American League
AP, NEW YORK
Baltimore sent Roger Clemens to his quickest exit in a year, with Jeff Conine and B.J. Surhoff hitting early home runs to back Sidney Ponson and lead the Orioles over the New York Yankees 5-3 on Thursday.
Clemens (9-7), in the final season of his 20-year career in the major leagues, lasted just four innings, gave up nine hits and left trailing 5-0.
Ponson (14-5) tied Toronto's Roy Halladay and Atlanta's Russ Ortiz for the major league lead in victories, winning his fourth straight start since a June 30 loss to the Yankees. He had been 0-8 in 14 starts against the Yankees since Sept. 19, 1998.
Ponson, watched closely by teams in the trade market, tied for the major league lead with 14 wins as he led the Baltimore Orioles over Roger Clemens and the New York Yankees 5-3 Thursday.
"If it happens, it happens," Ponson said of a possible deal. "I just pack my bags and I'm gone."
He took a shutout into the sixth inning before the Yankees got a pair of runs. He allowed six hits, struck out five and walked three.
Ponson says he's put the talks out of his mind.
"It just shows you how much Sidney has grown, to be able to separate the two," Orioles manager Mike Hargrove said.
Devil Rays 15, Red Sox 9
In Boston, Damian Rolls hit a grand slam to highlight a seven-run fifth inning as Tampa Bay got a team-record 21 hits to beat Boston.
Rolls' first major league slam helped him drive in a career-high five runs. Antonio Perez also homered and had a career-best five RBIs as Tampa Bay matched its highest-scoring game of the season.
Twins 6, Royals 2
In Minneapolis, pinch-hitter A.J. Pierzynski singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning after Shannon Stewart's hustle on a bunt forced a key misplay, leading Minnesota past Kansas City.
Tigers 7, Indians 4
In Cleveland, Craig Monroe homered as Detroit roughed up C.C. Sabathia and beat Cleveland to end a six-game losing streak.
Sabathia (8-6) retired the first seven batters, but lost his command after the Tigers scored an unearned run on third baseman Casey Blake's error in the third.
White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3, 13 innings
In Toronto, Frank Thomas hit a go-ahead single in the 13th inning as Chicago won its season-high seventh straight game, 4-3 over Toronto in a rain-soaked SkyDome.
Angels 10, Rangers 6
In Arlington, Texas, Kevin Appier beat Texas for the first time in over seven years and David Eckstein had four hits as Anaheim defeated the Rangers.
Athletics 3, Mariners 0
In Seattle, Mark Mulder had a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings and Eric Chavez hit a solo homer as Oakland beat Seattle.
National League
AP, SAN FRANCISCO
Barry Bonds threw himself quite a birthday bash.
Bonds led off the bottom of the ninth inning with his 646th career homer only moments after making a spectacular, run-saving throw to give the San Francisco Giants their eighth straight win, 3-2 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Playing on his 39th birthday, the star left fielder threw out Craig Counsell at the plate in the top of the ninth, sending fans at Pacific Bell Park into a frenzy.
Then, it got even more crazy. Bonds followed with his major league-leading 33rd homer, giving him a San Francisco record 470 to pass Willie McCovey (469).
The crowd of 42,666 remained standing for several minutes, chanting "Barry! Barry!" and Bonds stepped out of the dugout and waved.
It was Bonds' seventh career game-ending homer, but he didn't stick around to celebrate. He rushed off to a hospital to visit his father, Bobby, who has lung cancer.
"My dad's in the hospital right now and I've got to go," Bonds said.
Dodgers 1, Rockies 0, 11 innings
In Los Angeles, Shawn Green hit an RBI single in the 11th inning and Kevin Brown pitched eight scoreless innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies to earn a split of their four-game series.
Brown, who lost his previous four starts, allowed three singles and lowered his ERA to a major league-leading 2.12. But Colorado All-Star Shawn Chacon was just as tough for seven innings.
Phillies 14, Cubs 6
In Chicago, Bobby Abreu hit a grand slam along with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly during a nine-run burst in the sixth inning that sent the Philadelphia Phillies over the Chicago Cubs.
Placido Polanco drove in four runs with four hits and Todd Pratt homered for the Phillies.
Pirates 7, Reds 5, 11 innings
In Cincinnati, Matt Stairs had an RBI double in the 11th inning, and the trade-decimated Pittsburgh Pirates completed another sweep at Great American Ball Park by beating the Cincinnati Reds.
Braves 5, Marlins 2
In Atlanta, Russ Ortiz won his seventh consecutive start and became the NL's first 14-game winner and Javy Lopez hit a two-run homer as the Atlanta Braves beat the Florida Marlins.
Brewers 2, Astros 1
In Milwaukee, Keith Ginter hit a pinch-hit home run in the seventh inning to lift Milwaukee over the Houston Astros.
Expos 5, Mets 1
In Montreal, Livan Hernandez won his fourth straight decision and Wil Cordero homered to lead Montreal over New York.
INJURY TURMOIL: Despite stunning French Open champions Paolini and Errani to advance, Chan was forced to pull out after her partner’s tearful women’s singles defeat Last year’s mixed doubles champions Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan and Poland’s Jan Zielinski on Monday crashed out of the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, leaving the Taiwanese star focused on pursuing a fifth women’s doubles title in London, while a partner injury forced compatriot Chan Hao-ching to give up on her doubles campaign. Hsieh and Zielinksi, who last year also won the Australia Open title, narrowly lost their opening set 7-6 (9/7), before Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani stunned the former champions 6-3 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. The Taiwanese-Polish duo had been dominant in the first two
Real Madrid’s FIFA Club World Cup quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund had taken three crazy turns during nine minutes of second-half stoppage time when Marcel Sabitzer chested the ball and sent a right-footed volley toward Thibaut Courtois’ post. Courtois leapt to his right, extended the long arm on his 2m frame and just managed to get his gloved fingertips on the ball, knocking it down. Courtois hit the ground as the ball bounded up. He looked skyward, planted his right hand to regain his balance, grabbed the ball with both hands on the second bounce and fell onto it with his chest. Sabitzer turned
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned French Olympic fencer Ysaora Thibus’ four-year suspension for doping, ruling that her positive test for a banned substance was caused by kissing her then-boyfriend, American fencer Race Imboden. Thibus, a silver medalist in team foil at the Tokyo Games, had tested positive for ostarine, a prohibited muscle-building substance, during a competition in Paris in January last year. However, CAS concluded there was no intentional wrongdoing, finding it scientifically plausible that repeated kissing over several days with Olympic medalist Imboden — who was taking ostarine at the time — led to accidental contamination. The court
‘SU-PENKO’: Hsieh and Ostapenko face a rematch against their Australian Open final opponents, the same duo Hsieh played in last year’s Wimbledon semi-finals Taiwanese women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei and Latvian partner Jelena Ostapenko on Wednesday survived a near upset to the unseeded duo of Sorana Cirstea of Romania and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, setting up a semi-final showdown against last year’s winners. Despite losing a hard-fought opening set 7-6 (7/4) on a tiebreak, the fourth seeds turned up the heat, losing just five games in the final two sets to handily put down Cirstea and Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2. Nicknamed “Su-Penko,” the pair are next to face top seeds Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the US in a reversal of last
RSS