Brian Anderson on Wednesday hit his first career grand slam as the Miami Marlins spoiled Jimmy Nelson’s return to the major leagues, beating the Milwaukee Brewers 8-3.
Starlin Castro and Bryan Holaday each drove in two runs as the surging Marlins earned their fourth straight victory. Sandy Alcantara (3-5) pitched seven crisp innings in his first win since he tossed a two-hitter in a 3-0 victory over the New York Mets on May 19.
Nelson lasted just three innings in his first major league start in 21 months. The right-hander was cheered loudly when he was introduced with the starting lineup and then received another big ovation from the Miller Park crowd of 26,615 when he went out to the mound for the first.
Photo: AP
Nelson, who turned 30 on Wednesday, was working on a breakout season in 2017 when he injured his pitching shoulder diving back to first after rounding the base on a single. He had surgery and missed last year, when Milwaukee won the division title and made it to the National League Championship Series.
Orlando Arcia had a run-scoring double in the second and Yasmani Grandal connected for a two-run homer in the ninth, but that was it for Milwaukee. The Brewers have been outscored by the last-place Marlins 24-3 through the first two games of the series.
Grandal also tried to score on Arcia’s tying double to center, but he was cut down at the plate on a nice relay by shortstop Miguel Rojas. He was originally ruled safe, but the call was overturned by a replay review.
Miami also got a big defensive play in the first when Harold Ramirez robbed Lorenzo Cain of a homer with a leaping grab at the right-field wall.
The Marlins, who have won 13 of 18 overall, went ahead to stay in the third. Nelson (0-1) issued a leadoff walk to Alcantara that proved costly. Curtis Granderson followed with a single and Garrett Cooper walked before Anderson drove Nelson’s next pitch over the center-field wall for his seventh homer.
Nelson was charged with five runs, four earned, and four hits in his first big league start since Sept. 8, 2017. He struck out two and walked three.
Alcantara permitted five hits, struck out five and walked one. The right-hander pitched six scoreless innings in a no-decision against San Francisco in his previous start.
In other games, it was:
‧ Nationals 6, White Sox 4
‧ Diamondbacks 3, Dodgers 2
‧ Padres 5, Phillies 7
‧ Pirates 7, Braves 4
‧ Blue Jays 11, Yankees 7
‧ Indians 9, Twins 7
‧ Tigers 0, Rays 4
‧ Mets 7, Giants 0
‧ Royals 0, Red Sox 8
‧ Angels 10, Athletics 9
‧ Mariners 14, Astros 1
‧ Cardinals v Reds, ppd
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
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but