland starter Jesse Chavez (2-0) allowed one hit — in the first inning — and one walk in seven scoreless innings, while striking out eight.
Eric Sogard matched his season total with three RBIs, while Yoenis Cespedes had two doubles, scored twice and drove in two runs for the A’s, who scored 10 runs combined in the third and fourth innings to answer a three-game sweep by the Rangers in Oakland last week.
The Rangers matched a season worst with four errors, including one by shortstop Elvis Andrus on what could have been an inning-ending double play in Oakland’s seven-run third inning.
St Louis’ Allen Craig homered among his four hits to help the Cardinals beat the Brewers 9-3.
Matt Adams hit a three-run homer, while Jon Jay had three hits and a walk his first four trips to the plate for the Cardinals, who avoided a three-game sweep by the team with the best record in the major leagues.
San Francisco starter Tim Hudson came within one pitch of a shutout, leading the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Padres.
Hudson (4-1) struck out six and did not walk a batter for the fourth time in five starts this season. He looked set for his first shutout in two years before Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
The Giants finished 5-1 on their homestand.
Miami scored nine runs off National League ERA leader Aaron Harang in beating Atlanta 9-3.
Harang (3-2) gave up 10 hits in 4-2/3 innings and his ERA rose from a miserly 0.85 to 2.97.
Miami’s 9-0 lead after five innings was a rare luxury for starter Nathan Eovaldi (2-1), who enjoyed the cushion by going seven innings.
The Marlins tied a season high with 15 hits, including seven for extra bases.
Detroit’s Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings to steer the Tigers to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Scherzer (3-1) won his third straight, while striking out seven to become the first pitcher in team history with at least seven strikeouts in each of his first six starts.
He also became the first in the majors to do it since San Francisco’s Tim Lincecum in 2010.
The Los Angeles Dodgers notched their 10,000th win by defeating the Minnesota Twins 6-4.
Zack Greinke (5-0) struck out six and did not allow any earned runs in his six innings.
Juan Uribe had two RBIs for the Dodgers, who became the fourth franchise to reach 10,000 wins after the Giants, Cubs and Braves.
The Kansas City Royals held on for a tense 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, with Alcides Escobar delivering a two-run double in the seventh inning.
The Los Angeles Angels beat Cleveland 7-1, sending the Indians to their sixth straight loss, with C.J. Wilson giving up only two hits in eight innings.
Washington’s Anthony Rendon had a homer, a single and a double to help the Nationals beat the Houston Astros 7-0.
The Arizona Diamondbacks ended a run of four straight losses when Miguel Montero hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning for a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Chicago’s Nate Schierholtz drove in three runs and Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer as the Cubs rallied for a 9-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite