Marlins top Cubs in Guillen’s return

MIAMI (AP) ― There was no protest and just one heckler. The only boos were directed toward the plate umpire, and by the eighth inning Ozzie Guillen’s Miami Marlins had the crowd in such a happy frenzy that the roar shook the clubhouse.Guillen made a victorious return to the dugout Tuesday night, and pitchers Josh Johnson and Heath Bell snapped out of early-season slumps to help beat the Chicago Cubs 5-2.When the dugout emptied and Guillen joined his players on the field for the postgame celebrat

April 18, 2012

Pitchers get suspended jail terms for fixing matches

DAEGU (Yonhap News) -- A local court on Wednesday sentenced two pitchers charged with fixing matches to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and 7 million won ($6,154) each in fines.The Daegu District Court also ordered 120 hours of community service for Park Hyun-jun and Kim Seong-hyun, who played for the Seoul-based LG Twins in South Korea‘s top professional baseball league.Last month, the Korea Baseball Organization, which runs the league, suspended the two players indefinitely afte

April 18, 2012

Pavano, Morneau key as Twins sink Yankees

NEW YORK (AP) ― Carl Pavano had nothing to prove to an unforgiving Yankee Stadium crowd. He wanted to get the Minnesota Twins back on track.In only two batters, it looked as if his plan had derailed.Then something happened that Yankees fans rarely got to see in his four injury-wrecked years in New York: Pavano found a rhythm and was superb through the seventh inning, leading the Twins to a 7-3 victory Monday night that ended their three-game skid.“It wasn’t about coming in here and putting every

April 17, 2012

Twins let Angels power way back for 10-9 win

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― There’s no mystery about this. As Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau perform, the Minnesota Twins will follow.Timely home runs by both of the former American League MVPs? That’s as close to a formula for victory the Twins can find.Morneau hit a two-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth inning, and the Twins rallied from six runs down to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 10-9 on Thursday.“That feeling when it comes off the bat and you know it’s gone, there’s nothing like that in baseball,” M

April 13, 2012

White Sox down Tribe

CLEVELAND (AP) ― Chris Sale won his first career start, limiting Cleveland to one run in 6 2/3 innings and leading the Chicago White Sox to a 4-2 win over the Indians on Monday night.Sale pitched out of Chicago’s bullpen the past two seasons but moved into the rotation after ace Mark Buehrle left as a free agent this winter. The left-hander, who had made 79 relief appearances, took a one-hit shutout into the sixth. In his longest outing, Sale allowed three hits and struck out five.The 23-year-ol

April 10, 2012

Santana, Indians edge Jays

CLEVELAND (AP) ― The Cleveland Indians’ first win of the season wasn’t exactly a piece of cake. Still, it was worth celebrating.Carlos Santana hit two home runs on his 26th birthday, Derek Lowe pitched seven strong innings and Cleveland’s bullpen finally held a lead ― barely ― and beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday.“Let’s tell him it’s his birthday every day,” said Cleveland closer Chris Perez, who retired Toronto slugger Jose Bautista on an infield popup with the bases loaded to earn the sav

April 9, 2012

Fielder, Cabrera hit 2 HRs each in rout of Boston

DETROIT (AP) ― Prince Fielder stood in front of his locker discussing his first two home runs as a Detroit Tiger.Then Miguel Cabrera ― who had just finished reviewing his own two-homer game ― walked past.“Pow!” Cabrera said playfully. “One, two, three, pow!”Detroit’s potent slugging tandem is already finding its groove.Fielder and Cabrera hit two homers apiece and Alex Avila added another off Josh Beckett in the Tigers’ 10-0 rout of the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.Detroit entered the season as a

April 8, 2012

Votto agrees to $251.5m contract

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Joey Votto got a big payday by staying in a small market, agreeing to a $251.5 million, 12-year deal with the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday that is the longest guaranteed contract in major league history.The agreement adds $225 million over 10 years to his previous contract. The deal includes a club option for 2024, when the 2010 National League MVP turns 41.After watching NL Central rivals St. Louis and Milwaukee lose their first basemen to bigger markets, the Reds secured Vott

April 5, 2012

Marlins to open new park vs. Cards

MIAMI (AP) ― Perched atop the Miami Marlins’ multicolored, provocative home-run sculpture is a blue marlin, poised for splashdown whenever the home team hits one out.Call the artwork what you will ― gaudy, goofy, grotesque, great ― but there’s no denying it’s new. For the Marlins, that’s what this season is all about.Long overlooked and underfunded, they’ve become a big-spending, attention-grabbing team as they open the season at home Wednesday night against the World Series champion St. Louis C

April 4, 2012

Play ball

Baseball season kicks off this weekendAfter a busy off-season that saw a match-fixing investigation, departure of longtime franchise stars and arrival of new players, Korean fans are finally ready for the beginning of a new baseball season. The regular season commences this weekend when the defending champion Samsung Lions play a pair of games against the LG Twins in Daegu, while the Doosan Bears face the Nexen Heroes at the Jamsil Stadium in Seoul.Eight teams in the country’s top league will pl

April 3, 2012

Professional baseball aims to draw record 7.1m fans this year

South Korea’s top professional baseball league expects to attract a record 7.1 million fans this season, up 4 percent from last year, the Korea Baseball Organization said Sunday.Buoyed by an unprecedented wave of popularity, professional baseball games drew some 6.8 million fans to ballparks last year, marking an all-time single season record. The 2012 season is set to kick off on Saturday.The average attendance per game is also expected to rise to 13,346 fans this year from an average of 12,081

April 1, 2012

Chipper says this will be his final season

ATLANTA (AP) ― Flanked by his family, his former manager and a group of teammates he hates to leave behind, Chipper Jones choked up a bit and delivered the news that’s been looming for years:It’s time to call it a career.This time, he means it.With his 40th birthday approaching and a long string of injuries slowing him down, Jones announced Thursday he will retire after one more season as the Atlanta Braves’ third baseman.“I have fulfilled everything,” Jones said during a news conference at the

March 23, 2012