Sale fans 13 as Red Sox blank Mariners
Chris Sale struck out 13 over seven dazzling innings, Mitch Moreland hit a two-run homer and the Boston Red Sox won the weekend and season series over the Seattle Mariners with a 5-0 victory on Sunday afternoon. Sale (7-4) gave up four hits, walked one and ended his day by striking out Mike Zunino swinging on a 100-mph fastball.
Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes each pitched an inning to complete the four-hit shutout that only took 2 hours, 29 minutes.
Sale struck out 10 of the first 16 batters he faced, including the side in order in the fifth, the last two swinging on 99 mph fastballs.
Jackie Bradley Jr. had three singles and Rafael Devers added an RBI double for Boston, which struggled offensively in a loss Saturday after putting up 14 runs and 20 hits in the series opener.
The Mariners have lost six of seven games and fell to 1-5 on their 10-game East Coast trip. Marco Gonzales (7-5) gave up five runs on seven hits in six innings, striking out six without a walk. Nelson Cruz had a two-out triple for the Mariners.
BASEBALL Blue Jays promote prospect Borucki
With starting pitchers Aaron Sanchez (finger) and Jaime Garcia (shoulder) both on the disabled list, the Toronto Blue Jays will make the call to lefthanded pitching prospect Ryan Borucki to join the team in Houston.
Barring any changes, the 24-year-old native of Highland Park, Ill., will make his majorleague debut on Tuesday against the World Series champion Astros.
The Jays top-rated pitching prospect has enjoyed a remarkable climb during the past two seasons, progressing from A ball to AA in New Hampshire and then to AAA Buffalo.
Borucki has been particularly solid with the Buffalo Bisons this season, sporting a 3.27 ERA and notching 58 strikeouts in 77 innings.
VOLLEYBALL Canada wins 3-0 to sweep Japan
Graham Vigrass had 18 points to lead Canada in a 3-0 win over Japan on Sunday in its final Volleyball Nations League match. Nick Hoag added 11 points for Canada, which won the three sets 25-23, 25-20, 25-22. Stephen Maar tacked on three points, making him Canada’s leading scorer for the tournament with 165 points. Canada put up an 8-7 record at the tournament.
TENNIS Coric knocks off Federer on grass
Borna Coric defeated defending champion Roger Federer 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2 to win the Gerry Weber Open final Sunday. The 21-year-old Croat saved three of the four
break points he faced and took his second match point to end Federer’s 20-match winning streak on grass for his second career title. Federer had been going for his 99th title. The Swiss great remains two match wins away from matching Jimmy Connors’ alltime record of 174 victories on grass. As a result of Federer’s loss, Rafael Nadal will reclaim top spot in the ATP rankings.
TENNIS Cilic beats Djokovic to win Queen’s Club
Marin Cilic saved a match point on his way to defeating Novak Djokovic 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Sunday as he claimed a second Queen’s Club title. The top-seeded Croat first won the Wimbledon warmup event in 2012, but was the runner-up in 2013 and also last year. Djokovic wasted an early opportunity to break before Cilic saved a match point at 4-5 and then won six points from 4-1 down in the tiebreaker.