Chicago’s Jason Hammel continued his outstanding start to the season by steering the Cubs to a 7-2 win at Pittsburgh on Monday, opening a four-game gap between the teams at the top of the National League Central division.
Hammel improved to 4-0 this season as the Cubs kept their record of not losing consecutive games and improved to 18-6.
The Pirates are now two games ahead of third-placed St Louis, who ended a four-game skid by beating Philadelphia, while NL East leaders Washington retained their buffer at the top by shutting out reigning World Series champions Kansas City in an interleague clash.
Photo: AFP
Hammel entered the game with an earned run average against of 0.75 runs per nine innings, but giving up two runs over five innings raised that to a still enviable 1.24. He had not given up more than one run in any of his previous five starts.
Anthony Rizzo registered a run-scoring double and scored himself in the third inning as the Cubs went ahead 2-1, then doubled again during a four-run fifth that pushed the lead to 6-1.
Washington’s Gio Gonzalez pitched six scoreless inning to guide the Nationals to a 2-0 win against Kansas City.
Ryan Zimmerman and Daniel Murphy drove in first-inning runs and that was enough for Washington to extend their winning run to four games, staying 1-1/2 games clear in the NL East.
St Louis’ Adam Wainwright pitched six innings and hit a three-run home run as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid and beat Philadelphia 10-3.
Wainwright, who has struggled since missing most of last season with an Achilles tendon injury, has won two straight after starting the season 0-3.
The Cardinals overcame an early 3-0 deficit and avoided their first five-game losing run since 2013.
Texas’ Nomar Mazara hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning to give the Rangers a 2-1 win at Toronto and their fifth win in six games.
Named the AL’s top rookie for last month earlier in the day, Mazara broke a 1-1 tie with a shot to center.
In the bottom of the eighth, Mazara preserved the one-run lead by throwing out the runner at home plate to end the inning.
Seattle’s Robinson Cano had three hits and scored twice as the Mariners edged Oakland 4-3.
Kyle Seager hit a tiebreaking double in the sixth inning for the Mariners.
San Francisco rallied against Cincinnati’s struggling bullpen, riding Brandon Crawford’s three-run homer to a 9-6 victory over the Reds.
The New York Mets made it nine wins in 10 games by beating Atlanta 4-1, set up by David Wright, Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda all hitting home runs in the first inning.
Milwaukee’s Jimmy Nelson pitched seven strong innings and drove in the go-ahead run to lead the Brewers past the Los Angeles Angels 8-5.
San Diego’s Matt Kemp hit a two-run double in the first inning and that proved enough to secure a 2-1 win against Colorado.
Minnesota beat the Astros 6-2.
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,
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
RSS