National LeagueBarry Bonds splashed his 725th career home run into McCovey Cove, moving the San Francisco slugger within 30 of tying home run king Hank Aaron's record and giving the Giants a 5-0 win on Monday over Arizona.
Noah Lowry (6-7) pitched a two-hitter for his first complete game of the year and third of his career for the Giants. He walked one, struck out six and ended a five-start winless stretch while recording his first shutout since Aug. 3, 2004, against Cincinnati.
Bonds, who flied out to right ending the first, sent the first pitch he saw from Livan Hernandez (10-10) into the water beyond the right-field wall with two outs in the fourth for his 17th home run this season. Hernandez, trying to win back-to-back starts since coming to the D-Backs in an Aug. 7 trade with Washington, gave up eight hits and one earned run in seven innings while striking out seven.
PHOTO: AP
Braves 3, Pirates 0
In Atlanta, John Smoltz won his fifth straight home start, combining on a four-hitter.
Martin Prado, sent to the minor leagues on April 25, was recalled before the game and hit a two-run double.
PHOTO: AP
Smoltz (11-6) struck out 10, allowing three hits and one walk in eight innings in his fourth double-digit strikeout game of the season, the 40th of his career. He retired 14 consecutive batters starting with the final out of the first.
Bob Wickman finished with a one-hit ninth for his ninth straight save since the Braves acquired him from Cleveland on July 20.
Zach Duke (8-11) gave up three runs and seven hits in seven innings.
Marlins 3, Nationals 1
In Miami, Anibal Sanchez pitched seven solid innings to win for the first time in nearly a month.
Sanchez (5-2) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings, walking four and striking out four. It was his first win since July 25 at Atlanta -- a span of five starts. Sergio Mitre pitched a hitless eighth inning before Joe Borowski worked the ninth for his 28th save in 31 chances.
Billy Traber (3-2) gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2-3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two for Washington, which has lost three straight.
Reds 4, Astros 3
In Cincinnati, Rich Aurilia went 4-for-4 with a tying three-run homer in the eighth inning, and Royce Clayton hit an RBI single.
Ryan Franklin (4-6) pitched a perfect eighth to get the win, and newcomer Scott Schoeneweis got the last three outs for his first save.
Aubrey Huff hit two home runs for Houston, which has lost eight of 10.
Huff had a pair of solo homers, Lance Berkman connected off Bronson Arroyo and Willy Taveras extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a bunt single as Houston pulled ahead 3-0 after seven innings.
Chad Qualls (4-3) gave up a pair of hits and a first-pitch homer by Aurilia, who also had a pair of infield singles and a double. After two more singles, Clayton singled up the middle with two outs to give the Reds their first lead.
Phillies 6, Cubs 5
In Chicago, Chase Utley homered and accidentally delivered a hard hit on teammate Aaron Rowand, too, and Jimmy Rollins also homered to lead Jon Lieber and Philadelphia to its third straight win.
The Phillies moved back to .500 for the first time since June 19 and stayed within 2.5 games of Cincinnati in the NL wild-card race.
Lieber (6-9) won consecutive starts for the first time since May, when he won three straight. He gave up two runs on 11 hits in 6 2-3 innings. Arthur Rhodes gave up a two-run homer to Jacque Jones in the ninth, but held on for his third save.
Rich Hill (3-6) gave up 11 hits and two earned runs in six innings.
Padres 4, Dodgers 2
In San Diego, Tim Stauffer went six strong innings in an emergency start for ailing Chan Ho Park.
Stauffer (1-0) held the Dodgers to two runs -- one earned -- and three hits. He got the decision thanks to Mike Cameron, who hit a leadoff triple into the gap in right-center leading off the sixth against Elmer Dessens (0-1) and scored the go-ahead run on Adrian Gonzalez's groundout to shortstop.
The Dodgers lost for the fourth time in 23 games.
It was the third straight game the Padres had to shuffle their pitching due to injuries, and they managed consecutive wins for the second time in 14 games.
Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 32nd save in 36 chances, moving within 11 of breaking Lee Smith's record of 478.
American League
The New York Yankees completed a five-game sweep at Fenway Park, beating Boston 2-1 behind six shutout innings by Cory Lidle and extending their lead in Major League Baseball's American League East Division to a season-high 6.5 games over the Red Sox.
After bashing Boston in outscoring them 47-25 over three days and two early morning, the Yankees relied on their pitching to win the sleepy series finale.
Manager Joe Torre shouted in the Yankees' dugout and exchanged hearty handshakes with his coaches after the dominating weekend.
The Red Sox hadn't been swept in a five-game series since the Cleveland Indians did it in 1954. The Yankees swept Boston in five games in New York in 1951 and at Fenway in '43.
Athletics 12, Blue Jays 10
In Toronto, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons wound up with a bloody nose after scrapping with pitcher Ted Lilly near the Toronto dugout, and the Oakland Athletics rallied from an eight-run deficit to win.
Lilly was pulled when Oakland scored seven runs in the third inning. Gibbons chewed out Lilly, and they tangled in the tunnel leading to the clubhouse.
Gibbons and Lilly said no punches were thrown.
Bobby Kielty homered and drove in four runs for the AL West-leading A's, who tied an Oakland record for the biggest comeback.
Lilly had an 8-0 lead, but was pulled when Oakland scored seven runs in the third inning. Gibbons chewed out Lilly, and they tangled in the tunnel leading to the locker room.
Dan Haren (12-9) set an Oakland record by getting the victory despite allowing nine runs. Justin Duchscherer closed for his fourth save. Brandon League (0-1) took the loss.
Tigers 7, White Sox 1
In Detroit, in the opener of a possibly pivotal four-game series in the AL Central, Justin Verlander (15-6) gave up one run and five hits over seven innings for his first victory since Aug. 1.
Detroit had lost nine of its previous 12 games and its division lead -- which bulged to 10 games on Aug. 7 -- was down to 5.5 games.
Backed by Craig Monroe's two-run homer and Sean Casey's three RBIs, the Tigers beat Chicago for just the fourth time in 13 games this year and boosted their margin over the second-place White Sox back to 6.5 games.
Jose Contreras (11-6) gave up seven runs for the second straight game, allowing eight hits, a walk and two batters in five-plus innings.
Devil Rays 4, Rangers 3
In St. Petersburg, Florida, James Shields (6-6) won consecutive starts for the first time since mid-June, giving up three runs and eight hits in six innings. After winning four straight starts in June, he went 0-6 in nine starts, then ended his skid by defeating Toronto on Aug. 16.
Russell Branyan hit a tiebreaking single in the fifth off Adam Eaton (3-3), who allowed four runs and 11 hits in five innings.
In Texas manager Buck Showalter's first game following a four-game suspension, Hank Blalock homered and had three RBIs for the Rangers, whose three-game winning streak was stopped.
Seth McClung got three outs for his first major league save.
Adam Eaton (3-3) allowed four runs and 11 hits in five innings.
Santiago Castro on Tuesday had an immediate impact off the bench as he scored the goal to send Bologna into the Coppa Italia semi-finals for the first time in 26 years. Bologna won 1-0 against last year’s runners-up, Atalanta BC, and are to play either holders Juventus or Empoli in the final four. Juventus are to host Empoli in their quarter-final on Feb. 26. The last time Bologna reached the semi-finals was in 1999, when they lost 4-2 to ACF Fiorentina. There were chances for both sides in a high-tempo match in Bergamo, but it was Bologna who broke the deadlock 10 minutes from
After nearly six years away from the NBA, New Taipei Kings player Jeremy Lin (林書豪) is set to participate in the 2025 NBA All-Star Weekend’s Rising Stars mini-tournament as the coach of Team G League. The NBA announced Monday (U.S. time) that the Taiwanese-American player will join a trio of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famers – Tim Hardaway Sr., Chris Mullin, and Mitch Richmond – as honorary coaches for four teams featuring 28 rising talents. "See you soon in the Bay," Lin wrote in an Instagram story sharing the news. As the All-Star Weekend will take place at
The former interpreter for baseball star Shohei Ohtani on Thursday was sentenced to nearly five years in prison for bank and tax fraud after he stole nearly US$17 million from the Los Angeles Dodgers player’s bank account. Ippei Mizuhara, who was supposed to bridge the gap between the Japanese athlete and his English-speaking teammates and fans, was sentenced in federal court in Santa Ana to four years and nine months after pleading guilty last year. He was ordered to pay US$18 million in restitution, with nearly US$17 million going to Ohtani and the remainder to the US Internal Revenue Service. He was
The 40-year-old LeBron James on Thursday became the oldest player to score 40 points in an NBA game, putting up a season-high 42 in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-112 victory over the Golden State Warriors. James passed the record held by Michael Jordan, his idol and the only other NBA player to score 40 after his 40th birthday. “I’m old, that’s my take,” James said when asked about his latest achievement. “I need a glass of wine and some sleep, that’s what I think.” Jordan did it for the Washington Wizards just three days after turning 40 in February 2003. James is 38