MAJOR LEAGUES
Francisco Liriano (6-11) was tremendous against his former team, pitching a no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 on Saturday to retain the American League Central lead.
Liriano only allowed a two-out homer to Trevor Plouffe. He walked two, hit a batter and struck out nine in seven innings.
Paul Konerko homered and drove in three runs for the White Sox, who entered the day with a one game lead over Detroit in the American League Central.
Detroit’s Anibal Sanchez took also no-hitter into the seventh inning as the Tigers Detroit officially eliminated Cleveland Indians from the playoffs with a 5-3 win despite losing a run on an appeal.
Sanchez (3-5) struck out seven batters over 6-2/3 innings, but Carlos Santana spoiled his no-hit bid with a two-out triple in the seventh.
Atlanta moved within 6.5 games of first-place Washington in the National League East after pinch-runner Jeff Baker scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning when Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus hit Andrelton Simmons’ uniform with a bases-loaded pitch.
Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman homered for the Braves in their 5-4 win over the Nationals.
Andrew McCutchen homered and reached base four times as the Pittsburgh Pirates broke a seven-game losing streak with a 7-6 win over the Chicago Cubs, while Carlos Lee homered and drove in three runs to help the Miami Marlins claim a 6-4 home win over the Cincinnati Reds.
In other NL games, the San Francisco Giants edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-2, the Houston Astros blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0, the Milwaukee Brewers downed the New York Mets 9-6, the San Diego Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 4-3, and the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied for a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the AL, Stephen Drew homered and made a pair of big defensive plays to back Jarrod Parker as the Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-2, and the New York Yankees got back-to-back home runs from Curtis Granderson and Eduardo Nunez in a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2, the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 8-6 and the Kansas City Royals were 3-2 winners over the Los Angles Angels.
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
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