Baseball Topics

Pirates roar past Reds

Pirates roar past Reds

Francisco Liriano showed up at PNC Park on Tuesday afternoon in a suit with his suitcase packed for a trip St. Louis. The message reverberated through the Pittsburgh Pirates clubhouse. ...

Japanese Baseball

2013 Central League Preview
2013 Pacific League Preview

Matsuoka tosses shutout against Giants

Ninth-year right-hander Kenichi Matsuoka threw his first-career shutout, Tetsuto Yamada homered and the last-place Tokyo Yakult Swallows blanked the Central League-winning Yomiuri Giants 1-0 on Wednesday night. Matsuoka (3-3) retired ...

Washington reveals Darvish issues

Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington acknowledged Tuesday that right-hander Yu Darvish had physical issues late in the season, but would not reveal what they were. Speaking to the press a ...

Oct 2, 2013

Yankees hope to have Kuroda back

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday the club has interest in keeping veteran right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. Cashman, however, acknowledged the possibility that Kuroda could retire, play in Japan or even seek a contract from another club in free agency. “Of course ...

Eagles' Tanaka improves to 23-0 in magical season

Oct 1, 2013

Eagles' Tanaka improves to 23-0 in magical season

As if on cue, the Pacific League pennant winner Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles came through for right-hander Masahiro Tanaka — and big. After being held scoreless in three consecutive games since clinching the PL title on Sept. 26, the Eagles erupted with a six-run ...

Price, Longoria send Rays into postseason

Oct 1, 2013

Price, Longoria send Rays into postseason

David Price, Evan Longoria and the Tampa Bay Rays are going to the playoffs again, getting there with a victory in their final regular-season contest for the second time in three years. They needed an extra game this time. Price threw his fourth complete ...

Oct 1, 2013

Last-place Cubs fire skipper Sveum

The Chicago Cubs fired manager Dale Sveum on Monday after finishing last in the NL Central for the first time in seven years, ending a two-year run that produced more losses than any other stretch in the team’s cursed history. Chicago went 61-101 in ...

Oct 1, 2013

A-Rod hearing against ban begins

The grievance to overturn Alex Rodriguez’s 211-game suspension began Monday before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz. The New York Yankees third baseman was wearing a business suit and accompanied by lawyers when he arrived for the session at Major League Baseball’s headquarters in midtown Manhattan. Rodriguez ...

Alvarez gets walk-off no-hitter on wild pitch

Sep 30, 2013

Alvarez gets walk-off no-hitter on wild pitch

With the bases loaded, two outs and the score 0-0 in the bottom of the ninth, Henderson Alvarez stood in the Miami Marlins’ on-deck circle, bat in hand, hoping to complete his no-hitter. Alvarez had blanked the Detroit Tigers for nine innings — and ...

Blanco homers twice as BayStars down Swallows

Sep 30, 2013

Blanco homers twice as BayStars down Swallows

Tony Blanco homered twice to drive in five runs, powering the Yokohama BayStars to a 6-3 win over the last-place Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Monday night. Yakult’s Wladimir Balentien extended his Japanese single-season record to 59 homers with a two-out solo blast that gave ...

Sep 30, 2013

Rivera apologizes for no-show

Mariano Rivera thanked the fans in Houston — just as he’s done in every other city that honored the retiring New York Yankees closer this year. Then he threw in something a little different Sunday: an apology. Rivera was honest about why he skipped ...

Rangers, Rays force wild-card tiebreaker

Sep 30, 2013

Rangers, Rays force wild-card tiebreaker

The Texas Rangers had to keep winning to keep playing. After seven wins in a row, they have to do it one more time to get into the playoffs. Craig Gentry had a key two-run single, Geovany Soto had a tiebreaking RBI double and ...

Another challenge awaits Rakuten

| Sep 30, 2013

Another challenge awaits Rakuten

by Jason Coskrey

Clinching the Pacific League pennant a little early gave the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles a chance to really enjoy the moment. Ace Masahiro Tanaka, 22-0 this season, was on the mound for the last inning of the PL pennant race on Sept. 26 at ...