The New York Yankees opened Major League Baseball’s newest and priciest ballpark with an embarrassing 10-2 loss to the Cleveland Indians on Thursday.
After an 85-year-run in a stadium that produced 26 World Series titles, New York saw their hitters fizzle and the bullpen come apart on a sunny afternoon.
Jhonny Peralta broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run double off Jose Veras and Grady Sizemore hit a grand slam into the right-field seats off Damaso Marte. By the time Victor Martinez’s solo homer capped the nine-run burst, angry fans who paid up to US$2,625 for a ticket were taunting the Yankees and owner George Steinbrenner went indoors.
PHOTO: AP
C.C. Sabathia, who signed a US$161 million, seven-year contract, left after 122 pitches and five-and-two-third innings with the score at 1-1 in his first start against his former team. Cleveland’s Cliff Lee allowed one run and seven hits in six innings in a match-up of the last two American League Cy Young Award winners.
Jorge Posada hit the first home run in the new ballpark, but the Yankees stranded 10 runners in the first five innings.
WHITE SOX 3, RAYS 2
PHOTO: REUTERS
In St Petersburgh, Florida, John Danks pitched six strong innings and Jermaine Dye hit a two-run homer to lead Chicago past Tampa Bay.
Danks (1-0) limited the American League champions to two hits and had a shutout until Carlos Pena homered with one out in the sixth. Dioner Navarro had the other hit off the left-hander, a two-out single in the second inning.
Dye homered off Jeff Niemann (0-2) in the second. The White Sox wasted several opportunities to break the game open against the right-hander, including the sixth, when they loaded the bases with one out and failed to score.
BLUE JAYS 9, TWINS 2
In Minneapolis, Roy Halladay reared back and stifled the Twins again for seven dominant innings as Toronto breezed past Minnesota.
Lead-off man Marco Scutaro hustled home for a first-inning run off Francisco Liriano (0-3) and broke the game open with a two-run shot in a seven-run seventh highlighted by Kevin Millar’s fourth career grand slam. Halladay improved to 8-0 with a 2.77 ERA in his career against the Twins.
Toronto won three of four in the series and have taken 12 of the past 13 from Minnesota. Halladay (3-0) allowed eight hits and struck out eight without a walk. The right-hander allowed one run in the second inning via a fielder’s choice grounder.
ANGELS 5, MARINERS 1
In Seattle, Joe Saunders stopped Seattle’s early season joyride by allowing three hits and a run in seven innings and Mike Napoli hit a go-ahead, two-run single in a five-run sixth for Los Angeles.
Saunders’ silencing of a lineup missing Ken Griffey Jr for the third time this season dampened Seattle’s celebration of Ichiro Suzuki breaking the record for hits by a Japanese player.
The eight-time All-Star and Golden Glove outfielder broke the record of Isao Harimoto with a characteristically sharp single in the fourth, a one-hop smash into right field off Saunders (2-1) for his 3,086th hit. Harimoto, who played 23 seasons in Japan, smiled and flashed a thumbs-up sign from the box seats. Ichiro tipped his batting helmet to the cheering home crowd.
Seattle (7-3) tied their best start after 10 games in franchise history.
Cody Ross hit a three-run homer to snap out of an early slump as the Florida Marlins finished off their first three-game sweep in Atlanta with a 6-2 victory over the Braves in the National League on Thursday.
Ross finished with three hits and four RBIs after beginning the day with a .115 average, helping Florida get off to their best start in 12 years at 8-1.
The Marlins outscored the Braves 21-7 in the series.
Anibal Sanchez (1-0) gave up eight hits and two runs in six innings to give Kenshin Kawakami (1-1) his first loss. Kawakami allowed five hits and five runs, four earned, in six innings.
CARDINALS 7, CUBS 4
In Chicago, Chris Duncan atoned for some shoddy defense with a homer and three RBIs and Yadier Molina drove in the go-ahead run in a St Louis victory.
Duncan’s two-run homer in the fourth gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead — and made up for his infamously feeble fielding. Duncan dropped a routine fly to get pitcher Adam Wainwright in trouble in the sixth and failed to catch a pop-up that led to the Cubs’ first-inning run. Wainwright (2-0) labored through six innings, allowing four runs on six hits.
Milton Bradley, who had been on his best behavior since signing a US$30 million contract with Chicago, argued a called third strike as a pinch-hitter with the bases loaded in the sixth inning and was ejected by umpire Larry Vanover.
ASTROS 6, PIRATES 3
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Lance Berkman’s go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning helped Houston overcome an early two-run deficit.
Hunter Pence added a solo home run as the Astros won the final two games of the three-game series. Before that, they had lost five straight during a 1-6 start, their worst in 25 seasons.
DODGERS 7, GIANTS 2
In Los Angeles, Rafael Furcal hit a lead-off home run as Los Angeles beat San Francisco for their fifth straight win.
Eric Stults (2-0) allowed two runs and five hits, Casey Blake and pitch-hitter Doug Mientkiewicz each had two RBIs and Matt Kemp hit a run-scoring triple, helping send San Francisco to their sixth straight loss.
Three-time All-Star Barry Zito (0-2) had another rough start, allowing six runs over five-plus innings on four hits and four walks. He also hit two batters and struck out four.
NATIONALS 8, PHILLIES 2
In Washington, Adam Dunn hit one of Washington’s four homers and Shairon Martis threw six-and-a-third solid innings as Washington beat Philadelphia to avoid setting a club record for most consecutive losses to start a season. Washington are 1-7.
Martis (1-0) gave up two runs and five hits.
PADRES 6, METS 5
In New York, Chase Headley tied a career high with four hits as San Diego beat New York to win their first regular-season series at Citi Field.
Jake Peavy settled down after allowing Carlos Delgado’s long three-run homer in the first and surprising San Diego held on for their sixth win in seven games. Former Mets reliever Heath Bell pitched a perfect ninth for his fifth save in five chances.
‘SOURCE OF PRIDE’: Newspapers rushed out special editions and the government sent their congratulations as Shohei Ohtani became the first player to enter the 50-50 club Japan reacted with incredulity and pride yesterday after Shohei Ohtani became the first player in Major League Baseball to record 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a single season. The Los Angeles Dodgers star from Japan made history with a seventh-inning homer in a 20-4 victory over the Marlins in Miami. “We would like to congratulate him from the bottom of our heart,” top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters in Tokyo. “We sincerely hope Mr Ohtani, who has already accomplished feat after feat and carved out a new era, will thrive further,” he added. The landmark achievement dominated Japanese morning news
When Wang Tao ran away from home aged 17 to become a professional wrestler, he knew it would be a hard slog to succeed in China’s passionate but underdeveloped scene. Years later, he has endured family disapproval, countless side gigs and thousands of hours of brutal training to become China’s “Belt and Road Champion” — but the struggle is far from over. Despite a promising potential domestic market, the Chinese pro wrestling community has been battling for recognition and financial stability for decades. “I have done all kinds of jobs [on the side]... Because in the end, it is very
No team in the CPBL can surpass the Taipei Dome attendance record set by the CTBC Brothers, except when the Brothers team up with Taiwanese rock band Mayday. A record-high 40,000 fans turned out at the indoor baseball venue on Saturday for Brothers veteran Chou Szu-chi’s first farewell game, which was followed by a mini post-game concert featuring Mayday. This broke the previous CPBL record of 34,506 set by the Brothers in early last month, when K-pop singer Hyuna performed after the game, and the dome’s overall record of 37,890 set in early March, which featured the Brothers and the
With a quivering finger, England Subbuteo veteran Rudi Peterschinigg conceded the free-kick that sent his country’s World Cup quarter-final into extra-time before smashing his plastic goalkeeper on the floor in frustration. In the genteel southern English town of Tunbridge Wells, 300 elite players have gathered to play the game they love. “I won’t say this is the best weekend I’ve ever had in my life, but it’s certainly in the top two,” said Hughie Best, 58, who flew in from Perth, Australia, to compete and commentate at the event. Tunbridge Wells is the “spiritual home” of Subbuteo, which was invented there in 1946