MLB-SCHEDULE
Angels clinch…Royals inch closer to Tigers
UNDATED (AP) β The Los Angeles Angels are the third major league team to win its division, two nights after becoming the first to wrap up a postseason berth.
C.J. Wilson retired his first 14 batters and combined with two relievers on a one-hitter as the AL West champs blanked the Seattle Mariners 5-0. David Freese (freez) snapped a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the Angels’ five-run seventh before C.J. Cron smacked a three-run homer.
The Mariners fell two games off the AL wild-card pace.
Oakland actually eliminated itself from the AL West race and fell into a tie with Kansas City for the two AL wild-card berths. J.P. Arencibia (ar-ehn-SEE’-bee-uh) smacked a tiebreaking, three-run homer off John Doolittle in the ninth inning to lead Texas past the Athletics 6-1. The A’s were two outs from a 1-0 win until Rougned Odor (ROOG’-nehd oh-DOOR’) hit an RBI double.
Baseball’s closest division race got a little tighter. Just a half-game separates the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers from the Kansas City Royals.
Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer and Nori Aoki (NOHR’-ee ah-OH’-kee) went 3-for-5 with three RBIs as the Royals thumped the Chicago White Sox 6-2. Aoki went 11-for-14 with four ribbies in the series as Kansas City took two of three from the Pale Hose.
Winning pitcher Yordano Ventura allowed a run and three hits while seven strikeouts in seven innings.
In Minnesota, Brian Dozier, Danny Santana and Joe Mauer each had two RBIs and combined for seven of the Twins’ 13 hits in an 8-4 triumph over Detroit, the Tigers’ second straight loss. The Twins trailed 4-3 in the sixth until Santana and Mauer sandwiched RBI doubles around Mauer’s run-scoring triple.
Miguel Cabrera went 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Tigers, but David Price was tagged for five runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Elsewhere in the majors:
β St. Louis still enjoys a 2 Β½-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central after Adam Wainwright became the majors’ second 19-game winner in the Cardinals’ 2-0 shutout of Milwaukee. Matt Adam and Jhonny Peralta (JAH’-nee peh-RAHL’-tah) each hit RBI singles in the seventh to back Wainwright, who surrendered seven hits in his fifth complete game of the season. The outcome drops the Brewers 2 Β½ games behind the Pirates for the second NL wild-card berth.
β Gregory Polanco and Neil Walker hit solo homers before Ike Davis belted a three-run shot in Pittsburgh’s 9-1 romp over Boston. Francisco Liriano helped the Pirates take a step toward their second straight NL wild-card berth, holding the Red Sox to a run and three hits in six innings.
β Justin Morneau had six RBIs, including a three-run homer and a two-run single while Colorado was scoring eight times in the first inning of a 16-2 laugher against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Charlie Blackmon went 5-for-5 with a solo homer and four runs scored as the last-place Rockies took the rubber match of their three-game set with the first-place Dodgers.
β The Giants are within two games of the NL West-leading Dodgers after Matt Duffy hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the ninth inning to lift San Francisco over the Diamondbacks 4-2 in Arizona. Brandon Crawford was 4-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
β Atlanta beat Washington 3-1 behind Alex Wood, who held the NL East champs to a run and five hits while striking out eight in six innings. The Braves did their scoring on Christian Bethancourt’s two-run single, with a third run scoring on shortstop Danny Espinosa’s throwing error.
β Baltimore completed a three-game sweep of Toronto as Steve Pearce homered twice and collected four RBIs to lead the Orioles’ 6-1 win over the Blue Jays. Bud Norris allowed two hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings for his 14th win.
β Carlos Carrasco was terrific in Cleveland’s 2-0 shutout of Houston, striking out 11 while allowing just two hits in his first complete game since 2011. Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) accounted for the scoring with an RBI single and a run-scoring triple.
β Derek Jeter snapped his 0-for-28 skid with a single and scored the eventual winning run in the New York Yankees’ 3-2 triumph over Tampa Bay. Brandon McCarthy improved to 7-4 since joining the Yankees, limiting the Rays to two runs and four hits in seven innings.
β Henderson Alvarez is 11-6 after yielding eight hits but just two runs in six innings of Miami’s 4-3 win over the Mets in New York. Donovan Solano was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored in the rubber match of the three-game set.
β Rookie Kyle Hendricks gave up a run and seven hits in seven innings to pitch the Cubs past Cincinnati 3-1 in Chicago. Hendricks is 7-2 with a 2.28 ERA in 12 starts.
β Ben Revere hit a two-run double and Freddy Galvis slapped a two-run single in the fifth inning of Philadelphia’s 5-2 win at San Diego. Cole Hamels recorded nine strikeouts while holding the Padres to a run and seven hits in seven frames.
MLB-MARLINS-STANTON DONE
Stanton’s season is over
NEW YORK (AP) β Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton won’t play again in the majors this season because of last week’s beaning.
Stanton sustained facial fractures, dental damage, cuts that required stitches and two black eyes when was hit in the face by a fastball from Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers last Thursday. He still leads the National League when 37 homers and had a major league-best 105 RBIs when he was injured.
MLB-UMPIRE SUSPENDED
West suspended
NEW YORK (AP) β Umpire Joe West has been suspended for one game without pay for grabbing the jersey of Philadelphia Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon.
Major League Baseball executive Joe Torre said in a statement today that West “admitted that there was a better way to handle the situation.”
Papelbon was suspended seven games and fined Monday for making a lewd gesture and then bumping West during a loss to Miami on Sunday.
MLB-BLUE JAYS-STROMAN SUSPENDED
Jays’ Stroman to appeal suspension
BALTIMORE (AP) β Toronto pitcher Marcus Stroman is appealing his six-game suspension that Major League Baseball imposed for throwing at the head of a Baltimore hitter.
MLB penalized Stroman and also fined the 23-year-old rookie an undisclosed amount.
Stroman threw a pitch that sailed past the head of Orioles catcher Caleb Joseph in a game Monday night.
NFL-DOMESTIC ABUSE
Cardinals’ Dwyer arrested…Peterson, Hardy benched again
UNDATED (AP) β The NFL is facing yet another case of domestic abuse.
Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer has been arrested on aggravated assault charges in connection with two altercations at his home in late July involving a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old child. The Cardinals said they became aware of the situation on Wednesday and are cooperating with the investigation. He has been deactivated from all team functions.
Police say one of the counts was “aggravated assault causing a fracture.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy will not play this weekend, and it could be a while before either player sees any game action.
The Vikings put Peterson on the exempt-commissioner’s permission list, meaning he is off the active roster again while he deals with his legal affairs. General manager Rick Spielman would not put a timeframe on when Peterson might be back.
Team owner Zygi (ZIH’-gee) Wilf said the team “made a mistake” in bringing back its superstar earlier this week following his indictment on a felony child-abuse charge in Texas.
The All-Pro running back is accused of injuring his 4-year-old son by spanking him with a wooden switch earlier this year.
The Panthers have removed Hardy from the team’s active roster until the Pro Bowl defensive end’s domestic violence case is resolved. The Pro Bowl lineman has been placed on the exempt-commissioner’s permission list.
Carolina general manager Dave Gettleman says Hardy will continue to be paid and is allowed to be at the team facility, but will not practice. Hardy earns more than $770,000 each week during the regular season.
Hardy is appealing a July 15 conviction for assault on a female and communicating threats.
NFL-DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Call for Goodell resignation
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP) β The father of a woman who once dated Bears receiver Brandon Marshall is calling for commissioner Roger Goodell (guh-DEHL’) to resign because of the way he handled the women’s abuse case.
Clarence Watley says his daughter, Rasheedah Watley, was abused by Marshall.
Marshall was with Denver at the time and now plays for Chicago. He was suspended for three games in 2008, but the suspension was reduced to one game. He has denied the allegations.
Watley says he and others wrote to Goodell about the case and never heard back from league officials. Watley called the NFL’s investigation one-sided.
NFL-DRUG POLICY
New rules
NEW YORK (AP) β The NFL and the players union have agreed on a new drug policy that will include HGH testing, perhaps as early as the end of this month.
The new performance-enhancing drug policy will have a more immediate impact this weekend. Denver receiver Wes Welker, Dallas Cowboys defensive back Orlando Scandrick and St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey had been suspended for four games. All can return Sunday under the new rules in which players who test positive for banned stimulants in the offseason will no longer be suspended. Instead, they will be referred to the substance abuse program.
NFL-BILLS-OWNER
Bills deal almost done
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) β Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula took a step closer to buying the Buffalo Bills after their NFL-record $1.4 billion purchase agreement was unanimously approved by the league’s finance committee.
Three-quarters of the owners will be required to approve the deal in a vote next month.
NFL-49ERS-KAEPERNICK FINE
Niners QB to appear fine
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) β Colin Kaepernick (KAH’-lihn KAP’-ur-nihgk) says he has been fined more than $11,000 by the NFL and he will appeal the penalty for what was called “inappropriate language”.
Kaepernick was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct following an interception against Chicago Sunday when he was engaged with the Bears Lamarr Houston. The 49ers quarterback maintains he didn’t say anything inappropriate and that Houston’s post-game remarks back him up.
NBA-NUGGETS-HICKSON SUSPENDED
NBA suspends Hickson
NEW YORK (AP) β Denver’s J.J. Hickson has been suspended for five games without pay by the NBA for violating the terms of the anti-drug program. Hickson averaged 11.8 rebounds and 9.2 rebounds in 69 games last season, his first with Denver.
