Manny Machado and Chris Davis hit first-inning homers, and Ubaldo Jimenez had a season-high nine strikeouts over seven sharp innings as the Orioles celebrated their return to Baltimore with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday night.
Adam Jones also homered for the Orioles, who had lost five of six to fall into last place in the AL East.
Because of rioting and violence in the city, the Orioles last played in front of their home fans on April 26. Enjoying the comfort of familiar surroundings and fueled by a spirited crowd of 20,468, Baltimore took a quick 3-0 lead and cruised to the finish behind Jimenez (3-2).
Photo: AFP
In their previous game at Camden Yards, the Orioles won on April 29 behind closed doors, a decision made for fan safety. Although the atmosphere in the city remains tense, the fans appeared delighted to turn their attention toward baseball.
Wearing “Baltimore” on their home white jerseys instead of the customary “Orioles,” the home team provided many a feel-good moment.
Zach Britton got three outs for his seventh save.
Marco Estrada (1-2) took the loss.
YANKEES 11, RAYS 5
In St Petersburg, Florida, C.C. Sabathia won for the first time in more than a year as Alex Rodriguez hit one of five New York homers against Tampa Bay.
Sabathia (1-5) allowed four runs in seven innings to stop a nine-start winless streak since a victory over Boston on April 24 last year. The lefty missed most of last season with a knee injury.
Rodriguez put the Yankees up 1-0 on his eighth homer this season and 662nd overall, a long drive to left field in the first.
A-Rod was hit on the arm by Erasmo Ramirez’s pitch in the ninth and scored when Mark Teixeira hit a two-run homer. Chase Headley, Carlos Beltran and Brett Gardner also homered for the Yankees, who have won all four games this season at Tropicana Field and are 6-1 overall against the Rays.
Logan Forsythe homered and drove in three runs for the Rays.
Headley and Gardner each had a three-run shot off Alex Colome (2-1).
DODGERS 5, MARLINS 3
In Los Angeles, Scott Van Slyke hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Los Angeles a victory over Miami.
Two innings after throwing out a runner at home plate to complete a double play, Van Slyke connected off struggling closer Steve Cishek.
Christian Yelich gave the Marlins a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth with a two-run homer off rookie Yimi Garcia before Cishek (1-3) allowed a one-out walk to Yasmani Grandal and a single by Andre Ethier.
Van Slyke handed Cishek his fourth blown save in seven opportunities.
J.P. Howell (2-1) got the win after retiring former Dodger Dee Gordon with the bases loaded.
Zack Greinke went seven innings for the Dodgers, lowering his ERA to 1.52. He has not lost in 15 starts since Aug. 9 last year against Milwaukee.
Marcell Ozuna also homered for Miami.
RED SOX 5, ATHLETICS 4, 11 INNS
In Oakland, California, Pablo Sandoval homered leading off the 11th inning for Boston in his return to the Bay Area, where he won three championships with the San Francisco Giants.
Sandoval just cleared the fence in right on an 0-2 pitch from Angel Castro (0-1) for his fourth homer of the year and second in two days, helping the Red Sox win consecutive games for the first time since April 20-21.
Matt Barnes (1-0) pitched two innings for the win.
Oakland lost their sixth straight and fell to a major league-worst 0-6 in extra innings this season. The A’s are 1-11 in one-run games. They have their longest skid since dropping nine in a row in 2012.
Sandoval received his latest World Series ring from Giants manager Bruce Bochy on Sunday night at the Red Sox team hotel.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Pirates 4, Phillies 3
‧ Brewers 10, White Sox 7
‧ Rangers 8, Royals 2
‧ Cubs 4, Mets 3
‧ Braves 2, Reds 1
‧ Nationals 11, Diamondbacks 1
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
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite