INTERLEAGUE PLAY
Cliff Lee threw eight dominant innings against the team he led to the World Series last year as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Texas Rangers 2-0 on Saturday night.
Lee (3-4) allowed five hits and struck out 10 to earn his first win since April 14. The lefty helped the Rangers capture the first AL pennant in franchise history after joining them last July. However, he turned down more money from Texas and the New York Yankees to return to Philadelphia, signing a US$120 million, five-year deal.
Rangers starter Colby Lewis (4-5) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6-2/3 innings.
Ryan Howard ended a career-worst 0 for 23 slump when he connected to give the NL East-leading Phillies a 1-0 lead in the second.
YANKEES 7, METS 3
In New York, Mark Teixeira homered for the third straight game, Alex Rodriguez also connected to back A.J. Burnett (5-3) in a victory over the Mets.
Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson also homered as the Yankees evened the Subway Series at one apiece and snapped a six-game slide at home — their longest since 2003.
All four homers came off Chris Capuano (3-5), who allowed only 11 runs in his previous five starts. However, he couldn’t keep up the Mets’ run of stingy pitching lately — they had given up just one run while winning their past three games.
BRAVES 5, ANGELS 4, 12 INNINGS
In Anaheim, California, Joe Mather hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning and drove in the winning run with a 12th-inning double to lead the Braves past Los Angeles.
Trevor Bell (1-1), the eighth Angels pitcher, retired his first two batters in the 12th before Alex Gonzalez reached on an infield single and took an extra base as rookie second baseman Alex Amarista inadvertently kicked the ball into short left field for his first error in the big leagues. Mather then lifted a 1-0 pitch to right field that fell just inside the foul line.
Scott Proctor (1-0) pitched a perfect 11th inning for Atlanta.
Bobby Abreu homered for Los Angeles.
WHITE SOX 9, DODGERS 2
In Chicago, Mark Buehrle threw seven strong innings to become the career victories leader in interleague play and the Chicago White Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-2 on Saturday.
Buehrle (4-3) allowed seven hits and two runs to win for the third time in four starts, giving him his 24th interleague victory — breaking his tie with Jamie Moyer atop the career list. He struck out one and didn’t walk anyone for the second time in three starts.
Paul Konerko drove in three runs for Chicago, while Alex Rios and Brent Lillibridge homered in Chicago’s 16-hit attack, the fifth time this season the White Sox have had at least that many. They broke it open with a six-run fourth against former teammate Jon Garland (1-4).
Garland allowed 11 hits and seven runs in 3-2/3 innings.
In other Interleague play, it was:
Blue Jays 7, Astros 5
Cardinals 3, Royals 0
Indians 2, Reds 1
Orioles 8, Nationals 3
Marlins 5, Rays 3
Giants 3, Athletics 0
Pirates 6, Tigers 2
Brewers 3, Rockies 2
Diamondbacks 9, Twins 6
Cubs 9, Red Sox 3
Mariners 4, Padres 0
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen (陳凱玲) has become the first player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after being selected by the Golden State Valkyries in the third and final round of the league's draft yesterday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship on April 6. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament's most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as a
Japan yesterday secured a second consecutive Billie Jean King Cup finals appearance with a 2-1 win over 2023 champions Canada, thanks to Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama’s 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Kayla Cross and Rebecca Marino in the qualifying doubles decider. Shibahara and Aoyama powered through the opening set 6-3, breaking twice for a quick 3-0 lead. Cross and Marino hit back in the second, edging it 7-5 to level the match, before the Japanese pair regained control in the third. Canada’s 18-year-old Victoria Mboko edged Shibahara 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-5 in a marathon opening clash. Mboko fired eight aces to
DAY OF BLOWOUTS: Elsewhere, the Lakers clinched the third seed in the Western Conference with a 140-109 pounding of the under-strength Houston Rockets The Denver Nuggets on Friday improved their playoff position, with a triple double from Nikola Jokic helping them to a 117-109 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. The Serbian put up 26 points, 13 assists and 16 rebounds. The triple-double performance, his 34th this season, ensured that he will finish the regular season as just the third NBA player to average a triple double across an entire season. The win meant the Nuggets improved to 49-32 on the season and gave them a real chance of grabbing fourth place and home-court advantage in the playoffs. Aaron Gordon top scored with 33 points for Denver,
RSS