MAJOR LEAGUES
Dayan Viciedo hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning off John Axford to lift the Chicago White Sox over the Cleveland Indians 4-3 on Sunday and end his side’s four-game losing streak.
Corey Kluber struck out a career-high 13 batters in eight innings, including a team-record seven straight. He allowed one run, three hits and two walks, leaving with a 3-1 lead.
Axford (0-2) walked Gordon Beckham leading off the ninth and struck out Jose Abreu, who hit his major league-leading 12th home run in the first. Adam Dunn walked and Viciedo homered on a 155kph fastball.
Daniel Webb (2-0) pitched the eighth and Matt Lindstrom finished for his fourth save.
Also in the American League, Wil Myers had a three-run, inside-the-park homer on a drive off the top of the center-field fence and drove in four runs as the Tampa Bay Rays downed the New York Yankees 5-1.
Erik Bedard (1-1) earned his first win as a starter since June last year, allowing one run and six hits in six innings to help the Rays finish a 5-5 road trip.
CC Sabathia (3-4) gave up 10 hits and five runs in 3-2/3 innings, his shortest start since lasting 2-2/3 innings on Oct. 2, 2009, at Tampa Bay. He was late covering first on a potential double-play in the fourth and heard some boos from the crowd of 41,122 during an outing that raised his ERA to 5.75.
Elsewhere in the AL, the Oakland Athletics defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2, the Texas Rangers thrashed the Los Angeles Angels 14-3, the Detroit Tigers downed the Kansas City Royals 9-4, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Baltimore Orioles 5-2 and the Seattle Mariners edged the Houston Astros 8-7.
In the National League, Brandon Crawford homered twice as the San Francisco Giants beat Atlanta 4-1 to complete a three-game sweep that extended the Braves’ losing streak to six games — their longest since dropping eight straight in May 2012.
Madison Bumgarner (3-3) allowed one unearned run and three hits in six innings, striking out nine as the Giants won their fifth in a row. Santiago Casilla pitched the ninth for his first save.
Alex Wood (2-5) lost his fourth straight start, giving up two runs and seven hits in five innings.
San Francisco have homered in 11 straight games for the first time since achieving the feat in the period from Sept. 23, 2010 to April 3, 2011, according to STATS.
Miami’s Jeff Baker hit a winning double off the wall against Jamey Wright (2-2) with two outs in the ninth inning as the Marlins edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-4.
Rightfielder Yasiel Puig retreated and made a leaping try for an acrobatic catch, but slammed against the fence and the ball deflected off it and hit him in the face. Puig collapsed to his stomach and was slow to rise, but he has sicne passed a concussion test and Los Angeles said his status is day-to-day.
Giancarlo Stanton homered twice and drove in three runs for Miami to take the NL lead in home runs on 10 and in RBIs with 36.
In other NL games, the New York Mets trounced the Colorado Rockies 5-1, the Philadelphia Phillies blanked the Washington Nationals 1-0, the Cincinnati Reds edged the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3, the St Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs Cubs 5-4 and the San Diego Padres were 4-3 winners over the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3.
In the day’s sole interleague game, the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2.
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
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