NATIONAL LEAGUE
Billy Hamilton had three hits and his first two steals, and scored easily after tagging up on a shallow outfield pop fly to support a strong outing from Mike Leake in the Cincinnati Reds’ 4-0 victory over the St Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
Leake (1-1) allowed four hits and a walk in eight scoreless innings and Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run home run for the Reds, who avoided a three-game sweep after dropping their ninth series in their last 10 in St Louis.
Shelby Miller (0-2) allowed his fourth homer in two starts, but held the Reds hitless in nine at-bats with runners in scoring position.
NATIONALS 10, MARLINS 7
In Washington, Jayson Werth hit a go-ahead grand slam in the eighth inning off Carlos Marmol after Bryce Harper’s upper-deck, three-run homer started a comeback from an early deficit, leading the Washington Nationals over the Miami Marlins.
Werth and Harper each delivered his first homer of the season as Washington overcame deficits of 5-0 and 7-6 in a topsy-turvy game. Werth’s shot off Marmol (0-1) came with one out, after the reliever allowed a single, hit a batter, then intentionally walked Anthony Rendon to load the bases.
In other NL action, it was:
‧ Rockies 10, White Sox 4
‧ Cubs 7, Pirates 5
‧ Braves 4, Mets 3
‧ Brewers 9, Phillies 4
‧ Diamondbacks 7, Giants 3
‧ Tigers 7, Dodgers 6, 10 inns
AMERICAN LEAGUE
AP, BOSTON
David Ortiz hit a three-run homer high over the Pesky Pole in the eighth inning, helping the Boston Red Sox rally for a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
Ortiz’s second homer was heading down the right-field line before it curled around the pole just 92m from home plate. Ortiz remained in the batter’s box until first-base umpire Jerry Meals signaled a home run.
Rangers manager Ron Washington came out after Ortiz crossed the plate to ask for a review. After 44.1 seconds, the play was upheld.
Andrew Miller (1-0) won despite allowing the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth, and Koji Uehara pitched the ninth for his second save. Alexi Ogando (0-1) was the loser.
ORIOLES 5, YANKEES 4
In New York, Nick Markakis had an RBI single in the ninth inning against fill-in closer Shawn Kelley as Baltimore rallied for a victory in Masahiro Tanaka’s first Yankee Stadium start.
Jonathan Schoop hit a three-run homer off Tanaka in the second inning of his first start at Yankee Stadium, but Carlos Beltran and Kelly Johnson connected against Miguel Gonzalez in the bottom of the inning.
The Orioles, who managed seven hits while striking out 10 times against Tananka in seven innings, lined four straight singles to center field off Kelley (0-1).
Tommy Hunter gave up a run before getting Yangervis Solarte to ground into a double play for his third save. Brian Matusz got two outs (1-0) for the win.
BLUE JAYS 7, ASTROS 3
In Toronto, Brett Lawrie hit a two-run homer and Brandon Morrow won for the first time in almost 11 months.
Alex Presley hit a two-run homer for the Astros, who have lost six of seven following a 2-0 start.
In other AL action, it was:
‧ Indians 2, Padres 0
‧ Athletics 7, Twins 4
‧ Royals 7, Rays 3
‧ Angels 2, Mariners 0
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Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
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