MAJOR LEAGUES
A pair of two-run homers by Washington provoked New York Mets pitcher Bartolo Colon into angry reactions that prompted his dismissal from the game, as the Nationals won 6-2 to boost their National League (NL) East lead.
The victory moved Washington 8.5 games clear with only 17 to play and the Nationals are the only team that can be confident of participating in the NL playoffs.
Photo: USA Today
Central leaders St Louis were held scoreless and slid to their third-straight loss to imperil their divisional title ambitions.
Elsewhere, Miami’s MVP candidate Giancarlo Stanton was hit in the face by a pitch and is expected to miss the rest of the season as the Marlins lost to Milwaukee, while in the American League (AL), Oakland’s slide continued with a loss at the Chicago White Sox.
Washington’s Adam LaRoche and Anthony Rendon both hit two-run homers off Colon and each time the Mets pitcher responded by hitting the following batter. The second occasion, when his pitch struck Jayson Werth above the left elbow, triggered his ejection.
It was the 12th straight time that a visiting Washington had won at Citi Field, and the Nationals moved ever closer to their second division title in three years.
Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto threw eight scoreless innings to beat Lance Lynn in a pitchers’ duel and lead the Reds to a 1-0 win over St Louis.
Cueto (18-8) allowed just three hits to help the Reds win a series against the Cardinals for only the second time in the past 13 occasions.
Lynn (15-9) retired 15 straight before Brandon Phillips led off the eighth inning with the Reds’ first walk of the game. Phillips went to third base on Jay Bruce’s single and scored on Ramon Santiago’s sinking liner to short center-field that John Jay got a glove on, but could not hold.
Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball and was bleeding from the face as he was driven off the field in an ambulance in a 4-2 loss to Milwaukee.
The Marlins said Stanton, the major league RBI leader and a top candidate for the NL MVP award, was being treated at a hospital for a facial cut. He also was undergoing X-rays and a CT scan after being hit by Brewers starter Mike Fiers.
Miami manager Mike Redmond said he expected Stanton would miss the rest of the season.
Reed Johnson batted for Stanton and was hit in the hand by Fiers’ next pitch, triggering a bench-clearing brawl.
Ryan Braun and rookie Matt Clark homered for the Brewers, who remained 1.5 games behind Pittsburgh for the second NL wild-card spot.
Chicago’s Chris Sale beat Scott Kazmir in a brilliant pitchers’ duel as the White Sox won 1-0 against Oakland.
Sale (12-3) pitched eight scoreless innings, giving up only two hits, between which he retired 17 straight batters. Sale lowered his ERA to an AL-best 1.99, striking out nine.
Light-hitting Marcus Semien homered for the only run to send the A’s to their 11th loss in 14 games, trimming their lead in the AL wild-card race to one game over Detroit and 1.5 games over Seattle.
New York’s Chris Young got his team’s first hit in the eighth inning and then hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth that lifted the Yankees to a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay.
Martin Prado connected for a two-run homer immediately after Rays’ starter Alex Cobb was removed in the eighth, while Young homered off closer Jake McGee (4-2) with one out to win it.
New York are clinging to faint playoff hopes, four games behind the last wild-card spot.
Los Angeles extended their winning streak to eight games — and their AL West lead into double figures — by beating Texas 7-3, with Erick Aybar hitting an early two-run homer.
Last-placed Boston took advantage of three critical errors by first-placed Kansas City and beat the Royals 6-3, ending a four-game skid and cutting KC’s lead in the AL Central to half a game over Detroit.
Pittsburgh’s Francisco Liriano struck out a season-high 12 in eight dominant innings, steering the Pirates to a 4-1 win against Philadelphia.
San Francisco’s Jake Peavy struck out eight and did not walk a batter to win his third start in a row, and lead the Giants to their ninth-consecutive home win, beating Arizona 6-2.
Cleveland won both games of a double-header against Minnesota, taking the opener 8-2 and then shutting out the Twins 2-0 in the night game.
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
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was