MAJOR LEAGUES
Junior Lake homered, doubled twice and drove in six runs as the Chicago Cubs trounced St Louis 17-5 on Monday and forced the Cardinals to finish with infielder Daniel Descalso as a relief pitcher.
After the Cubs managed just four runs while getting swept in a three-game series at Atlanta over the weekend, Emilio Bonifacio scored five times himself in the romp over the Cardinals.
Photo: AFP
Chicago had lost seven of eight overall and have the worst record in the league at 13-24, but are 4-3 against the defending National League (NL) champions.
The Cubs hit for the cycle in the first five batters — Bonifacio doubled, Anthony Rizzo singled, Starlin Castro tripled and Mike Olt’s two-run homer capped a four-run first inning.
Cardinals reliever Randy Choate gave up six runs in the ninth and left with two outs. Descalso made his first pro pitching appearance and retired the only batter he faced, getting Olt on a fly ball. Tyler Lyons (0-3) surrendered nine runs in four innings in his fourth start in place of injured Joe Kelly.
Also in the NL, Yasiel Puig extended his career-best hitting streak to 12 games with his third home run in four days — a go-ahead three-run shot — and drew a bases-loaded walk in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-5 victory over the Florida Marlins.
Dan Haren (5-1) overcame a shaky start following his 3-2 loss at Washington on Wednesday last week, allowing three runs and seven hits over seven innings without walking a batter after losing his previous four decisions against the Marlins.
In other NL games, the San Francisco Giants downed the Atlanta Braves 4-2 and the Washington Nationals edged the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5.
In New York, Chris Young hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning and Jenrry Mejia provided a boost after his reluctant move to the bullpen, as the New York Mets had four home runs in a 9-7 win over the Yankees in the interleague Subway Series opener.
In the American League (AL), Mark Buehrle became the first seven-game winner in the major leagues, and Jose Bautista and Brett Lawrie homered as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels 7-3 to avoid a four-game sweep.
Bautista hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Lawrie, who returned to the lineup after missing six games with a sore right hamstring, added a two-run shot in the sixth as the Blue Jays avoided what would have been their first four-game sweep to the Angels.
The Tigers’ Rick Porcello won his fifth straight start as Detroit beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 in a duel between AL division leaders that included a benches-clearing confrontation.
After Ian Kinsler’s two-run homer in the eighth made it 4-1, Orioles starter Bud Norris hit Torii Hunter in the ribcage with a pitch. Hunter yelled at Norris and as he made his way toward first base, the Tigers outfielder moved slightly in the direction of the mound.
That caused both dugouts to empty and relievers from both bullpens charged toward the infield. Order was quickly restored before anyone blatantly shoved each other and no punches were thrown.
In other AL games, the Texas Rangers blanked the Houston Astros 4-0, the Oakland Athletics edged the Chicago White Sox 5-4 and the Seattle Mariners were 12-5 winners over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS