MAJOR LEAGUES
Max Scherzer pitched seven impressive innings, outdueling Zack Greinke and helping the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1 on Wednesday.
Detroit was without sluggers Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, but the American League (AL) Central-leading Tigers scored two runs in the first inning and Scherzer (11-3) made the lead hold up. The All-Star right-hander allowed a run and four hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY
Greinke (11-5) allowed three runs and seven hits in seven innings. He struck out eight without a walk.
Washington’s Doug Fister allowed two runs over seven innings as the Nationals hit three solo homers in a 6-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
Wilson Ramos, Ian Desmond and Jayson Werth connected for the Nationals, who took control early and cruised to the finish in this interleague matchup between first-place clubs.
Hunter Pence homered and drove in two runs for San Francisco, while Matt Cain pitched six strong innings as the Giants downed the Athletics 5-2 to spoil Jason Hammel’s debut for Oakland.
Cain (2-7) allowed two runs and five hits for his first win since May 15 against Miami. He struck out four and walked two to help the Giants snap Oakland’s six-game winning streak.
Hammel (0-1), acquired by the A’s along with fellow right-hander Jeff Samardzija from the Chicago Cubs last week for three top prospects, disjointed the thumb on his glove hand, but stayed in the game.
At Cincinnati, Alfredo Simon became the National League’s first 12-game winner and Billy Hamilton added to his sensational series with a tiebreaking triple, leading the Reds over the trade-depleted Chicago Cubs 4-1.
The Reds won their fifth in a row — matching their season high — and moved a season-best seven games over .500. They were to try for their first five-game sweep since 1976 yesterday.
The Met’s right-hander Dillon Gee pitched into the eighth inning after two months on the disabled list, while Travis d’Arnaud hit a two-run homer as New York beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 for their first four-game winning streak in a year, while at Cleveland Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-out homer in the 14th inning sent the New York Yankees to a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Boston’s Daniel Nava doubled home the tying run in the ninth inning and scored off Brock Holt’s single as the Red Sox came back from a four-run deficit to beat the Chicago White Sox 5-4 and end a four-game losing streak.
In other games, Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh inning as the Los Angeles Angels edged the Toronto Blue Jays 8-7.
The Arizona Diamondbacks claimed a 10th-inning win over the Miami Marlins 4-3, while the Colorado Rockies beat the San Diego Padres 6-3 and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4.
The Houston Astros climbed out of last place in the AL West with an 8-4 win over the Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1. The St Louis Cardinals downed the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 and the Minnesota Twins were 8-1 winners over the Seattle Mariners.
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