AMERICAN LEAGUE
Derek Jeter shook off an injury to tie Willie Mays for 10th place on the career hits list, backing Phil Hughes and helping the Yankees to maintain a share of the American League East lead with a 2-0 win over the Red Sox. New York won consecutive games for the first time in a month.
Hughes (15-12) gave up five hits in 7-1/3 innings, struck out seven and walked one. Rafael Soriano pitched the ninth for his 38th save. Jeter started at designated hitter after leaving Wednesday night’s 5-4 win when he pulled up lame lunging for first base trying to avoid a double-play grounder in the eighth.Andruw Jones hit a fourth-inning sacrifice fly off Felix Doubront (10-9).
Photo: AFP
ANGELS 6, ATHLETICS 0
In Anaheim, California, Jered Weaver (17-4) allowed two hits in seven innings and struck out nine in his first start since skipping a turn in the rotation because of biceps tendinitis.
Torii Hunter homered and added an RBI single in a six-run seventh as Los Angeles avoided a four-game sweep and remained 3.5 games back for the AL’s second wild-card berth.
The loss snapped Oakland’s 12-game road winning streak, two shy of the franchise record set by the Philadelphia Athletics in May 1931. The A’s have been shut out a big league-high 16 times.
Brett Anderson (4-1) gave up five runs and nine hits in 6-2/3 innings. A’s rookie Yoenis Cespedes left midway through the fifth because of a sprained right wrist.
INDIANS 5, RANGERS 4
In Arlington, Texas, Jason Kipnis hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning off Joe Nathan and the Indians snapped a five-game losing streak, beating the Rangers.
The Rangers remained three games ahead of Oakland in the AL West after the Athletics lost to the Los Angeles Angels.
Nathan (2-4) had converted a club-record 31 straight save chances before the Indians erased a 4-2 deficit in the ninth.
Ezequiel Carrera homered leading off the ninth. Pinch hitter Russ Canzler singled and Kipnis homered off to chase Nathan, who did not record an out.
Scott Maine (1-0) got the final two outs in the eighth in his third appearance with the Indians this season.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ Blue Jays 8, Mariners 3
‧ Twins 4, Royals 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, LOS ANGELES
Allen Craig drove in Shane Robinson with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the St Louis Cardinals extended their National League wild-card lead over Los Angeles to two games with a 2-1 victory over the struggling Dodgers on Thursday night.
Lance Lynn (15-7) pitched six innings of five-hit ball to earn his first win since July 27 for the Cardinals, striking out seven in the All-Star’s return to the rotation after a bullpen demotion. Skip Schumaker had an early run-scoring single for St Louis.
Adrian Gonzalez had an RBI double in the Dodgers’ seventh loss in eight games. St Louis and Los Angeles had lost three straight and six of seven coming in.
Paco Rodriguez (0-1) and Ronald Belisario allowed the seventh-inning rally capped by Craig’s RBI single.
ASTROS 6, PHILLIES 4
In Houston, Texas, Pinch-hitter Jed Lowrie delivered a two-run double in the eighth inning and the Astros stung Philadelphia, rallying for a 6-4 victory that ended the Phillies’ seven-game winning streak. The Phillies’ surge had pushed them within three games of St Louis for the second NL wild-card spot.
Philadelphia could not hold an early 4-0 lead and Lowrie’s two-out put the Astros ahead 5-4.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that