MAJOR LEAGUES
The Tampa Bay Rays again closed within half a game of the American League lead with a 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, with David Price pitching his third complete game of the season.
Having allowed Boston to eke out their lead with a win on Tuesday, the Rays closed in again thanks chiefly to Price’s powerful performance and a two-run single from Wil Myers.
Tampa Bay’s Price (5-5) needed only 97 pitches for his seventh career complete game and did not walk a batter. Since returning from a triceps strain, he is 4-1 with a 1.76 ERA in five starts.
James Loney had two hits and drove in a run for the Rays.
Both teams are edging away from the AL East Division’s power team, the New York Yankees, who lost to Texas and their new pitcher, Matt Garza.
Garza pitched into the eighth inning of his Rangers debut, allowing only one unearned run on his own throwing error as the hosts beat the Yankees 3-1.
Garza (1-0) was 6-1 in his 11 starts this season for the Chicago Cubs before being traded on Monday to the Rangers, who had long coveted the right-hander. He was 5-0 with a 1.24 ERA his past six starts for Chicago, winning the past five.
After giving up consecutive singles to start his first game in a Rangers jersey, Garza retired 15 of the next 16 batters.
The Baltimore Orioles also slipped back in the tight division after a narrow loss to Kansas City.
The Royals’ Eric Hosmer hit two home runs and Alcides Escobar drove in the winning run in the ninth to lift Kansas to a 4-3 win.
David Lough singled and scored the game-ending run when Escobar doubled with one out in the ninth.
Hosmer homered in the first and his two-run home run in the eighth tied the score 3-3. It was Hosmer’s third multihomer game and his second this season.
Elsewhere, St Louis racked up 11 runs in their win over Philadelphia, as Jake Westbrook pitched seven solid innings and contributed offensively with his second career steal.
Westbrook (7-4) had his first career three-hit game and drew a two-out walk in the fourth, stole second and scored for a 4-0 Cardinals lead.
Pittsburgh pitcher Francisco Liriano put in a commanding performance against Washington, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning against the struggling and depleted Nationals, steering the Pirates to a 4-2 win.
Liriano (10-4) walked the first batter he faced, then retired 11 in a row. After a walk, he sent down five more batters before giving up his first hit.
Pedro Alvarez homered for Pittsburgh off Stephen Strasburg (5-8), who suffered an unlucky loss, having struck out 12 with no walks and only two hits.
The Nationals fell to 0-6 since the All-Star break — scoring a total of 13 runs in that span.
Cincinnati’s Mike Leake shone on the mound and at the plate as the Reds beat San Francisco. Leake pitched six-plus innings of wildly effective ball and had the third three-hit game of his career, leading the Reds past the Giants 8-3.
Leake (10-4) allowed a career-worst 12 hits, but just one run. He also snapped a 0-for-26 skid — his longest hitless streak — with two singles and a double.
Cincinnati finished 6-1 against the Giants this season and most of the wins were not even close, scoring 45 runs against 14.
In this game, the Giants had 15 hits, but were four-for-16 with runners in scoring position and stranded 15 on base.
Atlanta’s Tim Hudson did not allow a run into the eighth inning before suffering a gruesome leg injury when trodden on by a New York base runner at first, overshadowing the Braves’ 8-2 win over the Mets.
In Seattle, Cleveland’s Scott Kazmir allowed just one hit over his eight innings, steering the Indians to a 10-1 thrashing of the Mariners.
Los Angeles’ Mark Ellis hit a two-run homer to highlight the Dodgers’ five-run 10th inning which capped an 8-3 win over Toronto and a three-game sweep.
At Chase Field, Arizona, Chicago’s Nate Schierholtz lined a two-out double into the left-field corner in the top of the 12th inning to drive in the go-ahead run, giving the Cubs a 7-6 win over the Diamondbacks.
Detroit’s Prince Fielder, Austin Jackson and Torii Hunter homered, compensating for the absence of an injured Miguel Cabrera and leading the Tigers to a 6-2 win over the Chicago White Sox.
In Houston, Texas, Oakland’s Coco Crisp hit a two-run homer in a three-run seventh inning to lift the A’s to a 4-3 win over the Astros.
In the day’s other games, the Angels’ Jered Weaver outpitched Mike Pelfrey with eight scoreless innings in 1-0 win over Minnesota, Milwaukee’s Kyle Lohse pitched seven strong innings to direct the Brewers’ 3-1 win over the Padres and Colorado’s Jorge de la Rosa pitched six scoreless innings in the Rockies’ 2-1 victory over Miami.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS