Baseball

Yangervis Solarte hasn’t even been in Japan that long and yet Hanshin Tigers fans already love him. He made it hard not to in his first game. Solarte made his NPB debut a memorable one on Friday night, hitting a towering, tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the seventh […]

BOSTON – Masahiro Tanaka gave up 12 runs and 12 hits in 3⅓ innings, the worst outing of his career in Japan and the major leagues, in the New York Yankees’ 19-3 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night. According to STATS, it was the second-worst record in […]

NISHINOMIYA, HYOGO PREF. – Shota Imanaga threw a four-hitter on Thursday, leading the Yokohama BayStars to a 6-0 victory over the Hanshin Tigers. Imanaga (9-5) issued one walk, while striking out four in a 124-pitch effort for the BayStars at Koshien Stadium. He also singled and scored a run in […]

MORIOKA – Hard-throwing high school pitcher Roki Sasaki, who is being heavily scouted by major league clubs, stayed on the bench to avoid injury as his team was eliminated from contention for a prestigious national title on Thursday. Sasaki, who threw a pitch at 160 kph on Sunday in the […]

LOS ANGELES – Two-time Grand Slam tennis champion Naomi Osaka threw the ceremonial first pitch prior to Wednesday’s Los Angeles Dodgers-Los Angeles Angels game. While she said she was nervous and lacked practice ahead of the pitch, the world No. 2 women’s singles player, threw the ball to Dodgers pitcher […]

TORONTO – Cleveland right-hander Shane Bieber wrapped up a shaky pregame bullpen session and shared a worried look with catcher Kevin Plawecki. “I was like ‘Let’s just find a way to get it done,’ ” Bieber told his battery mate. “Fortunately, I was able to do that.” He sure was. […]

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – Former New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden was arrested again in New Jersey on Monday night, this time on charges of driving while intoxicated. He was pulled over after driving the wrong way down a one-way road, Newark police said. It was the second time he […]

HIROSHIMA – Kris Johnson allowed only one hit in a complete game shutout Wednesday as he led the Hiroshima Carp to a 2-0 win over the Chunichi Dragons in the Central League. Ryoma Nishikawa gave Hiroshima an early advantage with a leadoff homer against rookie right-hander Takumi Yamamoto in the […]

LOS ANGELES – Kole Calhoun charged hard to his right and watched his footwork while he fielded the single to right field. He knew Cody Bellinger would be sprinting for home, so the game was riding on this throw to the plate. Calhoun’s preparation resulted in a nearly perfect play, […]

OSAKA – Pinch hitter Shinnosuke Shigenobu lofted a fly ball to the wall that fell for a game-winning double, lifting the Yomiuri Giants to a 6-5 walk-off win over the Tokyo Yakult Swallows on Tuesday. Before a crowd of 33,331 at Kyocera Dome, the Central League-leading Giants were forced into […]