MAJOR LEAGUES
Mark Buehrle on Sunday became the first 10-game winner in the major leagues this season, after hurling eight scoreless innings as the Toronto Blue Jays split their four-game set with the Kansas City Royals with a 4-0 victory.
Buehrle (10-1) did not allow a runner to reach third base to win his sixth consecutive decision, while Edwin Encarnacion went two-for-three and hit his 19th home run for the American League East-leading Blue Jays (34-24).
Photo: EPA
The loss was the Royals’ (26-30) second straight after taking the first two games of the series and they were to continue their six-game road trip against the St Louis Cardinals yesterday.
Giants 8, Cardinals 0
Joaquin Arias, filling in at first base, went three-for-four with three RBIs as the San Francisco Giants crushed the St Louis Cardinals.
Starter Tim Hudson (6-2) allowed only three hits and two walks over seven scoreless innings, as the Giants (37-20) took three-of-four from the Cardinals (30-27) and upped their healthy National League West lead to 7.5 games.
Brewers 9, Cubs 0
Scooter Gennett had three hits — including a solo home run in the fifth — and Kyle Lohse threw a complete game shutout as the Milwaukee Brewers took a three-game series from the Chicago Cubs.
Lohse (7-1) won his seventh consecutive decision by holding the Cubs (20-34) to three hits while striking out six. He also went two-for-three at the plate with two RBIs for NL Central leaders Milwaukee (34-23).
Rangers 2, Nationals 0
Starter Yu Darvish pitched eight shutout innings and Leonys Martin hit a solo homer to break a scoreless tie in the seventh as the Texas Rangers beat the Washington Nationals to avoid a three-game sweep.
Darvish (5-2) was scratched from his previous start on Tuesday last week with stiffness in his neck, but he fanned 12 batters on Sunday and struck out five in a row.
Athletics 6, Angels 3
Sonny Gray allowed three runs over 6-2/3 innings and shortstop Jed Lowrie homered to help the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels and their nemesis Jared Weaver.
The A’s (35-22) increased their lead in the American League West to 4.5 games over the Angels (30-26) and reversed their fortunes against Weaver.
Weaver (6-4) had gone 8-1 with a 0.87 ERA against the A’s in 11 starts since 2011 before Sunday’s game.
Red Sox 4, Rays 0
Left-hander Jon Lester tossed seven shutout innings and struck out 12, as infielder Brock Holt stroked four doubles to power the Boston Red Sox to their seventh win in a row.
Boston (27-29), losers of 10 consecutive games after last Sunday’s loss at Tampa Bay (23-34), continued to turn things around to hand the Rays their sixth straight loss.
Twins 7, Yankees 2
Phil Hughes pitched eight strong innings against his former team and second baseman Brian Dozier had the go-ahead RBI double with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as the Minnesota Twins stormed back to beat the New York Yankees.
Hughes (6-1) made his return to New York after signing a three-year deal with the Twins following seven seasons with the Yankees (29-26).
He allowed two runs in the fourth inning, when Minnesota (26-28) fell behind before rallying with six runs in the ninth.
Braves 4, Marlins 2
Evan Gattis hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to lead the Atlanta Braves to a win over the Miami Marlins.
The win gave the Atlanta Braves (31-25) a three-game sweep of the Marlins (28-28). The two teams started the series tied for first place in the NL East, but the Braves are now alone in the top spot.
Mariners 4, Tigers 0
Seattle Mariners rookie Roenis Elias threw his first complete-game shutout while outdueling reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.
Elias surrendered just three hits and struck out nine for Seattle (28-28), while Scherzer (6-2) gave up four runs in 6-2/3 innings as Detroit dropped to 31-22.
White Sox 4, Padres 1
Chris Sale threw a complete game, while Paul Konerko drove in three runs to lead the Chicago White Sox in their triumph against the San Diego Padres.
Sale (5-0) struck out nine without issuing a walk for his first complete game since August last year.
Orioles 9, Astros 4
Manny Machado belted his first grand slam, capping a six-run sixth inning to lead the Baltimore Orioles over the Houston Astros.
The win broke the Orioles (28-27) out of a slump that saw them score just nine runs in their past four games.
Mets 4, Phillies 3 (11 innings)
Lucas Duda’s 11th-inning, two-run home run gave the New York Mets their second extra-innings victory in as many days over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pitcher Josh Edgin earned the victory for the Mets (27-29), striking out the side in his one inning of work, while Jenrry Majia got his sixth save.
Reds 4, Diamondbacks 3
Ryan Ludwick had two hits, including one of Cincinnati’s four home runs, and Alfredo Simon won his career-high seventh game of the season as the Reds defeated Arizona.
Ludwick, Zack Cozart, Todd Frazier and Chris Heisey hit solo homers as the Reds (26-29) won the final three games of their four-game series against Arizona (23-36).
In other games on Sunday it was:
‧ Pirates 5, Dodgers 3
‧ Indians 6, Rockies 4
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
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB