American LeagueJered Weaver became the first Major League Baseball rookie in 25 years to win his first seven starts, pitching the Los Angeles Angels past the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Sunday.
Robb Quinlan hit a two-run single and Adam Kennedy had an RBI single off Brandon Duckworth (1-4), sending the surging Angels to their eighth win in 11 games. They improved to 15-4 in July and 11-2 in their last 13 games at Kansas City.
Weaver (7-0) allowed one run and three hits in 6 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking four. The 23-year-old right-hander has a 1.15 ERA in 47 innings.
PHOTO: AP
Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the last rookie to win his first seven starts when he opened 8-0 in 1981.
Tigers 8, Athletics 4
In Detroit, Carlos Guillen tripled, doubled and singled, leading Nate Robertson and Detroit over Oakland.
PHOTO: AP
Magglio Ordonez added a two-run single and scored twice, and Brandon Inge had three hits for the Tigers, who improved MLB's best record to 66-32 with their fourth win in five games. Guillen also drove in two runs. After getting three hits in the first four innings, he missed a chance at the cycle when he walked in the sixth.
Twins 3, Indians 1
In Cleveland, rookie Francisco Liriano struck out 10 in five innings, and Minnesota tied a 40-year-old team record with 17 strikeouts in a victory over Cleveland.
PHOTO: AP
The 17 strikeouts set an Indians record for a nine-inning game and tied the Twins' mark for pitchers set on May 6, 1966, at Boston. Liriano (12-2) gave up one run and four hits while walking three. It was his third double-digit strikeout game this season, and Minnesota rebounded from its first loss in nine games.
White Sox 5, Rangers 0
In Chicago, Jon Garland came within two outs of a shutout and Chicago beat Texas to snap a four-game losing streak.
The ill will between the White Sox and Vicente Padilla resurfaced after Texas' starter hit Alex Cintron with a third-inning pitch. Garland responded by throwing the first two pitches of the fourth behind Ian Kinsler.
The White Sox managed just five hits, but they moved runners. And Tadahito Iguchi delivered the big blow in the fifth, when he followed Scott Podsednik's second RBI grounder with his 11th homer to extend Chicago's lead to 4-0. Podsednik led off the eighth with a homer against Joaquin Benoit.
Mariners 9, Red Sox 8
In Seattle, Richie Sexson homered leading off the bottom of the ninth inning to give Seattle a victory over Boston.
Adrian Beltre hit the first inside-the-park homer in the seven-year history of Safeco Field and Eduardo Perez also homered and drove in three runs for the Mariners, who took two of three in the series. First-place Boston remained 2.5 games ahead of the New York Yankees in the AL East Division.
Blue Jays 13, Yankees 5
In Toronto, Vernon Wells hit two of Toronto's five homers and the Blue Jays scored eight times in the third inning to rout New York.
Orioles 4, Devil Rays 2
In St. Petersburg, Florida, Erik Bedard pitched seven strong innings to win his seventh consecutive start and Melvin Mora hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth as Baltimore beat Tampa Bay.
National League
Pitcher Roy Oswalt touched off a four-run Houston rally with his second hit of the game and the Astros came from behind on Sunday to beat the New York Mets 8-4.
The victory ended a three-game losing streak for the Astros, who avoided a weekend sweep.
New York was leading 3-1 on Carlos Delgado's first-inning home run when Oswalt (7-7), who had singled to help build Houston's first run, opened the fifth with a pop fly that fell off second baseman Jose Valentin's glove for another hit. The Astros went on to bat around and score four runs to take the lead.
Marlins 5, Pirates 4
In Miami, Dan Uggla homered in the third inning, then singled home the winning run with one out in the ninth, helping Florida beat Pittsburgh.
Alfredo Amezaga walked to start the ninth against Mike Gonzalez (3-4) and advanced on a sacrifice. Uggla followed with a single to center, and Amezaga easily beat Jose Bautista's throw home.
Uggla also hit his 14th homer of the year and his first since June 20.
Brewers 4, Reds 1
In Cincinnati, Tomo Ohka allowed three hits in eight innings, a sign that he has recovered from shoulder problems, and the struggling Brewers avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Reds.
Brady Clark singled home a pair of runs off left-hander Eric Milton (6-6), and the Brewers tacked on two in the seventh against recently acquired reliever Gary Majewski.
In his second start since coming off the disabled list, Ohka (3-1) allowed only a pair of singles and Brandon Phillips' solo homer in the eighth. The right-hander struck out a season-high seven before turning a 4-1 lead over to the NL's worst bullpen.
Nationals 7, Cubs 1
In Washington, Tony Armas Jr pitched seven strong innings for his first win since June 4, Alfonso Soriano and Ryan Church homered, and the Nationals beat the Cubs to complete their first home sweep of the season.
Padres 6, Giants 5, 12 innings
In San Francisco, Mike Cameron tripled leading off the 12th inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Eric Young, and San Diego avoided its first four-game sweep in San Francisco in nearly 13 years.
The Padres regained Major League Baseball's NL West Division lead, moving a half-game ahead of the Giants by ending a four-game skid and snapping San Francisco's season-best five-game winning streak.
Cardinals 6, Dodgers 1
In Los Angeles, Jason Marquis became the National League's first 12-game winner, Juan Encarnacion homered twice and St. Louis swept the season series from Los Angeles for the first time in the 115-year rivalry.
The Cardinals set a franchise record by homering in their 19th consecutive game. Scott Rolen and rookie Chris Duncan each added two-run singles in the fifth for St. Louis, which finished 7-0 against the Dodgers this year.
Rockies 9, Diamondbacks 7
In Phoenix, Garrett Atkins hit a two-run double with one out in the ninth inning to help Colorado beat Arizona.
The Rockies rallied against Diamondbacks closer Jorge Julio (1-4), who blew his second save in 14 chances. Julio gave up an RBI single to Clint Barmes with one out before Atkins doubled home two runs.
Todd Helton added another run with a single off Brandon Medders, who relieved Julio.
Julio gave up four runs, three hits and a walk while getting just one out.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
‘TOUGH TO BREATHE’: Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur suffered an asthma attack in her 7-5, 6-3 victory over Colombia’s Camila Osorio Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday cruised into the second round of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Iga Swiatek romped into a third-round women’s singles showdown with Emma Raducanu and Taylor Fritz was just as emphatic in his pursuit of a maiden Grand Slam title. Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, the third seeds, defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls of Britain 7-5, 6-2 in 90 minutes in Melbourne. Ostapenko and Hsieh — who won the women’s doubles and mixed doubles at the Australian Open last year — hit 25 winners and converted five of nine break points to set
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
Dubbed a “motorway for cyclists” where avid amateurs can chase Tadej Pogacar up mountains teeming with the highest concentration of professional cyclists per square kilometer in the world, Spain’s Costa Blanca has forged a new reputation for itself in the past few years. Long known as the ideal summer destination for those in search of sun, sea and sand, the stretch of coast between Valencia and Alicante now has a winter vocation too. During the season break in December and January, the region experiences an invasion of cyclists. Star names such as three-time Tour de France winner Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and Julian Alaphilippe
RSS