MAJOR LEAGUES
Gio Gonzalez pitched eight sparkling innings and Ryan Zimmerman tied a career high with four hits and drove in three runs as the Washington Nationals roughed up the Chicago Cubs without recently traded Jeff Samardzija for a 13-0 victory on Saturday.
Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon added three hits and two RBIs for the Nationals on a day the Cubs were forced to start Carlos Villanueva (4-6) following the trade of Samardzija, the scheduled starter, and Jason Hammel to the Oakland Athletics.
Photo: AFP
Washington posted a season high in runs and hits (19), including eight doubles, but no home runs.
Gonzalez (6-4) allowed four hits, while striking out seven and walking one. He has now thrown 29 consecutive scoreless innings against Chicago and 22 overall.
BREWERS 1, REDS 0
In Cincinnati, Matt Garza threw a two-hitter for his fourth career shutout as the Brewers ended their four-game losing streak by beating the Reds.
Aramis Ramirez singled home a run in the first inning off Homer Bailey (8-5), who gave up seven hits through eight innings. Two Brewers were thrown out at the plate.
Garza (6-5) has been one of the Brewers’ best starters lately, going 4-1 in his past seven games. He retired the first 12 batters in order before Brandon Phillips led off the fifth with a single for Cincinnati’s first hit.
He allowed two walks and fanned nine while going the distance for the first time this season.
Right fielder Ryan Braun struck out swinging in the first inning, and then left the game in the second with spasms in his lower back.
RAYS 7, TIGERS 2
In Detroit, Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer came within two outs of a complete game, holding the Tigers to six hits.
The Rays broke the game open with three runs in the fifth inning and four in the sixth, and the Tigers never mounted much of a rally against Archer (5-5). The 25-year-old right-hander allowed solo homers to Alex Avila in the seventh and J.D. Martinez in the ninth.
Anibal Sanchez (5-3) took a no-hitter into the fifth, but things unraveled quickly for the Detroit right-hander. He allowed seven runs and six hits in 5-2/3 innings, with four walks and a strikeout.
Logan Forsythe homered for Tampa Bay.
MARLINS 6, CARDINALS 5
In St Louis, pinch-hitter Jeff Baker’s RBI hit with two outs in the ninth inning helped Miami rally to beat the Cardinals.
Casey McGehee fouled off five full-count pitches from Cardinals closer Trevor Rosenthal (0-4) before getting the tying hit.
Christian Yelich’s three-run homer off Seth Maness in the sixth began Miami’s comeback from a four-run deficit that snapped the Cardinals’ three-game winning streak.
Mike Dunn (6-4) worked a scoreless eighth, while Steve Cishek finished to record his 19th save in 21 chances.
ROCKIES 8, DODGERS 7
In Denver, Drew Stubbs hit a two-run homer, while Jorge De La Rosa pitched six strong innings before giving way to a shaky bullpen as the Rockies broke a five-game slide by holding off the Dodgers.
The Rockies are 3-16 since June 16 — with De La Rosa (9-6) accounting for each win.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Pirates 3, Phillies 2
‧ Braves 10, Diamondbacks 4
‧ Mariners 3, White Sox 2, 14 inns
‧ Twins 2, Yankees 1, 11 inns
‧ Red Sox 3, Orioles 2, Game 1
‧ Orioles 7, Red Sox 4, Game 2
‧ Rangers 5, Mets 3
‧ Indians 7, Royals 3
‧ Giants 5, Padres 3, 10 inns
‧ Athletics 5, Blue Jays 1
‧ Angels 11, Astros 5
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more