Matt Carpenter broke Stan Musial’s team record for doubles by a left-handed batter in a season and Lance Lynn won for the first time since early last month as the St Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-2 on Saturday to maintain a two-game lead in the National League Central.
Seeking their first division title since 2009, the Cardinals (91-64) have surged ahead of Pittsburgh (89-66) and Cincinnati (88-67), who fell three back with a 4-2 loss in Pittsburgh.
St Louis lowered their magic number to one for clinching a post-season berth, won for the 12th time in 17 games and improved to 14-4 against the Brewers this year, including 8-1 in Milwaukee.
PHOTO: AFP
At Detroit, the Tigers tied the game with an astonishing six-run rally in the ninth inning, then beat the Chicago White Sox 7-6 in the American League when Omar Infante hit an infield single with the bases loaded in the 12th.
Infante’s grounder deflected off the glove of reliever Jacob Petricka (1-1) with one out, and the Tigers spilled onto the field with Comerica Park in a frenzy. Detroit were to play their final scheduled home game of the year yesterday and could a third straight AL Central title with a win and a Cleveland loss.
Trailing 6-0 in the ninth, the Tigers scored five runs before the first out. Pinch-hitter Andy Dirks hit a three-run homer to pull Detroit within one.
Tampa Bay’s Alex Cobb took a three-hit shutout into the ninth inning and Desmond Jennings drove in four runs as the Rays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 in a matchup of exhausted teams to maintain their lead in the AL wild-card race.
The first pitch came 10 hours, 56 minutes after the Rays’ 5-4, 18-inning win over Baltimore that ended at 2:05am, a game that stretched on for six hours and 54 minutes — a record time for both teams.
Saturday’s game, by comparison, seemed to breeze by in two hours and 51 minutes.
Tampa Bay lead for the wild-card, a half-game ahead of Cleveland. Texas are one game behind the Rays.
Cleveland’s Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, while Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer as the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over Houston.
The Texas Rangers kept close in the playoff race by beating the Kansas City Royals 3-1, while the Oakland Athletics lowered their magic number to one for clinching their second straight AL West title with a 9-1 win over the Minnesota Twins.
In other AL games, the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 4-2, the New York Yankees blanked the San Francisco Giants 6-0 and the Los Angeles Angels edged the Seattle Mariners 6-5.
In the NL, A.J. Burnett scattered four hits over seven strong innings to help the Pittsburgh Pirates move a game in front of Cincinnati for the top spot in the NL wild-card race with a 4-2 win over the Reds.
Chicago’s Dioner Navarro hit a tiebreaking single in a three-run eighth inning as the Cubs downed Atlanta 3-1 to keep the Braves on the brink of the NL East championship.
In other games, the Los Angeles Dodgers blanked the San Diego Padres 4-0, the Arizona Diamondbacks downed the Colorado Rockies 7-2 and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 in a game called off in the seventh inning due to rain.
Manchester United on Tuesday confirmed Michael Carrick as interim manager until the end of the season, tasking him with leading the Red Devils back into the UEFA Champions League. “Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honor,” said Carrick, 44, who won 12 major trophies in his 12-year playing career at United. The former midfielder previously had an unbeaten three-game stint as caretaker boss at Old Trafford in 2021. Carrick then took on his first permanent managerial role at second-tier Middlesbrough in October 2022 and was sacked in June last year after the club finished 10th in the
Dallas Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg on Wednesday was ruled out for the second half of their 118-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets after the No. 1 pick sprained his left ankle in the first half. Flagg was called for a foul while defending against Peyton Watson and turned the ankle as he fell to the floor with 6 minutes, 1 second left in the second quarter. Flagg limped to the bench and continued to the locker room, but returned for the final 2 minutes, 35 seconds before the break. The 19-year-old did not come out for the second half before the announcement that
Yassine Bounou on Wednesday saved two penalties, while Youssef en-Nesyri netted the decisive spot-kick as hosts Morocco secured a 4-2 shoot-out victory over Nigeria following a 0-0 draw in a tense Africa Cup of Nations semi-final in Rabat. Morocco, seeking their first continental title in 50 years, are to face 2021 winners Senegal in Sunday’s decider in Rabat, while Nigeria take on Egypt in the third-place playoff tomorrow. The 120 minutes before the shoot-out had few clear-cut chances for either side, but it was Morocco who created more opportunities, although they were denied by some fine saves from Nigeria goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. Nigeria
James Harden on Friday scored 31 points and came up big in overtime to help the Los Angeles Clippers erase a double-digit deficit on the way to a 121-117 NBA victory over the Toronto Raptors. Harden scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and overtime as the Clippers pushed their wining steak to five games despite the absence of star Kawhi Leonard with a sprained right ankle. The Clippers trailed by 11 entering the fourth quarter, but Harden drilled a pair of free-throws with 1:24 left in regulation to tie it and after misses from both teams, they went to
RSS