Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman homered twice and doubled home the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning to lift the Nationals to a 4-3 win against St Louis on Wednesday, ending an alarming nine-game losing sequence.
The Nationals had loomed as one of the main competitors to the Cardinals for the National League title until the sudden slide, which left them 6.5 games off the pace in the NL East division and eight games off the wild-card berth with only 30 games to play.
St Louis maintained their six-game lead in the NL Central as nearest rival Pittsburgh lost to Milwaukee, while the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a series sweep of NL West rivals San Francisco to build a 6.5 game lead in that division.
Photo: AFP
In the American League, Kansas City routed Detroit, while Toronto beat Cleveland to maintain their lead in the AL East.
Zimmerman reached 200 career home runs with his second shot, while Jayson Werth also hit a homer for the Nationals.
Nationals starter Max Scherzer struck out 11 and left with a 3-2 lead after the sixth. Johnathon Papelbon earned his 23rd save in as many chances, escaping a jam in which there were runners at the corner bases with one out.
Photo: AFP
Los Angeles’ Clayton Kershaw struck out 15 to set a career high 251 for the season as the Dodgers beat San Francisco 2-1.
Kershaw (12-6) beat the Giants for the first time in four starts this season. He allowed one run and one walk in a career high-tying 132 pitches for his third complete game of the season. The 15 strikeouts also equaled a career high.
Chase Utley hit a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning for the Dodgers.
Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura struck out 11 over seven sharp innings as the Royals belted Detroit 12-1.
Ventura (10-7) walked one and hit one while matching a career high for strikeouts set in his previous start. The 24-year-old with the 100mph (161kph) fastball has not allowed more than two earned runs in his past five outings, and has won his past six decisions.
Kendrys Morales hit a three-run shot, Cheslor Cuthbert added his first career homer, and Ben Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain also went deep as the AL Central leaders cranked out 14 hits.
Toronto’s R.A. Dickey pitched a complete game to win his seventh straight decision and lead the Blue Jays past Cleveland 5-1.
Dickey (10-10) threw 92 pitches, including 68 strikes, in his second complete game of the season and 15th of his career. He was unbeaten in 10 starts. The knuckleballer set down 14 straight before giving up a single in the ninth.
Josh Donaldson had three hits with three RBIs — raising his majors-leading total to 111 — as the Blue Jays won for the fifth time in six games and maintained a 1.5-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East.
Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy drove in three runs and extended his hitting streak to a career high-tying 10 games as the Brewers beat Pittsburgh 9-4.
Adam Lind homered, singled and drove in two runs for Milwaukee, who have won seven of their past eight against the Pirates.
Seattle rookie Shawn O’Malley had three hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single in a two-run eighth inning as the Mariners beat Houston 8-3.
O’Malley’s line drive scored Logan Morrison to put Seattle on top 4-3 in the eighth and Morrison padded Seattle’s lead with a three-run shot in the ninth.
It was a season debut for O’Malley, who played 11 games with the Angels last year, but spent all this year in the minor leagues before being called up on Tuesday.
New York’s Greg Bird, John Ryan Murphy and Carlos Beltran homered during an eight-run second inning that set up the Yankees’ 13-8 win against Boston.
The win was the 800th of Yankees manager Joe Girardi’s career. He guided the Marlins for one year and is in his eighth season with New York. The Yankees have a 7-2 record at Fenway Park this season.
Texas’ Mitch Moreland doubled in the go-ahead run in the 10th to give the Rangers a 4-3 victory over San Diego.
Moreland’s line drive off Bud Norris (1-1) scored Elvis Andrus, who got on base from a one-out single.
The Rangers cut first-place Houston’s lead in the AL West to two games. Texas also retained their one-game lead over Minnesota for the second AL wild-card berth.
Cincinnati’s Joey Votto hit a three-run homer in the ninth inning, which was set up by a two-out error, as the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 7-4.
Minnesota’s Tommy Milone struck out seven in seven scoreless innings as the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 3-0.
Baltimore’s Chris Davis homered off Matt Andriese leading off the 11th inning to give the Orioles a 7-6 win against Tampa Bay, snapping a six-game losing skid.
New York’s Ruben Tejada hit an inside-the-park homer and drove in four runs as the Mets returned to winning ways with a 9-4 victory against Philadelphia.
Los Angeles’ Albert Pujols hit a two-run drive to make him one of four players with 10 35-home run seasons in a career, and the Angels defeated Oakland 9-4.
Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez homered twice, including a grand slam, and finished with a career-high seven RBIs in the Rockies’ 9-4 victory over Arizona.
Miami’s Marcell Ozuna hit a two-run homer, while Martin Prado and Jeff Mathis each had two RBIs as the Marlins won 7-3 to send reeling Atlanta to their eighth straight home loss.
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
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
Roger Federer on Wednesday said that staying involved with tennis in retirement helped him avoid feeling “like an alien” ahead of this week’s Laver Cup in Berlin. Federer, who helped create the tournament, retired at the Laver Cup in London two years ago and has since stayed involved with the competition as an ambassador. “I’m happy I went back right away to some tournaments,” the 43-year-old told reporters. “I feel I ripped the Band-Aid off quite quickly and when I walk around the tennis sites I still feel I belong there,” he said. “I don’t feel like an alien, which is a
Japanese players are moving to English soccer in record numbers and more look set to follow with clubs attracted by their quality, strong work ethic and value for money. Kaoru Mitoma is the standout talent of five Japanese players in the English Premier League, with eight more in the Championship and two in League One. Liverpool midfielder Wataru Endo, the captain of Japan, believes his compatriots are “being held in higher esteem” by English clubs compared with the past. “The staff at Liverpool ask me about lots of Japanese players, not necessarily with a view to a transfer, but just saying this or