INTERLEAGUE
Daniel Nava hit the first pitch he faced in the major leagues for a grand slam — only the second player to do it — leading the Boston Red Sox to their second straight rout of the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-2 Saturday.
Nava connected on a fastball from Joe Blanton (1-5) in the second inning, shortly after being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket. Kevin Kouzmanoff connected on the first pitch he saw Sept. 2, 2006, for Cleveland against Texas, according to STATS LLC.
Only four players in big league history have hit grand slams in their first at-bat.
Daisuke Matsuzaka was a late scratch and placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained forearm following his pregame bullpen warmup.
RAYS 6, MARLINS 5
In St Petersburg, Florida, Carlos Pena homered for the sixth consecutive game to help right-hander Matt Garza and Tampa Bay beat Florida.
Pena, emerging from a season-long slump, became the first player to homer in six straight games since Frank Thomas did it for Oakland in 2006.
Pena began the night batting .196 and connected off right-hander Ricky Nolasco (5-5) in the first inning for a 2-1 lead.
Carl Crawford and Sean Rodrgiuez also went deep for the Rays, who maintained baseball’s best record (40-22) and a one-game lead over the Yankees in the American League East.
YANKEES 9, ASTROS 3
At New York, Derek Jeter homered twice and Jorge Posada snapped out of a slump with his first grand slam in nearly six years as the Yankees beat Houston.
Javier Vazquez (6-5) pitched seven solid innings for his third straight win and fourth in five starts.
Jeter hit a leadoff shot and drove in four runs for the Yankees.
WHITE SOX 2, CUBS 1
At Chicago, Mark Buehrle pitched scoreless ball into the seventh inning and Paul Konerko drove in two runs as the White Sox beat the Cubs for their season-high fourth straight win.
Konerko delivered a run-scoring single in the first and another in the seventh after Juan Pierre stole second, avoiding the tag with a neat dive. Konerko is 20 for 42 in his last 12 games.
The Cubs got a run-scoring single from Ryan Theriot off Bobby Jenks with two outs in the ninth, but he struck out Chad Tracy for his 11th save in 12 chances.
ROCKIES 1, BLUE JAYS 0
At Denver, Jason Hammel pitched eight sharp innings and scored the only run as Colorado beat Toronto in a rare low-scoring game at Coors Field.
It was only the ninth 1-0 game at Denver since the ballpark opened in 1995. The previous one came last July 6 when the Rockies beat Washington.
Hammel (4-3) was masterful all night. He allowed just three hits, struck out six and walked three in his longest outing of the season.
METS 3, ORIOLES 1
At Baltimore, Hisanori Takahashi allowed one run in seven innings, and Jose Reyes and Jeff Francoeur homered as the Mets secured their first road-series win of the year.
Combined with their 5-1 win on Friday, the Mets have successive road victories for the first time since last July 25-26 in Houston. New York is now assured of winning the three-game series after going 0-7-2 away from home — its longest drought to start the season since 1983.
In other games it was:
• Indians 7, Nationals 1
• Giants 5, Athletics 4
• Tigers 4, Pirates 3, 10 innings
• Rangers 4, Brewers 3
• Angels 4, Dodgers 2
• Padres 7, Mariners 1
In the National League it was:
• Diamondbacks 7, Cardinals 2
SS Lazio on Monday fired the far-right sympathizer who handles their eagle mascot after he posted online a series of videos and pictures of his erect penis. Falconer Juan Bernabe, who has been present at Lazio home matches with Olimpia the eagle since the 2010-2011 season, posted the footage on social media after having surgery on Saturday to implant a penile prosthesis to improve his sexual performance. Lazio said that they had “terminated, with immediate effect” their relationship with Bernabe “due to the seriousness of his conduct,” adding that they were “shocked” by the images. The Serie A club added that Bernabe’s dismissal
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
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