MAJOR LEAGUES
A.J. Pierzynski and Mike Napoli had run-producing hits in the first inning against their former team on Sunday, as the Boston Red Sox took a winning average for the first time since three games into the season with a series-clinching 5-2 victory at Texas in the American League.
Napoli put the Red Sox permanently ahead with an RBI double, two batters before Pierzynski’s two-run single. Both went to Boston as free agents after stints in Texas, where Pierzynski was the Rangers’ primary catcher last season and Napoli played the previous two years.
John Lackey (5-2) struck out nine and allowed two runs over seven innings, as Rangers lefty Robbie Ross (1-4) made it through 6-2/3 innings and a career-high 112 pitches.
Also in the AL, Kansas City slugger Alcides Escobar hit a grand slam and Johnny Giavotella added a three-run shot to give the Royals a dramatic 9-7 comeback victory over the Seattle Mariners.
Escobar gave the Royals a 4-0 lead in the second with his first career home run off starter Roenis Elias, but the Mariners rallied on the back of two homers from Dustin Ackley and one from Kyle Seager before Kansas City took the lead in the seventh, scoring four runs off reliever Danny Farquhar (1-1).
In other AL games, the Cleveland Indians edged the Tampa Bay Rays 6-5, the Houston Astros downed the Baltimore Orioles 5-2, the Los Angeles Angels downed the Toronto Blue Jays 9-3 and the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3.
In the National League, Pablo Sandoval and Hector Sanchez hit RBI singles in the 10th inning, as the San Francisco Giants recovered to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-4 after closer Sergio Romo gave up a tying homer to Hanley Ramirez.
Brandon Hicks hit a two-run shot off Clayton Kershaw and Buster Posey had an RBI single for the NL West leaders, who beat the defending division champions for the seventh time in 10 this season.
In other NL games, the Cincinnati Reds downed the Colorado Rockies 4-1, the Atlanta Braves defeated the Chicago Cubs 5-2, the New York Mets edged the Philadelphia Phillies 5-4 over 11 innings, the San Diego Padres beat the Miami Marlins 5-4 and the Cardinals triumphed 6-5 over the Pirates.
In interleague play, the Brewers beat the Yankees 6-5, the Athletics crushed the Nationals 9-1 to complete a series sweep and the Arizona Diamondbacks routed the Chicago White Sox 5-1.
RECORD DEFEAT: The Shanghai-based ‘Oriental Sports Daily’ said the drubbing was so disastrous, and taste so bitter, that all that is left is ‘numbness’ Chinese soccer fans and media rounded on the national team yesterday after they experienced fresh humiliation in a 7-0 thrashing to rivals Japan in their opening Group C match in the third phase of Asian qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The humiliation in Saitama on Thursday against Asia’s top-ranked team was China’s worst defeat in World Cup qualifying and only a goal short of their record 8-0 loss to Brazil in 2012. Chinese President Xi Jinping once said he wanted China to host and even win the World Cup one day, but that ambition looked further away than ever after a
‘KHELIFMANIA’: In the weeks since the Algerian boxer won gold in Paris, national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women In the weeks since Algeria’s Imane Khelif won an Olympic gold medal in women’s boxing, athletes and coaches in the North African nation say national enthusiasm is inspiring newfound interest in the sport, particularly among women. Khelif’s image is practically everywhere, featured in advertisements at airports, on highway billboards and in boxing gyms. The 25-year-old welterweight’s success in Paris has vaulted her to national hero status, especially after Algerians rallied behind her in the face of uninformed speculation about her gender and eligibility to compete. Amateur boxer Zougar Amina, a medical student who has been practicing for a year, called Khelif an
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
GOING GLOBAL: The regular season fixture is part of the football league’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the sport to international destinations The US National Football League (NFL) breaks new ground in its global expansion strategy tomorrow when the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers face off in the first-ever grid-iron game staged in Brazil. For one night only, the land of Pele and ‘The Beautiful Game’ will get a rare glimpse into the bone-crunching world of American football as the Packers and Eagles collide at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, the 46,000-seat home of soccer club Corinthians. The regular season fixture is part of the NFL’s increasingly ambitious plans to spread the US’ most popular sport to new territories following previous international fixtures
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