MAJOR LEAGUES
Vance Worley pitched eight sparkling innings and Russell Martin hit a late RBI single as the Pittsburgh Pirates trapped a runner in the ninth to edge Milwaukee 1-0 on Sunday, extending their wild-card lead over the Brewers.
The Pirates tied San Francisco atop the National League wild-card race, 4.5 games ahead of Milwaukee.
Carlos Gomez led off the Milwaukee ninth with a single and Rickie Weeks followed with an infield hit, but Gomez got caught in a rundown and was tagged between second and third.
The Kansas City Royals also increased their lead in the American League wild-card race with a 5-2 win over the Detroit Tigers.
The Royals avoided a three-game sweep and moved within 1.5 games of the AL Central-leading Tigers. Kansas City also opened a 1.5 game edge over Seattle for the second wild-card spot.
Aoki’s tiebreaking triple in the fourth scored Omar Infante and Mike Moustakas, making it 4-2 and chasing Rick Porcello from the game.
In other games, Seattle’s playoff hopes took another hit with an 8-3 loss to Houston, St Louis clinched a playoff spot before falling to Cincinnati 7-2 and San Francisco fell further behind the Dodgers in the NL West with an 8-2 loss to San Diego.
Jake Marisnick hit a three-run homer for the second straight game to lead Houston to victory over Seattle.
Houston took two of three from the Mariners, dropping them 1.5 games behind Kansas City for the second AL wild-card.
St Louis secured their fourth consecutive post-season appearance when Milwaukee lost to Pittsburgh, but the Cardinals’ lead in the NL Central was sliced to 2.5 games over the Pirates.
Bruce hit two of Cincinnati’s four homers as the Reds ended a six-game losing streak. Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco also went deep.
Reeling San Francisco managed just six hits off Ian Kennedy and three Padres relievers, falling 4.5 games behind the Dodgers.
The Giants are still in good shape for a wild-card berth — they are tied with Pittsburgh, 4.5 games ahead of Milwaukee.
Kennedy (12-13) struck out five, giving him a career-high 201.
The Dodgers clinched a playoff berth on Friday, but did not let up in scoring an 8-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.
Matt Kemp homered and drove in four runs, and Yasiel Puig scored a career-high four times for the Dodgers.
The Oakland Athletics topped Philadelphia 8-6 in 10 innings to maintain their 0.5 game lead over Kansas City and 2 game lead over Seattle in the AL wild-card race. Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning for the A’s.
Cleveland did not lose any ground in their playoff chase with a 7-2 win over Minnesota.
Corey Kluber matched a career best by striking out 14 for the second straight start for the Indians, who have won five of six.
Cleveland are 3.5 games behind Kansas City for the second AL wild-card.
Elsewhere, Texas’ Ryan Rua hit his first major league homer as the Rangers beat the playoff-bound Los Angeles Angels 2-1 for their eighth win in nine games.
In Baltimore, Joe Kelly pitched seven innings of three-hit ball and the Red Sox got home runs from Mookie Betts and David Ross to beat the AL East-champion Orioles 3-2.
New York’s Derek Jeter got two more hits on his final homestand and Masahiro Tanaka made a triumphant return from an elbow injury in the Yankees’ 5-2 win over Toronto.
The Chicago White Sox topped Tampa Bay 10-5, Washington beat Miami 2-1, Colorado defeated Arizona 8-3 and the New York Mets knocked Atlanta out of the playoff race with a 10-2 win.
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
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
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,
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