Sanchez wins 10th straight as Blue Jays beat Padres
‘Fastest man in rugby’ ready for Olympic Games
Aaron Sanchez allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings to win his 10th consecutive decision, and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2 Monday night. Alex Dickerson hit a two-run homer against Bo Schultz in the ninth inning to give the Padres (43-57) at least one home run in a club-record 23 straight games. It equals the longest such streak in the National League since the 2006 Atlanta Braves also homered in 23 games in a row. Roberto Osuna retired the final two batters of the game to earn his 21st save of the season. Kevin Pillar had three hits, including two doubles, and drove in a run for the Blue Jays (56-44) in the first game that the Padres ever played in Toronto.Sanchez (11-1) allowed two walks and threw a wild pitch while striking out seven. The right-hander has not lost since April 22.
ORIOLES 3, ROCKIES 2 (10 INNINGS)
Adam Jones scored on a 10-inning fielder’s choice and error by pitcher Jordan Lyles, and Baltimore stretched its winning streak to five with a victory over Colorado. Jones started the game-winning rally with a one-out single that hit the bag and popped way up in the air and away from Nolan Arenado. Jonathan Schoop followed with a soft single to right that sent Jones to third. Manny Machado then grounded one back to Lyles (2-3). The right-hander dropped it but recovered to throw home, and Jones slid in under catcher Nick Hundley’s tag. Chaz Roe (1-0) earned the win for the Orioles (58-40) after a scoreless 10th. Baltimore now is a season-high 18 games over .500.
BREWERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 2
Arizona pitcher Braden Shipley allowed three home runs in his major league debut as the Diamondbacks lost to Milwaukee at Miller Park. Shipley allowed eight hits and four walks while striking out four over 5 1/3 innings of work after being called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Reno. Scooter Gennett and Jonathan Villar tagged Shipley for solo shots, and Martin Maldonado brought the rookie’s day to an end with a three-run homer in the sixth.
PHILLIES 4, MARLINS 0
Tommy Joseph’s RBI double in the eighth inning broke a scoreless tie, leading Philadelphia to a win over Miami at Marlins Park. The Marlins fell percentage points behind the idle New York Mets in the race for the second and final wild-card spot in the National League. Miami has gone 19 consecutive innings without scoring a run. The Marlins managed just two singles Monday but made three errors.
TIGERS 4, RED SOX 2
Jose Iglesias hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning to do in his former team as Detroit beat Boston. It was the first career homer at Fenway Park for the former top Red Sox prospect, who played three seasons with the team before being dealt to Detroit on July 30, 2013, in a three-way trade that brought Jake Peavy to Boston. Justin Verlander (10-6) earned his first win at Fenway in nearly seven years, holding the hot-hitting Red Sox to one run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in six innings. The 2011 American League MVP and Cy Young Award winner hadn’t won at Fenway since striking out eight over four scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory Aug. 13, 2009.
YANKEES 2, ASTROS 1
Michael Pineda was the winner of a pitcher’s duel with Dallas Keuchel and New York eked out a win over Houston at Minute Maid Park. Pineda (5-9) and Keuchel (6-10) were both exceptional, but the Yankees moved a season-high three games over .500 with an eighth-inning rally against Keuchel ignited by the bottom of their order. Austin Romine followed a leadoff single from Chase Headley with an RBI double to straightaway center field. Keuchel recovered to record two consecutive outs but the damage was done.
Rangers 7, Athletics 6
Adrian Beltre drilled a two-run walk-off home run with two outs in the ninth, lifting Texas to a win over Oakland at Globe Life Park. Beltre’s second homer of the game sailed into the A’s bullpen off closer Ryan Madson. The Rangers rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat their American League West rivals for the fourth straight time. Texas extended its winning streak to three in the opener of a seven-game homestand. The Rangers also upped their lead in the division to 3 1/2 game with Houston’s loss to the New York Yankees.
ANGELS 6, ROYALS 2
Left-hander Hector Santiago pitched splendidly into the sixth inning and Albert Pujols had three hits and drove in four runs as Los Angeles topped Kansas City. Santiago is 6-0 in eight starts since a June 10 loss to Cleveland. Santiago, who is 2-0 with a career 1.69 ERA at Kauffman Stadium, went 5-0 in July. Santiago (9-4) limited the Royals to two runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings. Pujols upped his RBI total to 76, including a big league best 26 in July. He lined a single to right in the seventh to score Mike Trout. His ninth-inning single scored Johnny Giavotella to cap the Angels’ scoring.
WHITE SOX 5, CUBS 4
Tyler Saladino delivered a walk-off single with one out in the ninth inning to lift the White Sox to a win over their crosstown rival Cubs at US Cellular Field. Saladino’s game-winner off of newly acquired Cubs reliever Mike Montgomery scored J.B. Shuck, who led off the inning with a single for the White Sox. Shuck advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt before Saladino came through on an 0-2 pitch with the single up the middle that center fielder Matt Szczur failed to field cleanly.
REDS 7, GIANTS 5
Jay Bruce blasted a pair of two-run home runs, including one that gave Cincinnati the lead for good in the sixth inning, and the Reds ran their record since the All-Star break to 7-3. Eugenio Suarez followed Bruce’s first homer with a two-run shot of his own, helping the Reds win for the 24th time in their past 39 games against the Giants. The loss was San Francisco’s eighth in nine games since the break, and it ended a four-game home winning streak. Anthony DeSclafani (6-0) remained the majors’ only unbeaten pitcher with a minimum of seven starts despite allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out six.
CARDINALS-METS RAINED OUT
St. Louis had an adventurous time getting to New York. Now the Cardinals must to wait to start their 10-game road trip. Rain forced the postponement of the series opener between the New York Mets and the Cardinals on Monday night. The teams will start the three-game set with a single-admission doubleheader yesterday. Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon go for the Mets, while Carlos Martinez and Jaime Garcia will start for St. Louis. — Reuters
If things had gone to plan for Carlin Isles, the Olympic Games might have witnessed a duel between the fastest man in rugby and the fastest man on the planet. But instead of lining up against Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt in Rio de Janeiro, Isles will be going for gold with a rugby ball. The flying winger is one of the most potent weapons in the United States’ sevens squad, which will be chasing rugby gold as the sport returns to the Olympics after a 92-year absence.
Four years ago, Isles was a promising sprinter with dreams of competing in the Olympics, with a respectable personal best of 10.12 seconds for the 100m, a time that would have got him into the semi-finals of the 2012 games. But the realisation that he might end up dedicating his life to track and field yet still not reach the elite level prompted him to look elsewhere. By chance, he stumbled across rugby during a search for a workout routine on Youtube, and wondered whether his skills would translate to the sport.
‘KIND OF SWEET’
“I saw it and thought ‘This is kind of sweet,’” the 26-year-old recalled. Impulsively, he fired off an email to the then chief executive of USA rugby, Nigel Melville, eager to know more. “I figured, ‘He ain’t gonna get back to me. He won’t care’. I prayed to God and said ‘Give me a sign’. And the next morning, at like seven in the morning the phone rang. It was Nigel,” Isles told AFP.
Four days later, Isles was on a plane to Colorado to begin his rugby education. He toured with the US development squad in July before making his debut with the US Sevens squad in October. “All I needed was a chance, a shot. But it was all or nothing. There was no ‘Plan B’. It had to work out. I remember crying and thinking ‘If this don’t work out you are screwed.’ It was a big sacrifice. “I didn’t know no rules, no nothing. I didn’t even know I had to pass off my left or right hand. “I learned as much as I could.” His legend took off in late 2012 when a Youtube video showcasing Isles’ speed went viral. To date, the video has garnered nearly seven million views.
If Isles’ conversion to rugby seems improbable, it is entirely consistent with his life story. He has been battling the oddssuccessfully-ever since a troubled childhood in Ohio which saw him placed in foster care at at an early age. One of his earliest memories is seeing his mother bundled away in the back of a police van at the age of six.
“A bunch of cops all over us. They put my mom in a paddy wagon. They put us in the police car,” he says softly. “I remember I got out of the police car and noticed those little flowers. What are they called? Daisies? I picked one of them and gave it to her. “And it’s the last thing I remember about her. Giving my mom that flower. She was in handcuffs. I was six. That was the last time I saw her.” The fear of failure, has been an undercurrent throughout Isles’ life. “The biggest fear is waking up and seeing someone in the mirror you’re not supposed to be,” he said. “Fear drove me to succeed. “I always like watching ‘Rocky’ movies. Because I can relate. He struggled.
He’s a nobody. Nobody believed in him.” Friends and loved ones had doubted the wisdom of his conversion to rugby. Although Isles had been a talented American football player, trying out with the Detroit Lions, many feared for his safety on the rugby field. “People thought I was crazy. They were like ‘Rugby? Is that with no pads? You’re going to get killed!’. People were like ‘What are you doing’ and sometimes I had to ask myself ‘Yeah, what am I doing?’. “But people didn’t understand my vision. And that’s my main thing-I’m going to paint my picture how I’m going to paint it.” — AFP