MAJOR LEAGUES
Felix Hernandez took a shutout into the ninth inning and Dustin Ackley and Abraham Almonte hit home runs as the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 in Major League Baseball on Saturday.
Hernandez (2-0) retired the first 11 batters on the way to his 16th career win over the Athletics, his most against any team. Hernandez walked one and struck out eight while allowing a run on six hits over 8-1/3 innings.
Photo: AFP
Fernando Rodney got the final two outs to record his first save with the Mariners.
Dan Straily (0-1) allowed three runs on six hits over his six innings. He walked one and struck out seven.
Straily carried a shutout into the fifth inning, before Ackley’s towering two-run shot gave the Mariners a 2-0 lead. With two outs, Almonte drove Straily’s 1-0 pitch even deeper into the right field bleachers.
The way Hernandez was pitching, the run support was more than enough.
Jed Lowrie, who hit a home run leading off the ninth, broke up Hernandez’s no-hit bid with a two-out single in the fourth.
In Toronto, R.A. Dickey and three relievers combined for a shutout and Jose Bautista and Melky Cabrera homered as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 4-0.
2012 National League Cy Young winner Dickey (1-0) gave up five hits in 6-2/3 innings, walked one and struck out six.
In Cleveland, Kyle Gibson limited Cleveland to one run in his season debut after Brian Dozier led off the game with a home run, leading Minnesota to a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians and giving Twins manager Ron Gardenhire his 1,000th career victory.
Gibson (1-0) allowed three hits in five-plus innings as the Twins ended their seven-game losing streak against the Indians.
In other American League games on Saturday, the Detroit Tigers edged the Baltimore Orioles 7-6, the Kansas City Royals topped the Chicago White Sox 4-3, the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 and the Los Angeles Angels downed the Houston Astros 5-1.
In the NL, Yadier Molina hit his second homer of the season and Jhonny Peralta added a late two-run shot as the St Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1.
Molina finished 2 for 4 and his solo homer in the sixth gave the Cardinals plenty of cushion as they bounced back from a 12-2 loss on Friday night by jumping on Pittsburgh ace Francisco Liriano (0-1) early.
St Louis used a three-run first inning to put the Pirates in an early hole then held on as Joe Kelly (1-0) wiggled his way out of trouble. The right-hander worked 5-1/3 innings, walking four and striking out four in his first start of the season.
The Pirates left 11 runners stranded on base, including seven in the first four innings.
Jose Fernandez struck out eight in 6-2/3 innings while lowering his ERA to 0.71, as the Miami Marlins won again, beating the punchless San Diego Padres 5-0.
The Marlins improved to 5-1, their best start since 2009, while Fernandez (2-0) improved his career record at home to 11-0.
Madison Bumgarner struck out 10 while working into the seventh inning and the San Francisco Giants hit three home runs in a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Elsewhere, the New York Mets beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-3, the Philadelphia Phillies shut out the Chicago Cubs 2-0, the Atlanta Braves crushed the Washington Nationals 6-2 and the Colorado Rockies were 9-4 winners over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In interleague play, the Milwaukee Brewers narrowly defeated the Boston Red Sox 7-6.
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
TOUGH RIVALS: Taiwanese goalkeeper Wang Yu-ting produced a superb performance as Japan attempted 30 shots and enjoyed almost 90 percent of possession Bayern Munich midfielder Momoko Tanikawa yesterday finally cracked a dogged Taiwan as powerhouse Japan won their AFC Women’s Asian Cup match in Perth, Australia, 2-0. Brimming with a talented squad featuring 16 England-based players, Japan dominated a one-sided match played in fierce heat, but they were left frustrated by an inability to hit the target other than Tanikawa’s strike in the 61st minute and a header from substitute Kiko Seike in the 92nd minute. The highest-ranked team in the competition at eight, Japan are desperate for a third title to add to their back-to-back triumphs in 2014 and 2018, but
RSS