MAJOR LEAGUE
The red-hot Tampa Bay Rays improved their Major League Baseball playoff hopes by moving to within two games of rival Boston for the American League wild-card spot with an 8-5 win over the slumping Red Sox on Sunday.
The Rays (85-67), who trailed Boston (87-65) by nine games as recently as two weeks ago, have won seven of their last 10 to close the gap. Each team have 10 games remaining.
In Toronto, the New York Yankees fell 3-0 to the Blue Jays, missing an opportunity to extend their four-game lead in the AL East and denying Mariano Rivera a shot at setting MLB’s career saves record.
In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers inched closer to clinching the Central division by capping a three-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds 8-1.
The Brewers have a seven-game lead over St Louis, with the Cardinals playing the Philadelphia Phillies late on Sunday.
The defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants, trying to claw their way into the playoffs, beat Colorado 12-5 to move within four games of National League wild card-leading Atlanta, who lost to the New York Mets 7-5.
San Francisco trail Arizona by five games in the NL West.
In Washington, Wang Chien-ming had the longest start of his comeback from shoulder surgery, leaving with two outs in the seventh inning, while Danny Espinosa delivered his first RBI in two weeks as the Nationals beat the Marlins 4-3.
The right-hander allowed runs on Gaby Sanchez’s fifth-inning solo shot and Brett Hayes’ two-run homer in the seventh. Wang (3-3) gave up six hits, struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in 6-2/3 innings.
Meanwhile, Florida rookie Brad Hand (1-8) lost his fifth consecutive start, allowing four runs — three earned — and five hits in four innings.
Tampa Bay’s post-season push took another step forward when they took advantage of Boston starter Tim Wakefield, who allowed six runs in five innings.
Matt Joyce went 3-for-4 with three RBIs for the Rays, who went ahead 3-0 in the second inning and also tacked on two runs in the fifth and two in the seventh to claim an 8-2 advantage.
Starter David Price left the game with a 4-2 lead after four innings after being hit in the chest by a line drive, though it appeared to be a precaution.
Boston scored two runs in the fourth and got a three-run home run from Mike Aviles in the -bottom of the seventh, but it was too little too late as the Red Sox slump continued.
The Red Sox have lost 13 of 17 games and are now fighting for their playoff lives.
“I choose to believe, knowing the guys down in the clubhouse like I do, we’ll meet this challenge and it will make us stronger,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona told reporters. “I guess that’s our best way to go about this.”
Sunday’s other results:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
‧ Tigers 3, Athletics 0
‧ Rangers 3, Mariners 0
‧ Angels 11, Orioles 2
‧ Indians 6, Twins 5
‧ White Sox 10, Royals 5
NATIONAL LEAGUE
‧ Cardinals 5, Phillies 0
‧ Dodgers 15, Pirates 1
‧ Astros 3, Cubs 2
‧ Diamondbacks 5, Padres 1
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored twice on Sunday to help secure a late 4-2 comeback win at Atletico Madrid in a pulsating La Liga clash that took the Catalan side back to the top of the table. Barca have 60 points and a game in hand after last week’s postponement of their home game with CA Osasuna. They are level on points with Real Madrid, who won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday. “I am happy and proud of this team,” Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick told a news conference. “They never give up... It’s a great three points and we are happy to
Chris Wood has fired Nottingham Forest into surprise UEFA Champions League contention and now the striker wants to score the goals to help New Zealand make history at the FIFA World Cup. New Zealand are strong favorites to qualify out of the Oceania region over the next week and reach the World Cup for only the third time. At the country’s two previous appearances at the finals, in 1982 and 2010, they have failed to win a match in six attempts. With Wood captaining the side and leading from the front, he told local media yesterday that the current squad can finally deliver
Paolo Banchero on Sunday scored 24 points as the Orlando Magic overturned a 13-point deficit to end the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 16-game unbeaten streak with a gutsy 108-103 road victory. Cleveland, the runaway Eastern Conference leaders, had looked poised to extend their franchise-record winning run after surging clear of Orlando early in the third quarter, but after a season where they have staged hefty winning comebacks of their own, the tables turned on Cleveland in the face of a furious burst of Orlando scoring. The Magic outscored Cleveland 35-23 in the third quarter, with Franz Wagner leading the charge with nine points and
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