Starlin Castro hit a third-inning grand slam off Josh Tomlin that gave the Yankees a six-run lead, while Mark Teixeira had two hits after tearfully announcing his retirement as New York defeated Cleveland 13-7 on Friday night.
Jacoby Ellsbury had a four-hit game, and Michael Pineda (6-10) won for the third time in four outings following a six-start winless streak, allowing four runs and six hits in six-plus innings.
New York’s Gary Sanchez made his first league start behind the plate and threw out Jason Kipnis and Mike Napoli trying to steal second base in the first two innings.
Photo: AFP
The rookie, called up from the minors on Wednesday, doubled in the fifth for his first big league RBI and walked with the bases loaded in the sixth.
The Yankees had 16 hits, including at least one by every starter, as the Indians failed to retire New York in order in any inning. Cleveland lost for the fourth time in five games, and their AL Central lead over second-place Detroit was cut to two games
Slowed by injuries, Teixeira said he will retire after this season at age 36. He doubled in the first inning and legged out a single in the third on a ball stopped by Kipnis, the second baseman, in short right field.
At .202, Teixeira’s average reached .200 for the first time since before play on May 20.
Tomlin (11-4) allowed a season-high seven earned runs and nine hits in 4-2/3 innings and is 3-3 in 10 outings since an 8-1 start.
CUBS 7, ATHLETICS 2
In Oakland, California, Jorge Soler hit a three-run home run in his first at-bat following a two-month absence, while Jon Lester pitched seven innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the Oakland Athletics.
Dexter Fowler also homered, and Javier Baez added a two-run double to help Chicago win their fifth straight. The Cubs also improved to a major league-best 67-41.
Lester pitched for the A’s over the final two months of the 2014 season. He returned to the Coliseum for the first time since then and faced a distinctly different Oakland team than the one he left.
Lester (12-4) had eight strikeouts, allowed two runs and nine hits while winning for the third time in his last four starts. Dillon Overton (1-3) gave up seven runs in three innings.
NATIONALS 5, GIANTS 1
In Washington, Gio Gonzalez pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, while Trea Turner and Wilson Ramos homered as Washington beat San Francisco in a matchup of first-place teams.
Washington jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against Jeff Samardzija (9-8), and Gonzalez made it stand. Coming off a 3-1 loss in San Francisco on Sunday, Gonzalez (7-9) struck out seven, walked one and had five three-up, three-down innings. The two hits he allowed were a solo homer by Angel Pagan in the fourth and a single by Denard Span in the sixth.
Sammy Solis gave up two hits in the eighth and Mark Melancon got three straight outs to complete the four-hitter. It was the fourth straight win for the NL East-leading Nationals.
The Giants remained atop the NL West, though their lead is dwindling. Since the All-Star break, San Francisco are 5-14 and have allowed 32 home runs. Samardzija gave up five runs in seven innings and is 0-3 with a 6.85 ERA in his four starts since the break.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Red Sox 9, Dodgers 0
‧ Tigers 4, Mets 3
‧ Cardinals 1, Braves 0
‧ Orioles 7, White Sox 5
‧ Blue Jays 4, Royals 3
‧ Twins 6, Rays 2
‧ Marlins 5, Rockies 3
‧ Mariners 6, Angels 4
‧ Astros 5, Rangers 0
‧ Pirates 3, Reds 2
‧ Diamondbacks 3, Brewers 2
‧ Phillies 5, Padres 4
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,
Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday said that she hoped she would be able to play tennis under the Belarusian flag after the International Olympic Committee lifted its ban on the country’s athletes competing in the Olympics. World No. 1 Sabalenka has had to compete under a neutral banner as a consequence of her country’s support for Russia following its ally’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The IOC earlier on Thursday lifted its ban on Belarusian athletes competing in the Olympics, although restrictions on Russian athletes remain in place. Asked whether the women’s tour would drop the ban on her representing her country, Sabalenka said:
China’s Wu Yize on Monday won the World Snooker Championship for the first time with a dramatic 18-17 victory over Shaun Murphy in the final. Wu held his nerve to seal his thrilling triumph in a tense last frame shoot-out at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre. The 22-year-old is the second Chinese player to win the world title after Zhao Xintong beat Mark Williams to make history as the first Asian to lift the trophy last year. Wu is also the second-youngest player to be crowned world champion at the Crucible after Stephen Hendry, who was 21 when he won in 1990. “I have been trying
Real Madrid announced on Friday they had fined Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde 500,000 euros (US$588,000) each after a training ground clash that saw Valverde transported for medical care. The club did not impose any sporting sanctions on the two players, saying in a statement that the fine “thereby concludes the internal procedures” launched against them. Valverde is going to miss today’s Clasico against Barcelona as a result of the head injury he suffered during the altercation. The club said he would be out for up to two weeks. Tchouameni took part in training on Friday and could feature at Camp
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