MAJOR LEAGUES
Toronto got the better of Detroit in Tuesday’s clash of American League divisional leaders, winning 5-3 after a dour defensive contest suddenly burst into life in the ninth inning.
After eight scoreless innings, Brett Lawrie hit a three-run homer off Joe Nathan (2-2) as the Blue Jays banged out five runs.
J.D. Martinez responded with a three-run homer of his own with two outs in the bottom of the ninth for the Tigers, but Casey Janssen came on to pitch and struck out Don Kelly to end the game.
Fellow AL divisional leaders Oakland also won with a late scoring burst to beat the New York Yankees in 10 innings.
Oakland’s Brandon Moss hit his second homer of the game leading off the 10th as the Athletics rallied for a 5-2 win against New York.
Returning to the lineup after missing two games with a calf strain, Moss drilled a full-count pitch from Adam Warren (1-3) into the second deck of the right-field stands, giving the AL West-leading A’s their first lead of the game.
Dan Otero (5-1) pitched an inning to take the win for the A’s, who notched a fourth straight victory.
Elsewhere, Cincinnati also extended their winning streak to four by downing majors-leading San Francisco, as Devin Mesoraco hit a two-run homer and Jay Bruce emerged from a slump by driving in a pair of runs to win the game 8-3.
Mesoraco hit his homer off Tim Lincecum (4-5), who has beaten the Reds during the playoffs, but never during the regular season.
Bruce knocked in his first run since April 25, with his season interrupted by knee cartilage surgery.
In Milwaukee, Minnesota’s Josh Willingham hit a three-run homer to help the Twins beat the Brewers 6-4.
Willingham connected in the third inning off Yovani Gallardo (3-4) for a 4-1 lead in a game held up at the start of the eighth after a man fell into the bullpen. The Brewers said he was conscious and alert.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s Jose Abreu homered for the second straight game and Tyler Flowers also went deep to lead the White Sox to a 4-1 win at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Chicago’s Hector Noesi (1-3) ended a stretch of 19 winless starts dating back to 2012 when he was with Seattle by going 0-12 with a 5.42 ERA. He allowed one run over six innings with six strikeouts, while Ronald Belisario pitched a perfect ninth against his old team to take his fourth save.
Seattle’s John Buck had three hits, including a tiebreaking two-run homer in the seventh inning that helped the Mariners beat Atlanta 7-5 in their fourth successive win.
The Braves led 4-0 in the first inning and 5-2 in the second before falling to the Mariners’ comeback. Buck’s first homer of the season came off Alex Wood (5-6).
Seattle pinch-hitter Stefen Romero hit a three-run homer in the fourth that tied it 5-5.
In Texas, Baltimore’s Nelson Cruz punished his old team by hitting a three-run homer in the Orioles’ 8-3 win over the Rangers.
Cruz went long off the first pitch from Shawn Tolleson, capping a six-run Orioles outburst in the eighth. The slugger, who spent the previous eight seasons in Texas, is hitting .313 and leads the majors with 21 homers and 55 RBIs.
Adam Jones matched a career high with four hits, including a homer off the right-field pole leading off Baltimore’s fourth inning.
In St Louis, Kansas City’s Eric Hosmer hit a tie-breaking single in the ninth to lift the Royals to an 8-7 win over their regional rivals.
Cardinals rookie Kolten Wong hit his first career homer with a grand slam in the second that ended St Louis’ 20-inning scoreless drought and gave them an early four-run cushion, but the defending NL champions finished a disappointing 2-7 homestand when their pitchers faltered.
In Denver, Arizona’s Nick Evans and Chris Owings hit back-to-back homers to lead the Diamondbacks 4-2 over Colorado.
Also on Tuesday, it was:
‧ Marlins 1, Rays 0
‧ Nationals 7, Phillies 0
‧ Cubs 2, Mets 1
‧ Indians 5, Red Sox 3
‧ Pirates 4, Padres 1
‧ Astros 7, Angels 2
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
RSS