WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Washington Nationals acquired center fielder Denard Span for his ability to hit leadoff and play defense.Saturday against Cincinnati, it was his fielding that stole the show.Span made pair of impressive catches to halt Reds rallies, Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer and scored twice, and Dan Haren had his best start of the young season as the Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-3.Span and Jayson Werth each had two hits for Washington, which has won the first three games of

April 28, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) ― From his very first pitch, Ryu Hyun-Jin heard the fans cheering for him. A lot of them, anyway. Boosted by plenty of road rooters, the South Korean rookie turned in his best performance yet and the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the New York Mets 3-2 Thursday on Andre Ethier’s tiebreaking single in the ninth inning.“I was aware there are a lot of Korean Americans here in New York,” Ryu said through a translator. “It was definitely encouragement.” A large Korean neighborhood is just

April 26, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Todd Frazier gave Mat Latos all the run support he needed, and Latos gave the Cincinnati Reds exactly what they needed to finish off a 10-game homestand in style.Latos retired the first 10 batters and 15 of the first 16 he faced and mostly spared an overworked bullpen, and Frazier hit a long home run and the Reds beat the Chicago Cubs 1-0 Wednesday.“This is what we wanted so bad,” Reds manager Baker said. “This sets us straight for a couple of days.”With one out in the sixth in

April 25, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Starting pitcher Carlos Villanueva raised his arm toward a clubhouse attendant and twisted his hand, asking him to turn down the blaring music so he could hear reporters’ questions.At least there was music.The Chicago Cubs blew another late lead Tuesday night, but found a way to recover. Carlos Marmol gave up the tying run in the ninth before Darwin Barney bailed him out with a homer in the 10th inning for a 4-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.For once, the Cubs could celebrat

April 24, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Reds manager Dusty Baker’s mind was worn out from another long, long game. At least he could smile.The Chicago Cubs? Numb, just like always.Jay Bruce hit a tying double and scored on Cesar Izturis’ two-out single in the 13th inning Monday night, rallying Cincinnati to a 5-4 victory that gave the Cubs their fourth straight loss.The Reds used seven pitchers, 11 position players and one pinch hitter during their latest overtime win, this one lasting 4 hours, 35 minutes.“I’m worn o

April 23, 2013

BOSTON (AP) ― David Ortiz has been in the middle of some of Fenway Park’s greatest moments. None of them seemed more important to “Big Papi” than his role in one Saturday afternoon.Ortiz helped the Red Sox honor the victims and the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombings then played in his first game since last summer, a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals capped by Daniel Nava’s three-run homer in the eighth inning.“I try to take the positive side of things and ride with it,” Ortiz said,

April 21, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― Tony Cingrani might have been a little too relaxed for his first big league start. With the way the Reds have been hitting, that’s understandable.Choo Shin-soo singled, doubled and scored twice, helping Cingrani get a victory in his starting debut, and the Reds won their fourth in a row by beating the Miami Marlins 11-1 on Thursday night. Cincinnati’s winning streak has featured stingy starting pitching. The 23-year-old Cingrani needed a lot of pitches, but kept up the trend.Mi

April 19, 2013

It didn’t used to be this way for the Lotte Giants in the Korea Baseball Organization. The Busan-based Giants have been the most popular club in the nation’s top baseball league in terms of home attendance and have been to the playoffs every year since 2008.The Giants are the first KBO club to draw more than 1 million fans at home in five straight seasons. That streak is in jeopardy this year, however, as the Giants have been losing fans, not to mention games, at an alarming rate.The Giants were

April 19, 2013

CINCINNATI (AP) ― The Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds managed only two singles apiece on Tuesday night, staying scoreless until their game was suspended because of heavy rain in the middle of the ninth inning.The game will be picked up at the same point on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., before the teams play the finale of their series no earlier than 7:10 p.m.Phillies reliever Phillippe Aumont was warming up to start the bottom of the ninth when heavy rain prompted the umpires to call for the

April 17, 2013

MIAMI (AP) ― Lined up in front of their dugouts, all wearing No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day, the Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins stood for a moment of silence to honor bombing victims at the Boston Marathon.What began as an annual celebration to salute the man who broke baseball’s color barrier 66 years ago turned somber after a pair of explosions near the finish line in Boston ― about a mile from Fenway Park ― killed three people and injured more than 130 on Monday.Hours later, Major Leag

April 16, 2013

PHOENIX (AP) ― Paul Goldschmidt rarely has been so happy making so little contact. Goldschmidt hit a slow grounder off Josh Beckett that found its way into right field with one out in the ninth inning Sunday, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks over the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0.“It would have been a strike but I was out front of it,” Goldschmidt said. “It fooled me, so I was really lucky it found a hole. When I saw it, I thought it had a chance.”Diamondbacks starter Trevor Cahill pitched six-hit bal

April 15, 2013

Ryu Hyun-jin struck out nine in six innings, getting his first three major league hits in the process, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-5 Saturday night.Adrian Gonzalez went 3 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs as the Dodgers stopped a six-game losing streak in Arizona dating to last season. Matt Kemp singled in two runs, Skip Schumaker had an RBI double and Andre Ethier singled in a run for Los Angeles.The Dodgers led 6-1 after six innings but Arizona tried to ral

April 14, 2013

DAEGU (Yonhap News) ― With one swing of the bat Wednesday night, Lee Seung-yeop, a veteran slugger with the Samsung Lions in the Korea Baseball Organization, sent an emphatic message across the league: Look out, pitchers. Here comes the “Lion King.”Lee, 36, belted his first home run of the 2013 season against the Hanwha Eagles, as his three-run shot off Denny Bautista helped the Lions win the game 4-0 at home here in Daegu. This was the Lions’ sixth game of the season.Lee finally resumed his cha

April 11, 2013