MORSi ROAStS IRAN - Kuwait Times

FRIDAY, AUGUST 31 , 2012
Blue Jays, White
Sox triumph
NEW YORK: Yunel Esccobar hit a two-run homer, three doubles
and drove in five runs as Toronto beat the New York Yankees 8-5
Wednesday, ending CC Sabathia’s five years of dominance over
the Blue Jays. Escobar had a go-ahead RBI double in the third. His
homer against Sabathia in the sixth gave the Blue Jays the lead
again and his two-run double off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth
helped secure Toronto’s first series win since July. JA Happ (3-1)
overcame a season-high five walks for the win and Casey Janssen
pitched a perfect ninth for his 17th save. Sabathia (13-4) was undefeated
over his last nine starts against Toronto - 8-0 with a 2.48
ERA - since the beginning of his Cy Young Award season of 2007
with Cleveland.
White Sox 8, Orioles 1
In Baltimore, White Sox rookie Dylan Axelrod took a three-hitter
into the eighth inning and Chicago spoiled the Baltimore
debut of Joe Saunders, scoring seven runs off the left-hander.
Gordon Beckham had three hits and three RBIs to help Chicago
snap a five-game road losing streak. Alexei Ramirez went 3 for 4
with two RBIs and scored twice for the White Sox, who will seek a
split of the four-game series on Thursday. Omar Quintanilla drove
in the lone run for the Orioles, whose four-game winning streak
ended. Baltimore remained 31/2 games behind the first-place
New York Yankees in the AL East.
Rays 8, Rangers 4
In Arlington, Evan Longoria homered twice, Tampa Bay
roughed up Matt Harrison and the Rays beat the Rangers to snap
a four-game losing streak. After dropping the last two against the
AL-West leading Rangers by one run, the Rays avoided the threegame
sweep. Harrison (15-8) allowed seven runs and 12 hits in 5 1-
3 innings. He took a no-hitter into the seventh and permitted two
hits in eight shutout innings in his last outing Friday night against
Minnesota. Tampa Bay had scored only 11 runs during their losing
skid before breaking out for 16 hits against Texas. Josh Hamilton
hit his 36th home run for Texas.
Athletics 8, Indians 4
In Cleveland, Josh Donaldson hit a three-run homer and five
Athletics pitchers combined to beat the Indians. Oakland took
over the AL wild-card lead by one game over Baltimore with its
11th win in 13 games as Travis Blackley (5-3) gave up two runs
over 5 2-3 innings. Ryan Cook got four outs for his 13th save.
Donaldson connected off rookie Corey Kluber (0-3) in the fourth
inning for a 3-2 lead. Shoddy fielding by the Indians, losers of 13 of
14, helped the Athletics later extend the lead.Jason Donald’s
homer in the third broke the Indians’ 24-inning scoreless streak,
but they fell to 5-26 since July 27.
Royals 1, Tigers 0
In Kansas City, Bruce Chen allowed four hits over a seasonhigh
eight innings, and Eric Hosmer’s infield single in the fourth
drove in the only run in the Royals’ victory over the Tigers. The last
time Chen (10-10) lasted eight innings was last September, in his
final two starts of the year. The veteran left-hander hadn’t even
gone seven in his past 11 outings. Anibal Sanchez (2-4) matched
him pitch for pitch most of the night, finally looking like the guy
the Tigers thought they were acquiring in a July trade with Florida.
Sanchez allowed seven hits in seven innings, but the RBI single off
the fists by Hosmer proved to be decisive.
Twins 10, Mariners 0
In Minneapolis, Samuel Deduno dominated for seven innings,
Trevor Plouffe homered and had four RBIs, and the Twins beat the
Mariners. The normally wild Deduno (5-2) struck out a career-high
nine with no walks to help the win for just the fourth time in their
last 20 games. After Trayvon Robinson singled with one out in the
first inning, Deduno retired the next 18 Seattle hitters, all but one
on groundballs or strikeouts. Plouffe gave the Twins a 5-0 lead in
the fourth with his 20th home run and first since returning on
Aug. 13 after missing 21 games with a sore thumb.Jason Vargas
(13-9) failed to finish five innings for his second straight start. He
allowed six runs on eight hits over 4 2-3 innings.
Angels 10, Red Sox 3
In Anaheim, Kendrys Morales and Chris Iannetta hit early tworun
homers, C.J. Wilson snapped his 11-start winless skid and the
Angels jumped all over new Boston starter Zach Stewart. Torii
Hunter, Alberto Callaspo and Erick Aybar all contributed run-scoring
doubles during the three innings pitched by Stewart (0-1),
who yielded 10 hits and fell behind 9-1 in a horrific Red Sox debut.
Five Angels had multihit games, led by Hunter’s 3-for-4 effort with
two RBIs.—AP
PHOENIX: Chris Heisey hit two of
Cincinnati’s four late homers, including a
tying shot in the seventh inning, to rally the
Reds to a 6-2 victory over the Arizona
Diamondbacks on Wednesday.
Dioner Navarro’s solo shot two batters
after Heisey’s two-run drive put Cincinnati
ahead. Brandon Phillips added a two-run
homer in the eighth and Heisey capped the
scoring with a solo homer two outs later.
The NL Central leaders swept the threegame
series and sent the reeling
Diamondbacks to their sixth straight home
loss.
Mat Latos (11-4) pitched seven innings,
allowing two runs and five hits with seven
strikeouts. He also had two hits in his first
win since Aug. 3 against Pittsburgh and his
first at Arizona since August 2010.
Cincinnati trailed 2-0 until the seventh,
shut out on two hits by Patrick Corbin (5-6).
Todd Frazier doubled with one out and
scored on Heisey’s fifth home run. The
Diamondbacks lost eight of 10 on their
homestand.
Dodgers 10, Rockies 8
In Denver, Joe Blanton pitched effectively
into the eighth inning for his first win
with Los Angeles and A.J. Ellis hit his first
career grand slam in a victory over
Colorado.
Hanley Ramirez, another midseason
acquisition by the Dodgers, homered in his
second straight game to help Los Angeles
overcome Matt Kemp’s absence and withstand
Colorado’s seven-run eighth.
Kemp sat out because of a bone bruise
on his left knee and a sore jaw after he
crashed into the outfield wall the night
before. He is day to day.
Blanton (9-12), who was 0-3 with a 7.71
ERA in four previous starts since joining the
Dodgers in an Aug. 3 trade with
Philadelphia, struck out five in 7 13 innings.
It was his first win since July 16 when he
beat the Dodgers for the Phillies.
Pirates 5, Cardinals 0
In Pittsburgh, Pedro Alvarez kept up his
recent tear, hitting his 26th homer and driving
in three runs as Pittsburgh rolled to a
victory over St. Louis.
Alvarez, who homered twice on
Tuesday, added to his season-long dominance
of the Cardinals. His three-run shot in
the third gave him seven home runs and 23
RBIs in 15 games against St. Louis this year
as the Pirates moved within one game of
the NL’s second wild-card spot.
Wandy Rodriguez (9-13) worked six tidy
innings to pick up his first victory as a
starter since being acquired by Pittsburgh
in a trade last month. He walked three and
struck out three while helping the Pirates
shut out the Cardinals for the second
straight night. Joe Kelly (4-6) battled control
problems during five rocky innings, giving
up five runs on eight hits.
Nationals 8, Marlins 4
In Miami, Bryce Harper homered twice
for the first time in his career and first-place
Washington snapped a five-game losing
streak by beating Miami.
Harper hit a two-run homer in the fourth
inning and a solo shot in the fifth, giving
the rookie 14 this season. He had a chance
for a three-homer night but grounded into
a double play in the ninth, spiked his helmet
in frustration after crossing the bag
and was ejected by umpire C.B. Bucknor.
Before the game, manager Davey
Johnson called a brief team meeting, which
he described as upbeat. The pep talk stirred
the Nationals’ bats, and they had 14 hits.
Kurt Suzuki hit his first homer with
Washington and Ross Detwiler (8-6)
allowed three runs in 5 2-3 innings. Drew
Storen came on with runners at second and
third in the eighth and retired three consecutive
batters to protect a 6-4 lead. Miami
rookie Jacob Turner (0-2), auditioning for a
job next year, allowed five runs in five
innings.
Padres 8, Braves 2
In San Diego, with their new owners
watching, Chase Headley and the Padres
beat Atlanta for their ninth win in 10 games.
Headley hit a two-run single and lefthander
Eric Stults (4-2) won his fourth
straight decision as the Padres took two of
three from the Braves, who lead the NL
wild-card race.
The third generation of the O’Malley
family was introduced at a news conference
earlier Wednesday, promising to run the
Padres in the same first-class manner that
Walter and Peter O’Malley once ran the
Dodgers. The new ownership group
includes Peter O’Malley’s sons, Kevin and
Brian, and nephews Peter and Tom Seidler.
It also includes San Diego businessman
Ron Fowler, the executive chairman who
has been designated as the team’s control
person. The group bought the Padres for
$800 million from John Moores. Headley’s
two-run single in the fifth off Tommy
Hanson (12-7) gave San Diego a 4-1 lead.
Mets 3, Phillies 2
In Philadelphia, Lucas Duda hit a two-run
homer, Matt Harvey had another sharp outing
and New York beat the Phillies for its
fourth straight win.
The Mets have won five straight in
Philadelphia and seven of eight overall this
season. Harvey (3-3) allowed two runs and
six hits, striking out six in 6 1-3 innings. He
also had an RBI single. The rookie has a 2.76
ERA in seven starts.
Tyler Cloyd (0-1) yielded three runs over
six innings in his major league debut while
filling in for Cole Hamels, scratched from the
start because of a gastrointestinal illness.
Cloyd allowed three runs and seven hits
in six innings. The 25-year-old righty was 15-
1 with a 2.26 ERA in the minors this season,
including 12-1 with a 2.35 ERA at Triple-A
Sports
Reds pound D’backs
Lehigh Valley.
Josh Edgin, Robert Carson and Jon
Rauch combined to get five outs before
Frank Francisco finished for his 22nd save in
25 tries.
Brewers 3, Cubs 1
In Chicago, Mike Fiers tossed 7 1-3 solid
innings to lead Milwaukee to its eighth
straight victory over Chicago. Fiers (8-6)
held the Cubs to four hits and struck out six,
helping Milwaukee beat its division rival for
the 13th time in 16 meetings this season.
The Brewers have won eight of nine overall
and moved within five games of .500 for the
first time since July 21.
Fiers sent down 14 straight batters at
one point and won his second straight start,
but Milwaukee’s streak of eight straight
games with at least 10 strikeouts came to an
end. It was the longest such streak since
1900.
John Axford finished for his 22nd save
in 30 chances. Jeff Samardzija (8-12) gave
up seven hits and three runs - two earned
PHOENIX: Arizona Diamondbacks’ Jacob Elmore (right) connects on a run-scoring
double as Cincinnati Reds catcher Dioner Navarro watches in the fourth inning of a
baseball game. — AP
— in seven innings. He struck out 10.
Jean Segura stroked a go-ahead single in
the seventh and scored an insurance run
when Chicago committed two errors after
he stole second base. The bumbling Cubs
have dropped 22 of 28 and fell 31 games
under .500, their worst mark since Sept. 30,
2006.
Giants 6, Astros 4
In Houston, Hunter Pence hit a threerun
homer and Joaquin Arias drove in two
with a triple to help San Francisco beat
Houston.
Pence has been an Astros nemesis since
they traded him in July 2011, hitting four
homers in seven games against his former
team with the Phillies and Giants.
The crowd of 13,207 was the smallest in
the history of Houston’s 12-year-old ballpark.
The previous low came a night before.
George Kontos (1-0) struck out four in 2
2-3 scoreless innings for the win after Barry
Zito yielded seven hits and three runs in a
season-low 2 1-3 innings. Javier Lopez got
two outs for his fifth save.
Dallas Keuchel (1-7) retired 14 in a row
after Pence’s homer. The Astros, who own
the worst record in the majors, have lost
four straight and 11 of 12. — AP