MAJOR LEAGUES
Pinch-hitter John Jaso came through with a two-run homer off closer Ernesto Frieri in the ninth inning, sending the Oakland Athletics to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.
Yoenis Cespedes also went deep for the A’s, offsetting Albert Pujols’ 496th home run.
Photo: AFP
Frieri (0-1) was trying to preserve a 2-1 lead for starter Hector Santiago when Josh Donaldson led off the ninth with a single. One out later, Jaso drove a 1-2 pitch deep into the right-field seats for his first homer of the season and the first by an A’s pinch-hitter.
Jaso has six homers and 21 RBIs at Angel Stadium, along with a .424 average, the highest by any player with at least 75 plate appearances at the “Big A.” ]
Also in the American League, Mike Zunino homered an inning before adding an RBI single in the Seattle Mariners’ 7-1 win over the Texas Rangers.
In the National League, the Milwaukee Brewers’ nine-game winning streak was ended when Lance Lynn struck out 11 batters in seven innings and Jon Jay hit a three-run homer for the St Louis Cardinals in a 4-0 victory.
Lynn allowed three hits over seven innings before Carlos Martinez finished off the surprising Brewers, who still have the majors’ best record at 10-3. Lynn (3-0) frustrated hitters by mixing a fastball that topped 153kph with a slider.
Jhonny Peralta hit a solo shot in the second off Brewers starter Matt Garza (0-2) before Jay sent a ball over the wall near the right field corner in the sixth.
In Philadelphia, Dan Uggla hit two home runs, including a grand slam in the ninth inning that lifted the Atlanta Braves to a wild 9-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Evan Gattis also homered twice, while Uggla drove in five runs as the Braves won their fourth straight. The teams combined for five homers and 12 runs in the final two innings.
Gattis, Uggla and Andrelton Simmons hit consecutive homers in the eighth that put Atlanta ahead 5-1.
Domonic Brown’s three-run homer capped a five-run bottom of the eighth that gave the Phillies a 6-5 lead.
Ryan Howard homered and Marlon Byrd drove in two runs for Philadelphia. Utley had two hits, and is batting .489 this season.
The Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds combined for 10 homers in only six innings before rain forced the game to be suspended at 7-7. The game was to be completed yesterday.
In other NL games, the Washington Nationals trounced the Miami Marlins 9-2, the San Diego Padres edged the Colorado Rockies 5-4 and the New York Mets downed the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3.
MARRED FINAL: As most of Senegalese players walked off the pitch after a controversial decision, some supporters threw objects and attempted to get onto the pitch Senegal on Sunday won the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Pape Gueye’s extra-time winner sunk hosts Morocco 1-0 after a chaotic final that saw the eventual champions storm off the pitch late in the game. Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with a controversial spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time as ugly scenes broke out in the stands. However, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted “Panenka” chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.
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
Qatar’s Nasser al-Attiyah on Saturday secured his sixth Dakar Rally car title in Saudi Arabia with Luciano Benavides scraping home by two seconds to claim the motorbike title. “We’ve worked very hard since last year. I might not be showing much emotion yet, but it’s there, deep down. We are so happy to win,” al-Attiyah said at the finish. Al-Attiyah, at the wheel of a Dacia, only had to avoid a final day slip-up to top the podium after bringing his career tally of stage wins to 50 on Friday. The 55-year-old, who took clay pigeon shooting bronze at the
Tobias Harris on Monday scored 25 points as the Detroit Pistons held off the Boston Celtics to score a 104-103 victory in their top-of-the-table Eastern Conference showdown. Harris was one of four Detroit players to finish in double figures, with Jalen Duren adding 18 points and point guard Cade Cunningham scoring 16 points with 14 assists. The win sees Detroit extend their lead at the top of the Eastern Conference to 31-10, 5.5 games ahead of second-placed Boston, who fell to 26-16 with the defeat. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics scoring with 32 points and almost snatched victory in the