Baseball

WASHINGTON – Trea Turner’s go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning lifted Washington to a 6-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies for a doubleheader sweep Tuesday that helped the Nationals clinch an NL wild card, capping quite a turnaround for a team that was 19-31 in late May. “We knew […]

SENDAI – The Seibu batters roared at the plate as usual, Zach Neal had another solid game on the mound, and the Lions got the win they needed in Chiba — by a 12-4 margin — and the loss by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks they needed in Sendai to clinch […]

TORONTO – Anthony Alford hit a game-ending drive in the 15th inning for his first career homer, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 11-10 on Monday night. Alford connected against rookie right-hander Ryan Eades (0-1), who was trying to close out a third consecutive scoreless inning. “I […]

Yomiuri Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe will draw the curtain on his professional baseball career after 19 seasons with the Central League club, informed sources said Tuesday. According to sources, the 40-year-old Abe has already informed the team of his decision and will hold a news conference in the next few […]

SENDAI – Ernesto Mejia once more had the last word against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles on Monday, his three-run double lifting Seibu to a 5-3 win that lowered the Lions’ magic number to clinch the Pacific League title to two. The Lions, looking to win back-to-back PL titles for […]

CHICAGO – Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the franchise’s first postseason berth in four years with a champagne toast in the visitor’s clubhouse. It was another sweet finish. Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Cardinals clinched a playoff spot by rallying past […]

OSAKA – Yuki Yanagita and Yurisbel Gracial each drove in a pair of runs as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks closed to within one game of the Pacific League-leading Saitama Seibu Lions on Sunday with a 6-5 win over the Orix Buffaloes. Yanagita singled in the Hawks’ second first-inning run against […]

MILWAUKEE – Brent Suter has turned out to be the wild card in the wild card chase for the Milwaukee Brewers. Rookies Keston Hiura and Trent Grisham each hit two-run homers and Suter was superb again in middle relief as the Brewers increased their edge for the second NL wild-card […]

YOKOHAMA – Yomiuri Giants manager Tatsunori Hara wrapped an arm about Shinnosuke Abe, one of his longest-serving veterans, as they walked toward the left-field stands at Yokohama Stadium, where their fans were waiting to greet them with rapturous applause. The pair, who have been through so many years and so […]

ATLANTA – Freddie Freeman didn’t care that his eyes kept tearing up from all the beer and champagne soakings. It seemed like every teammate stopped by to blast him, and he loved every minute of it. “This is the first step of hopefully a few celebrations to come,” he said […]