Sanchez homers again, rout Orioles 14-4
Michael Cheika who, after an almost record losing streak since last year’s World Cup final, finds himself under increasing pressure to save his job.
Incapable of breaking the All Blacks’ defensive line, the Wallabies resorted to penalties as their only means of scoring points. Bernard Foley, moved from flyhalf to inside center, kicked two before Reece Hodge, who made his test debut as a 16th-minute replacement for the injured Adam Ashley-Cooper, kicked another from halfway.
Australia resorted to Quade Cooper at flyhalf, moving Foley, as it coped with the loss of Matt the right-hander’s final inning to finish with seven strikeouts.
Eric Hosmer and Alex Gordon homered, and Ian Kennedy allowed one run through five innings as the Kansas City Royals continued their hot streak with a 6-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Kansas City has won 11 of its last 12 games. Jeff Samardzija and two relievers combined on a seven-hitter, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 7-0.
Angel Pagan homered while Brandon Belt, Denard Span and Buster Posey added two hits apiece for the Giants which closed to within one game of the Los Angeles Dodgers, which lost 6-4 to the Chicago Cubs, in the race for the NL West.
Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy hit solo homers and drove in two runs each, and Gio Gonzalez earned his 100th career victory as the Washington Nationals beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5.
Jordy Mercer’s first career grand slam capped a five-run sixth inning that started with two errors by Milwaukee third baseman Jonathan Villar, and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Brewers 5-3.
Justin Verlander pitched into the eighth inning and Justin Upton homered for the fourth time in five games as the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-2.
The Tigers have won five straight to move back into contention in both the AL Central and wild-card races.
Jedd Gyorko homered and Luke Weaver pitched six strong innings to earn his first major league win as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Oakland Athletics 3-1 and Chris Johnson’s run-scoring ground-rule double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth gave the Miami Marlins a 7-6 win over the San Diego Padres.
Also Friday, the Seattle Mariners beat the Chicago White Sox 3-1, the Houston Astros topped the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 and the Arizona Diamondbacks had a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in 11 innings.