MAJOR LEAGUES
Detroit pitcher Max Scherzer continued his imperious form by leading the Tigers to a 1-0 win at Boston in Friday’s opening game of a three-game series between the two American League (AL) powers.
Detroit maintained their impressive 6.5-game lead atop the AL Central division, while West leader Oakland powered their way to an 11-1 rout of Cleveland.
Elsewhere, Miami closed in on the National League East lead with a win over San Francisco, whose lead atop the West was trimmed by Colorado’s victory over San Diego.
Scherzer (6-1), the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, pitched six-plus scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in winning his sixth straight start and lowering his league-leading ERA to a miserly 1.83.
He got the better of a classic pitchers’ duel against Boston’s John Lester, who gave up only one run: Torii Hunter’s RBI single in the first inning.
Miami’s Casey McGehee singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth inning to help the Marlins beat San Francisco and earn a rare road win.
Derek Dietrich and Christian Yelich homered, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia snapped a zero-for-26 skid with four singles — matching his career high — as the Marlins improved their poor road record to 5-16.
Giants reliever Santiago Casilla (1-1) got out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, but could not escape trouble in the ninth, allowing two baserunners before McGehee’s tiebreaking single to right field.
Oakland’s Josh Reddick hit a grand slam and another homer to drive in a career-high six runs, powering the Athletics to an 11-1 rout of Cleveland.
Reddick’s second career grand slam and Josh Donaldson’s three-run shot came in an eight-run second inning. Reddick added a two-run homer in the seventh.
Indians starter Zach McAllister (4-3) was pulled after just four outs — the shortest outing of his career.
Colorado withstood a late rally to beat San Diego 3-1, with Jorge de la Rosa pitching seven scoreless innings.
De la Rosa’s bid for the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at Coors Field ended in the seventh inning, when he gave up a leadoff triple. It was just the second time a Padres batter had hit the ball beyond the infield up to that point.
De la Rosa retired the next three batters to blank the Padres on one hit through seven innings. He has won his past five starts since beginning the season 0-3.
St Louis’ Allen Craig had three hits, drove in a run and scored twice in the Cardinals’ 5-2 win over Atlanta.
Matt Carpenter and Kolten Wong had two hits each and scored a run for St Louis. Matt Holiday, Matt Adams and Yadier Molina all drove in a run for the Cardinals.
St Louis starter Lance Lynn (5-2) allowed two runs over seven innings.
Toronto’s Drew Hutchison outdueled Texas’ Yu Darvish and steered the Blue Jays to a 2-0 win over the Rangers.
Hutchison (2-3) pitched his first career complete game, earning his first victory since his first start of the season on April 1.
Melky Cabrera hit a two-run double in the eighth inning to account for the game’s only score.
Baltimore’s Chris Tillman tossed his first career shutout as the Orioles won 4-0 at Kansas City.
Tillman (4-2) gave up only one walk to continue the dominance of Baltimore’s pitchers over the Royals, having given up only one run the previous day.
Nelson Cruz drove in two runs for the Orioles.
Tampa Bay pitcher Chris Archer (3-2) threw 5-2/3 scoreless innings to guide the Rays to a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Washington’s Tyler Moore had two hits and drove in a pair of runs as the Nationals defeated the New York Mets 5-2.
Minnesota’s Brian Dozier and Josmil Pinto homered as the Twins hung on for a 5-4 win over Seattle.
Milwaukee’s Kyle Lohse pitched seven effective innings in his first victory in three weeks, guiding the Brewers to a 4-3 win over the sloppy Chicago Cubs.
Los Angeles’ Zack Greinke threw eight scoreless innings as the Dodgers beat Arizona 7-0 to continue their mastery of the Diamondbacks.
Cincinnati beat the struggling Philadelphia 3-0, with Alfredo Simon pitching 7-2/3 scoreless innings.
Chicago’s Adam Dunn hit a three-run home run to lift the White Sox over Houston 7-2.
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
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