Baseball

HOUSTON – On the night the Houston Astros celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing by NASA’s Apollo 11, the number 11 factored prominently into a lopsided win over the Oakland Athletics. Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings and Aledmys Diaz, Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel homered as […]

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – Los Angeles Angels pitcher Andrew Heaney urged those at a private memorial service to remember a gift fallen teammate Tyler Skaggs gave to them. “Take a moment, close your eyes and think of a story or even an image that reminds you of all the good […]

PITTSBURGH – Phillies manager Gabe Kapler spotted a man strolling over to the third base umpire and figured it was a member of the PNC Park grounds crew. After all, there had been a rain delay a little earlier. Kapler soon realized he was wrong. Especially when the man, wearing […]

Yoshitomo Tsutsugo is not your typical No. 2 batter. Or is he? The answer probably depends on the brand of baseball you prefer. The BayStars slugger isn’t a speedster nor much of a bunter. He’s a destructive force at the plate with 193 career home runs — at least 20 […]

COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK – For Mariano Rivera, it was the culmination of a storied career, dreams of being the next Pele long since forgotten. For Brandy Halladay, the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony was a tearful moment to reflect on the accomplishments of her late husband, and she handled […]

SAPPORO – Atsuki Taneichi allowed two runs over five innings as the Chiba Lotte Marines scored seven first-inning runs in a 9-4 Pacific League win over the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters on Sunday. The Fighters’ loss was their first since the all-star break and snapped a five-game winning streak. Taneichi […]

MORIOKA, IWATE PREF. – Highly touted right-handed pitcher Roki Sasaki was clocked at 160 kph (99.4 mph) on Sunday for Ofunato High School in the fourth round of Iwate Prefecture’s summer tournament. The third-year student, who was clocked at 163 kph at an April training camp, struck out 21 batters […]

NEW YORK – Masahiro Tanaka claimed his seventh win of the season and 170th of his career, between Japan and North America, as the New York Yankees beat the Colorado Rockies 11-5 on Saturday. Tanaka (7-5) pitched five scoreless innings at Yankee Stadium as the hosts built a nine-run lead […]

SAPPORO – Hiroshi Urano threw six scoreless innings to pace the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters to a 4-0 win over the Chiba Lotte Marines on Saturday. It was the Fighters’ fifth consecutive victory. The right-hander struck out seven, while allowing two hits and one walk to improve to 3-1. Pitching […]

SEATTLE – Mike Leake of the Seattle Mariners lost his bid to pitch a perfect game on a leadoff single in the ninth inning by rookie Luis Rengifo, then finished off the Los Angeles Angels for a 10-0 win Friday night. A week after the worst start of his career, […]