WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 SPORTS

Santos to coach Portugal India, Pakistan hockey clash RFL charge Leeds chief LISBON: Fernando Santos is taking over as Portugal coach, despite his INCHEON: India warmed up for their Asian Games field hockey clash against arch- LONDON: The (RFL) yesterday charged Leeds chief execu- eight-game international ban for misconduct at the World Cup. rivals Pakistan by thrashing Oman 7-0 yesterday as South Korea nudged ahead of tive with improper conduct for criticising its investigation into The former Greece coach replaces Paulo Benton, who quit two weeks Japan in the race for the semi-finals. alleged homophobic comments by his club’s full-back Zak Hardaker. ago after a run of poor results, the Portuguese Football Federation said in India, seeking their first Asiad gold medal since 1998, converted five penalty “ chief executive Gary Hetherington has been charged with a brief statement on its website yesterday. corners and a penalty stroke in the one-sided pool B game, but several scoring improper conduct for questioning the motivation and integrity of an RFL investi- The 59-year-old Portuguese will be presented at a news conference on opportunities were wasted. India and Pakistan face-off tomorrow in the competi- gation into an incident in his club’s First Utility fixture against St Wednesday, the statement said, but gave no further information. tion’s marquee match that could determine the pool leader. Both teams have won Helens, played on Friday, August 29,” the RFL said in a statement. “Mr Hetherington FIFA banned Santos in August for verbally abusing match officials in their first two games in the 10-nation tournament. is charged with a breach of operational rules ... by engaging in conduct which is Brazil while coaching Greece. Santos is appealing that ban, with a ruling India beat Sri Lanka 8-0 in their opener, while Pakistan showed their prowess prejudicial to the interests of the game.” Hetherington, 57, will appear before an expected this week. Santos, who was due to leave the Greece job after with a 2-0 win over China and a 14-0 rout of Sri Lanka. independent tribunal on October 1. He had accused the RFL of mounting the tournament, was banished from the dugout after extra time of a sec- “There is always room for improvement, but we will be well-prepared for a “witch-hunt” against Hardaker. The RFL announced last week that it ond-round match against Costa Rica, which finished 1-1. His team then Pakistan,” said India’s Australian coach Terry Walsh. “I am confident we will do well.” was dropping the investigation into Hardaker’s comments due to a lack lost the penalty shootout. Santos needs to rally a Portugal Two teams from each pool qualify for the semi-finals. Hosts South Korea, the high- of evidence. Speaking at the time, Hetherington said: “We are con- team that disappointed at the World Cup, where it went est ranked Asian team at number eight and four-time champions, took a step cerned there appears to be a witch-hunt by the RFL towards Zak home after the first round, and then lost 1-0 to Albania towards the last four from pool A with a 4-0 demolition of Japan. Veteran Jang Hardaker and we are calling for an external investigation into the this month in its opening European Championship quali- Jong-Hyun scored off a penalty corner and a penalty stroke as the Koreans swept issues surrounding the investigation.” Formerly a player with fier. Portugal’s next match in its campaign is against past the lacklustre Japanese with two goals each in the first and third quarters. Castleford, Leeds, York and Huddersfield, Hetherington has Denmark on Oct. 14. Santos has built a reputation for res- South Korea beat Singapore 12-0 in the first game, to join Malaysia at the top of presided over the most successful period in Leeds’ history cuing troubled teams. He took over a Greece that the pool with six points each. Japan, left with one win from two games, must since taking charge in 1996. The Yorkshire club have recorded was in the doldrums after the 2012 World Cup, defeat Singapore and Malaysia in their remaining matches to stay in the hunt for a six Grand Final victories and become world club champions and racked up an unbeaten run in his first 15 semi-final berth. In other matches, Bangladesh beat Singapore 2-1 in pool A and three times in the last decade, while last month they ended a months on the job. —AP China blanked Sri Lanka 6-0 in pool B. — AFP 15-year wait to win the . — AFP Royals blank Indians

CLEVELAND: Danny Duffy pitched six shutout innings for his first win in more than a month as the Kansas City Royals moved closer to the top of the AL Central and kept some distance over Cleveland in the wild-card race, beating the Indians 2-0 on Monday night. Duffy (9-11), who had thrown just one pitch in September before the start, held the Indians to six hits. The left-hander had been sidelined since Sept. 6 with a sore shoulder. Greg Holland worked the ninth for his 44th save as the Royals, seeking their first postseason appear- ance since 1985, moved within one game of first- place Detroit. The Tigers lost 2-0 at home to the White Sox. Carlos Carrasco (8-6) couldn’t keep the momentum going for the Indians, who earlier com- pleted a 4-3 win in 10 innings in a game suspended on Aug. 31 in Kansas City.

ATHLETICS 8, ANGELS 4 Jeff Samardzija pitched seven strong innings and received some rare run support as Oakland kept hold of the top AL wild-card spot by beating the West champions. The A’s moved one game ahead of Kansas City for the first wild card. Geovany Soto hit a two-run single to highlight a six-run first inning as the A’s chased C.J. Wilson (13- 10) after just two outs for the second-shortest start of his career. Stephen Vogt added a two-run single in the seventh. Albert Pujols hit a three-run homer in the eighth for Los Angeles, giving him 1,602 RBIs for 33rd on the career list. Samardzija (5-5) beat the Angels for the first time in three career starts and won for the first time in five starts since a victory at Houston on Aug. 25. He has worked at least seven Michelin Kuwait (KAICO) rewards innings in six straight starts. YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 0 customers with Michelin Derek Jeter began his final series at Yankee Stadium by breaking open the game with a two-run Pilot Sport Experience 2014 double, and he had three RBIs to lead the Yankees over the Orioles. Michael Pineda retired his first 13 KUWAIT: Between July and August 2014, AMG Black Series and the Porsche 918 batters before JJ Hardy singled sharply to left field, CLEVELAND: Catcher Yan Gomes No. 10 of the Cleveland Indians watches as Eric Hosmer Malaysia’s legendary Sepang Spyder. pitching 7 1-3 innings and combining with three International F1 Circuit came alive with “Michelin has a strong passion for No.35 of the Kansas City Royals strikes out to end the top of the third inning at Progressive relievers on a one-hitter. Jose Pirela, the Yankees’ Field. — AFP the roar and excitement as more than motorsports. Racers rely on the best team-record 57th player this season, became New 500 Michelin customers, journalists and tyres as part of their key winning suc- York’s first player in 34 years to triple in his first big Detroit’s chase of the AL Central title with a Tropeano (1-2). Smolinski was hit by a pitch to social media commentators from 16 cesses and to ensure their own safety. league at-bat. He went 2 for 3 with the go-ahead victory over the Tigers. start the inning. countries enjoying the rare and unique Over a century Michelin has been com- RBI. Despite the loss, AL East champion Baltimore Detroit remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the opportunity to take part in the Michelin mitted to bringing exceptional perform- clinched home-field advantage in an AL division second-place Royals, pending the result of DIAMONDBACKS 6, TWINS 2 Pilot Sport Experience. ance through its tyres to them. The tyres series starting Oct. 2 when Detroit lost to the their regularly scheduled game in Cleveland. 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The game turned into an unexpected Collmenter (11-8) has allowed two runs or in the motor sports world. All of the activ- pany’s Research and Development strat- Cubs. Wainwright hit the 20-win mark for the sec- pitchers’ duel between Bassitt and fellow rook- fewer in his last six starts, matching the ities were done under the watchful eye of egy. These exceptional performance lev- ond time while matching his career-high for victo- ie Kyle Lobstein. Both were making their fifth longest streak of his career. He’s 3-1 during professional instructors and renowned els are translated to Michelin successes ries, and the Cardinals moved a step closer toward career start, but they looked like aces in the that span. 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St. Louis clinched its fourth Guilder Rodriguez had his first two major since winning the AL Central in 2010. tingling drives in high performance race Rally. straight playoff appearance on Sunday. league hits, including a tiebreaking RBI single, cars from Formula 4, Renault Clio Cup, Motorsport is a laboratory to design, Wainwright (20-9) won his fifth straight start and as the Rangers opened their final homestand PADRES 1, ROCKIES 0 Lamborghini Super Trofeo and the leg- test and prove our technologies. Thanks made it look easy, striking out eight and walking with a victory over the Astros. Eric Stults pitched effectively into the sev- endary Formula Le Mans. to our considerable investment in one. 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Rockies starter Tyler Matzek (6-11) Sport Experience was the new Michelin qualities and the excellence of our servic- Pittsburgh wins or Brewers losses will guarantee the Jake Smolinski and chasing Astros starter Nick struck out eight in six innings. — AP Pilot Sport Cup 2 tyre, the latest genera- es in a safe environment.” said Tony Pirates at least a spot in the NL wild-card game for tion of road legal track tyres designed for Menard, Passenger Car and Light Truck, the second straight year. ultra-high performance cars. The per- Marketing Director, Southeast Asia and The Pirates still have hopes of winning the NL MLB results/standings formance levels that this tyre offers are Oceania. Michelin Pilot Sport Experience Central, but they began the night 21/2 games clearly demonstrated by the fact that it is was unveiled in Asia at the Sepang behind first-place St. Louis. McCutchen, the 2013 NL the sole original equipment fitment on International Circuit in 2006 to showcase MVP, hit his 24th homer in the sixth off starter Aaron Cleveland 4, Kansas City 3 (10 innings); Kansas City 2, Cleveland 0; NY Yankees 5, Baltimore 0; recent ground-breaking cars such as the and reinforce Michelin’s portfolio of tyres Harang. Liriano (7-10) allowed three hits, walked Toronto 14, Seattle 4; Chicago White Sox 2, Detroit 0; Pittsburgh 1, Atlanta 0; Texas 4, Houston four and struck out seven in six innings. He extend- Ferrari 458 Speciale, the Mercedes SLS for premium driving experience. 3; St. Louis 8, Chicago Cubs 0; Arizona 6, Minnesota 2; Oakland 8, LA Angels 4; San Francisco ed his consecutive scoreless streak to 28 innings. 5, LA Dodgers 2 (13 innings); San Diego 1, Colorado 0. BLUE JAYS 14, MARINERS 4 American League National League Jose Bautista homered and reached base four Eastern Division Eastern Division times, J.A. Happ won for the first time in four starts W L PCT GB Washington 91 64 .587 - and the Blue Jays dealt a blow to Seattle’s wild card Baltimore 93 63 .596 - Atlanta 76 80 .487 15.5 hopes, routing the Mariners. NY Yankees 81 75 .519 12 NY Mets 76 80 .487 15.5 Bautista went 3 for 3 with a walk and drove in Toronto 79 77 .506 14 Miami 74 81 .477 17 two runs before getting the rest of the night off. His Tampa Bay 75 81 .481 18 Philadelphia 71 85 .455 20.5 solo homer in the fifth against Mariners reliever Tom Boston 68 88 .436 25 Wilhelmsen was his 35th. Kevin Pillar hit a two-run Central Division Central Division St. Louis 88 69 .561 - homer and Anthony Gose added a solo blast as the Detroit 86 70 .551 - Pittsburgh 85 71 .545 2.5 Blue Jays handed Seattle its third straight defeat. Kansas City 85 71 .545 1 Milwaukee 80 76 .513 7.5 Happ (10-11) allowed an RBI double by Robinson Cleveland 82 75 .522 4.5 Cano in the first, and Kyle Seager’s solo homer in Chicago White Sox72 84 .462 14 Cincinnati 72 84 .462 15.5 the sixth. Seattle’s James Paxton (6-4) gave up a Minnesota 66 90 .423 20 Chicago Cubs 69 88 .439 19 career-high nine runs, walked a career-high six and Western Division Western Division matched a career-high by giving up seven hits in 2 LA Dodgers 89 68 .567 - 2-3 innings, his shortest career start. LA Angels 96 61 .611 - Oakland 86 70 .551 9.5 San Francisco 85 71 .545 3.5 WHITE SOX 2, TIGERS 0 Seattle 83 73 .532 12.5 San Diego 75 81 .481 13.5 Chris Bassitt pitched into the eighth inning for Houston 69 88 .439 27 Colorado 65 92 .414 24 his first major league win, and the White Sox slowed Texas 63 93 .404 32.5 Arizona 63 94 .401 26