MAJOR LEAGUES
The Cincinnati Reds edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 on Saturday to move within two games of their rivals in the National League Central division.
South Korean slugger Choo Shin-soo extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games and Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs to lead the Reds, who have won the first two games in the series against the Pirates and are closing in on second place in the division.
Photo: AFP
Kansas City got a game-winning home run from Mike Moustakas to beat the Detroit Tigers in the American League, handing Justin Verlander his first loss to the Royals since Sept. 9, 2009.
In other games, the New York Mets ended the Philadelphia Phillies’ seven-game winning streak at Citi Field, the Milwaukee Brewers held the Miami Marlins without a run for the second consecutive game and the Colorado Rockies managed 13 hits in a win over the Chicago Cubs.
The Seattle Mariners extended their season-high winning streak to five games by beating the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays for their 16th win in 18 games.
Cincinnati’s Mat Latos and Pittsburgh’s A.J. Burnett had a tough time finding their control after a 1 hour, 17 minute rain delay in the middle of the first inning. Latos gave up three runs in five innings.
Travis Snider’s pinch-hit RBI double cut it to 5-4 in the eighth, but Logan Ondrusek got Jose Tabata to ground out with the bases loaded, ending the rally.
Aroldis Chapman escaped a two-on threat in the ninth for his 23rd save in 26 chances.
Kansas City’s Salvador Perez drove in three runs and Moustakas went three-for-four to lead the Royals to a 6-5 victory over the Tigers.
Verlander gave up six runs, five earned, on eight hits and four walks in 5-2/3 innings. It was the seventh time in 21 starts that Verlander failed to make it into the sixth inning.
Jeremy Guthrie picked up the victory for Kansas City, surrendering five runs on 10 hits and two walks in six innings.
The New York Mets’ Gonzalez Germen came out of the bullpen to bail out fellow rookie Zack Wheeler and help New York hold off Philadelphia 5-4.
Marlon Byrd, David Wright and Daniel Murphy each had an RBI single for the Mets, who handed Cole Hamels his 12th defeat of the season — the most in the National League.
Germen struck out three in 1-2/3 hitless innings for his first MLB win.
Milwaukee’s Yovani Gallardo carried a shutout into the seventh inning, while Jonathan Lucroy and Rickie Weeks belted home runs to lead the Brewers over the Marlins 6-0.
Gallardo gave up five hits in 6-1/3 innings, striking out five batters and walking two.
Miami’s scoreless streak has now reached 24 innings.
Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez homered and Todd Helton had three hits in the Rockies’ 9-3 win over the Cubs.
Troy Tulowitzki, Dexter Fowler and Wilin Rosario also had two hits each for a Colorado offense that had scored eight runs in their previous five games.
Seattle’s Michael Saunders got his team’s only hit with a two-RBI double in the seventh inning, lifting the Mariners to a 4-2 win over the Astros.
Erik Bedard pitched 6-1/3 innings of no-hit ball before he was replaced by Jose Cisnero, who walked Mike Zunino with two outs before the double by Saunders put Seattle ahead 4-2.
The Mariners tied it in the sixth inning by scoring two runs on a combination of passed balls, walks and a sacrifice fly.
The Yankees’ Brett Gardner and Lyle Overbay each had three hits and drove in a run to back Hiroki Kuroda’s seven strong innings, carrying New York past Boston 5-2.
Mike Carp had three hits and scored a run for the Red Sox, who lost for just the second time in their past 11 games at Fenway Park.
Tampa Bay’s Jeremy Hellickson won his fifth straight decision and Desmond Jennings reached base four times as the Rays beat the Blue Jays 4-3.
Jennings went three-for-four with a walk and scored twice for the Rays, who are an MLB-best 43-23 since May 8.
Los Angeles’ Hanley Ramirez doubled to highlight a two-run 10th inning as the Dodgers used seven pitchers to beat the Washington Nationals 3-1.
The Dodgers have won seven of nine to close within striking distance of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West division.
The Diamondbacks fell 4-3 to the San Francisco Giants after Buster Posey hit a two-run homer — his 14th of the season — in the fifth inning. Matt Cain allowed two runs in five-plus innings for his first win in more than a month.
San Diego’s Edinson Volquez pitched five solid innings and Huston Street was perfect in the ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances in the Padres’ 5-3 win over the St Louis Cardinals.
C.J. Wilson retired 18 consecutive batters and Alberto Callaspo homered to help the Los Angeles Angels beat the Oakland Athletics 2-0.
Wilson gave up three hits in 8-1/3 innings, striking out eight and walking two.
Adam Jones homered and every Baltimore starter had a hit as the Orioles topped the sliding Texas Rangers 7-4.
Minnesota’s Kevin Correia threw six sharp innings for his first win in a month as the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 for their fourth straight win.
Chicago’s Alex Rios hit a grand slam and drove in five runs, while Jake Peavy pitched six solid innings on his return from injury to lead the White Sox over the Atlanta Braves 10-6 in an interleague matchup.
Tainan TSG Hawks slugger Steven Moya, who is leading the CPBL in home runs, has withdrawn from this weekend’s All-Star Game after the unexpected death of his wife. Moya’s wife began feeling severely unwell aboard a plane that landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday evening. She was rushed to a hospital, but passed away, the Hawks said in a statement yesterday. The franchise is assisting Moya with funeral arrangements and hopes fans who were looking forward to seeing him at the All-Star Game can understand his decision to withdraw. According to Landseed Medical Clinic, whose staff attempted to save Moya’s wife,
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt yesterday backed Nick Champion de Crespigny to be the team’s “roving scavenger” after handing him a shock debut in the opening Test against the British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. Hard man Champion de Crespigny, who spent three seasons at French side Castres before moving to the Western Force this year, is to get his chance tomorrow with first-choice blindside flanker Rob Valetini not fully fit. His elevation is an eye-opener, preferred to Tom Hooper, but Schmidt said he had no doubt about his abilities. “I keep an eye on the Top 14 having coached there many years
ON A KNEE: In the MLB’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shoot-out, the game was decided by three batters from each side taking three swings each off coaches Kyle Schwarber was nervous. He had played in Game 7 of the MLB World Series and homered for the US in the World Baseball Classic (WBC), but he had never walked up to the plate in an All-Star Game swing-off. No one had. “That’s kind of like the baseball version of a shoot-out,” Schwarber said after homering on all three of his swings, going down to his left knee on the final one, to overcome a two-homer deficit. That held up when Jonathan Aranda fell short on the American League’s final three swings, giving the National League a 4-3 swing-off win after
Seattle’s Cal Raleigh defeated Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero 18-15 in Monday’s final to become the first catcher to win the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby. The 28-year-old switch-hitter, who leads MLB with 38 homers this season, won US$1 million by capturing the special event for sluggers at Atlanta’s Truist Park ahead of yesterday’s MLB All-Star Game. “It means the world,” Raleigh said. “I could have hit zero home runs and had just as much fun. I just can’t believe I won. It’s unbelievable.” Raleigh, who advanced from the first round by less than 25mm on a longest homer tiebreaker, had his father
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