Mike Trout and Albert Pujols drove in two runs apiece, Jered Weaver pitched seven strong innings, and the Los Angeles Angels completed a perfect homestand with a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.
Pujols had three hits and Josh Hamilton drove in a run to help the Angels win their sixth straight and move a season-best 11 games over .500 (44-33). Trout had two doubles, including a two-run drive down the left-field line in the seventh.
The Angels have won 15 of 17 in Anaheim, where they have the majors’ best home record. Los Angeles swept Texas and Minnesota to complete their first unbeaten homestand with at least six games since May 2004.
Photo: AFP
Weaver (8-6) yielded eight hits — all singles — and struck out six to improve to 7-0 in eight career starts against Minnesota.
The right-hander, who threw a no-hitter against Minnesota in 2012, has given up one run in 24 innings while striking out 24 in his last three home meetings with the Twins.
Joe Mauer hit a three-run double with two outs in the ninth for Minnesota.
Photo: USA TODAY
Ricky Nolasco (4-6) was the loser.
TIGERS 6, RANGERS 0
In Arlington, Texas, Rick Porcello pitched a three-hitter for his first career shutout and 10th victory this season as Detroit beat skidding Texas to win their seventh consecutive game.
Photo: AFP
Miguel Cabrera had four hits and Austin Jackson hit a two-run single for the AL Central leaders, who completed a three-game sweep.
While the Tigers have the longest winning streak in the majors, Texas have the longest losing streak at eight in a row.
Porcello (10-4) limited the Rangers to three singles and benefited from three double plays. He struck out six and walked three, throwing a season-high 115 pitches.
Photo: AFP
It was only the second complete game for Porcello in 164 major league starts — all for the Tigers since 2009. The right-hander has won at least 10 games in each of his six seasons.
Rangers rookie Nick Martinez (1-5) allowed six hits and walked five of the 18 batters he faced in 2/1-3 innings. Texas have their longest losing streak since dropping eight in a row in August 2005.
BLUE JAYS 7, WHITE SOX 0
In Toronto, Ontario, Adam Lind had three hits and three RBIs, and J.A. Happ pitched a season-high 7/2-3 innings in Toronto’s shutout of Chicago.
Jose Reyes had four hits and scored twice as the AL East leaders handed the struggling White Sox their seventh loss in eight games. Chicago lost for the 10th time in 11 road games.
Happ (7-4) allowed four hits and won for the third time in five starts. The left-hander struck out a season-high eight.
Chicago center-fielder Adam Eaton left in the first inning with cramps in his left leg.
Starting for the first time since May 19, White Sox right-hander Scott Carroll (2-4) gave up five runs and nine hits in five innings.
DODGERS 1, CARDINALS 0
In Los Angeles, pinch-hitter Justin Turner delivered an RBI single in the eighth inning off Adam Wainwright, and Los Angeles edged St Louis in their first meeting since last year’s NL championship series.
Josh Beckett pitched seven sharp innings in a tight duel with Wainwright, who held the Dodgers hitless through five. Left-fielder Matt Kemp threw out a Cardinals runner at the plate in the seventh.
Juan Uribe, just off the disabled list after missing 34 games with a right hamstring strain, led off the eighth with a single and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Butera before rookie Miguel Rojas’ infield single put runners at the corners.
Turner, batting for reliever Brian Wilson, came through with his 20th RBI of the season.
Wilson (1-2) pitched a perfect inning and Kenley Jansen got three outs for his 24th save.
Wainwright (10-4) took a hard-luck loss. He gave up five hits while going the distance for the 19th time in 201 regular-season starts.
In other MLB games it was:
‧ Brewers 7, Rockies 4
‧ Phillies 5, Marlins 3, (14 inns)
‧ Pirates 5, Mets 2
‧ Cubs 5, Nationals 3
‧ Astros 6, Braves 1
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later