Kusano blasts grand slam to power Eagles past Hawks

FUKUOKA — Tohoku Rakuten's Daisuke Kusano belted a seventh-inning grand slam, and right-hander Brandon Duckworth (1-1) worked 7 2/3 innings to earn his first victory in Japan, leading the Golden Eagles to a 6-2 win over the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks on Thursday.The 36-year-old Duckworth, who has 23 major league wins under his belt, kept the Hawks off balance through good movement and change of pace, allowing four hits, while striking out eight and walking none at Yahoo Dome.Lions 8, Buffaloes 1

Key moment: The Golden Eagles' Daisuke Kusano his a seventh-inning grand slam against the Hawks on Thursday at Yahoo Dome. Tohoku Rakuen beat Fukuoka Softbank 6-2. KYODO

At Seibu Dome, Hideto Asamura's three-run double highlighted a seven-run sixth inning as Seibu came from behind to beat Orix.

Shogo Akiyama led off the inning with a single, scored the tying run on Esteban German's bases-loaded walk and capped the rally with an RBI single.

Kazuhisa Makita (11-7) allowed a run on four hits. The submarine right-hander struck out four without issuing a walk.

Fighters 6, Marines 6 (9)

At Chiba's QVC Marine Field, Lotte's Josh Whitesell drove in three runs as the Marines overcame a four-run deficit in a tie against Nippon Ham. The hosts loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth against Nippon Ham closer Hisashi Takeda, but the right-hander struck out Tomoya Satozaki to end it after 3 hours, 56 minutes.

Micah Hoffpauir homered twice and drove in three runs for the Fighters, tying the game 6-6 in the eighth with his 13th homer of the season. Hoffapauir was walked intentionally with the go-ahead runner on second base in the top of the ninth, and the Marines retired pinch-hitter Tomohiro Nioka to get out of the jam.

CENTRAL LEAGUE

Giants 4, Carp 1

At Tokyo Dome, Yomiuri lefty Tetsuya Utsumi (13-6) held Hiroshima to a run in seven innings as the Giants beat the Carp and lowered their magic number to clinch the Central League pennant to eight.

Utsumi allowed five hits and two walks, while hitting a batter and striking out five as he moved into a tie for the league lead in wins with Kazuki Yoshimi of the Dragons and Kenta Maeda of the Carp.

Utsumi reached on a one-out infield single in the third and scored the game's first run on Hayato Sakamoto's single off Hiroshima starter Keisuke Imai (2-7).

Giants catcher Shinnosuke Abe gave his pitcher some breathing room in the fifth, when he plated Sakamoto with a two-run homer. Back-to-back doubles by Shuichi Murata and pinch hitter Yoshinobu Takahashi in the eighth completed the scoring.

"As for my form, it wasn't very good tonight, but Abe pulled me along," Utsumi said. "We've been getting one good game after another from the team's young pitchers. I didn't want to be the weak link."

The Carp's run came in the sixth on Brad Eldred's seventh homer of the season.

Tigers 4, Swallows 1

At Koshien Stadium, Hanshin's Jason Standridge (7-11) scattered nine hits and a walk over seven innings.

The Tigers turned three double plays and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth, when Tokyo Yakult second baseman Hiroyasu Tanaka fumbled a chance to get an inning-ending double play, allowing a run to score from third.

Hanshin completed the scoring in the eighth on straight hits, Tomoaki Kanemoto's pinch-hit, bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly. Kyuji Fujimoto worked the ninth for his 23rd save.

Dragons 6, BayStars 6 (10)

At Yokohama Stadium, Yokohama's Sho Aranami tied the game at 6-6 as the BayStars overcame a five-run deficit, and Chunichi blew a chance to break the tie in the seventh as the clubs played to a tie.

Right-handed reliever Kazumasa Kikuchi allowed three runs in the seventh, but Masahiro Araki was caught stealing, and Masahiko Morino made the third out with Chunichi runners on the corners.

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Djokovic blasts surface after losing in Madrid quarters

Surface concerns: Novak Djokovic reaches to return a shot from Serbian compatriot Janko Tipsarevic in their quarterfinal match at the Madrid Open on Friday. Tipsarevic won 7-6 (7-2), 6-3. AP

MADRID — Novak Djokovic joined Rafael Nadal in declaring he won't play again on the new blue clay court at the Madrid Open after losing to Janko Tipsarevic 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 Friday in an all-Serb quarterfinal.

Tipsarevic won for the second time in five matches against Djokovic, who last lost at this stage in November at the Paris Masters.

"I want to forget this week as soon as possible and move on to the real clay courts," the top-ranked Djokovic said. "Here you can't predict the ball bounce or movement. They can do whatever they want, but I won't be here next year if this clay stays."

On the women's side, Serena Williams eased past Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. Also making the semis was top-ranked Victoria Azarenka, who rallied past French Open winner Li Na 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Azarenka agreed with Nadal and Djokovic in their criticism of the court.

"You feel unstable sometimes, actually, a lot of times," she said. "But right now there is no point on talking about it. After the tournament, all the players can get together and discuss it."

Nadal lost to Fernando Verdasco on Thursday. Afterward, the Spaniard said he wouldn't return to the tournament unless it reverts to red clay. Djokovic described the new surface as slippery.

Tipsarevic had to save four break chances to force the first-set tiebreaker that he dominated. The seventh-seeded Tipsarevic broke Djokovic to go ahead in the second set and completed the upset after Djokovic hit two late aces to save three match points.

Tipsarevic next plays Roger Federer, who defeated David Ferrer 6-4, 6-4. The blue clay didn't stop the 16-time Grand Slam champion from deploying his usual array of unreachable shots.

He is unbeaten in 13 matches with the sixth-ranked Spaniard, who didn't help his cause by serving seven double-faults. Federer struck back-to-back aces to clinch the win, improving his record to 24-3 this year.

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Hamilton blasts four homers

Hit machine: Josh Hamilton watches his eighth-inning home run, his fourth of the game, against the Orioles on Tuesday. AP

BALTIMORE — Moments before he made history with his final swing in an incredible four-homer performance, Josh Hamilton stepped to the plate in the eighth inning with a surprising sense of calm.

The Texas Rangers slugger had never before hit more than two home runs in a game, and he already had three. So as he took his place in the batter's box against Baltimore right-hander Darren O'Day, Hamilton already had a feeling of accomplishment.

"I just went up like it was any other at-bat because if I don't hit one," Hamilton reasoned, "I've still had a really good night."

It turned out to be unforgettable.

Hamilton became the 16th player to hit four home runs in a game, launching a quartet of two-run drives against three different pitchers to carry the Rangers to a 10-3 victory Tuesday.

Hamilton homered off Jake Arrieta in the first and third innings, added another off Zach Phillips in the seventh and topped it off with a one-for-the-books shot against O'Day. During the last at-bat, Hamilton took a mighty hack and missed, lined a foul into right-field seats and then sent an 0-2 pitch over the center-field wall.

"Obviously it's, other than being in the World Series, the highlight of my big-league career," Hamilton said. "I was saying after I hit two I've never hit three in a game before, and what a blessing that was. Then to hit four is just an awesome feeling, to see how excited my teammates got.

"It reminds you of when you're in Little League and a little kid, and just the excitement and why we play the game. Things like that. You never know what can happen. It was just an absolute blessing."

Hamilton also doubled in the fifth inning. His 18 total bases is a new single-game American League record, and his eight RBIs are a career high.

"Amazing," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Josh came out tonight, and he wasn't going to be denied."

The last player to hit four home runs in a game was Carlos Delgado on Sept. 25, 2003, for Toronto against Tampa Bay. Two of the 16 players to hit four homers in a game did it before 1900.

"History was witnessed tonight," Washington said.

"It's like anything else — you do something good or something incredible happens, it takes a little bit for it to sink in," Hamilton said. "I think when I get away from everybody and I have some time to myself, I think it might then."

Hamilton is the sixth AL player to perform the feat. The last to hit four homers in a game against the Orioles was Rocky Colavito in 1959, at old Memorial Stadium.

Hamilton leads the AL with 14 homers and 36 RBIs, and his 5-for-5 effort raised his batting average to .406.

He also set the Texas single-game club record with five extra-base hits, breaking the mark of four held by eight players.

Yankees 5, Rays 3

In New York, David Robertson struck out Carlos Pena with the bases loaded to end a rocky ninth inning in his first save chance since Mariano Rivera's season-ending knee injury.

Twins 5, Angels 0

In Minneapolis, Scott Diamond pitched a career-best seven scoreless innings in his season debut and Ryan Doumit hit a two-run homer.

Tigers 6, Mariners 4

In Seattle, Justin Verlander won his 12th straight decision on the road and Prince Fielder homered.

Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 with an RBI for the Mariners.

Royals 6, Red Sox 4

In Kansas City, Billy Butler hit a mammoth three-run homer in the eighth inning to lead the Royals past Boston.

Athletics 7, Blue Jays 3

In Oakland, newcomer Brandon Inge hit a game-ending grand slam to cap a five-run ninth-inning rally for the A's against Toronto.

White Sox 5, Indians 3 (10)

In Cleveland, Alex Rios tripled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning for Chicago.

White Sox pinch hitter Kosuke Fukudome was 0-for-1.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 5, Nationals 4

In Pittsburgh, Rod Barajas hit a two-run homer off Washington closer Henry Rodriguez with two outs in the ninth.

Mets 7, Phillies 4

In Philadelphia, Lucas Duda had a tiebreaking, two-out RBI single in the seventh and the Mets took advantage of a defensive blunder.

Astros 3, Marlins 2

In Houston, pinch hitter Brian Bogusevic hit an eighth-inning RBI double and the Astros ended Miami's season-long seven-game winning streak.

Braves 3, Cubs 1

In Chicago, Dan Uggla hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the eighth inning to lift Atlanta.

Brewers 8, Reds 3

In Milwaukee, Aramis Ramirez hit a three-run triple, helping the Brewers shake off their recent offensive struggles.

Giants 2, Dodgers 1

In Los Angeles, Ryan Vogelsong pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this season and the Giants ended a streak of 12 straight winning decisions at home by Clayton Kershaw.

Cardinals 6, Diamondbacks 1

In Phoenix, Carlos Beltran homered in his first two at-bats, including a grand slam, and drove in six runs for St. Louis, which handed Arizona its fourth consecutive loss.

Padres 3, Rockies 1

In San Diego, Will Venable tripled and scored in the first, then doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth inning to back 37-year-old starting pitcher Jeff Suppan.

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