SPORTS SHORTS
MLB: Rangers thump ’Stros in St. Pete
Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in four runs Tuesday night, helping the Rangers rout the Astros 12-2 in the opener of a series relocated to St. Petersburg, Fla., due to flooding in Houston caused by Hurricane Harvey.
Adrian Beltre of the Rangers drove in three runs to pass Hall of Famer Ernie Banks for 28th on the career RBI list with 1,637 before an announced crowd of 3,485 at Tropicana Field, the home of the Rays.
In Toronto, Chris Sale set a major league record while combining with two reliever on a fourhitter, Hanley Ramirez hit a solo home run and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 3-0. Sale fanned 11 in his ML-best 17th double-digit strikeout game, raising his league-leading total to 264. He passed the career 1,500-strikeout mark in the game, making him the fastest in MLB history, according to Elias Sports Bureau (1,290 games, beating Kerry Wood’s 1,303).
In Washington, Giancarlo Stanton tied a major league record with his 18th home run in August, but Anthony Rendon had four RBIs and the Nationals beat Stanton’s Marlins 8-3. Stanton’s 51st homer of the season allowed him to match the August output of Rudy York with the Tigers in 1937.
Sammy Sosa set the record for homers in a month when he hit 20 in June 1998.
BLOTTER: Royals’ Duffy busted for DUI
Royals pitcher Danny Duffy refused to make any excuses after he was cited for driving under the influence in Overland Park, Kan., last weekend. And his boss wasn’t in the mood to hear any.
“Look, when these types of situations happen, I’m not interested in any alibis,” said Royals general manager Dayton Moore, who spoke after Duffy read a statement in which he expressed regret and asked for forgiveness from his fans. “I’m not interested in any excuses. There are no excuses.”
Duffy had left the Royals’ road trip to return to Kansas City for an MRI exam on his ailing left elbow. He did not discuss the circumstances surrounding the incident though multiple reports said he was found in a fast-food drive-thru lane.