ARAB TIMES, MONDAY, APRIL 5, 2021 SPORTS 14

‘It’s a great start for us’ No. 1 Barty repeats as Miami champ when Andreescu retires MIAMI, April 4, (AP): Ash Barty pushed a forehand winner into the open court as her opponent, Bianca Andreescu, laid on her back in the far corner, injured yet again. With that, the Miami Open fi nal was Reds top Cards for decided. Andreescu limped through 11 more points before she retired, crying, shak- ing her head and trailing 6-3, 4-0. The No. 1-ranked Barty won her second successive Miami title, and the Australian was already in control fi rst win of season of the match when Andreescu turned her right foot while hitting a forehand and sprawled to the hard court. Barty hit one more shot to win the point, and play continued. But during the ensuing changeover, a trainer taped Andreescu’s foot, and after another game the injury-plagued Canadian reluctantly called it quits. Ashleigh Barty of Australia poses with the trophy after winning her match “I really do feel for Bianca,” Barty against Bianca Andreescu of Canada during the fi nals at the Miami Open said. “She has had such a rough trot tennis tournament, on April 3, in Miami Gardens, Florida. (AP) with injuries in the past.” Kuwaiti fi gure skating girls team to TENNIS participate in World Championship Andreescu was again tearful at the KUWAIT CITY, April 4, (KUNA): virtual, thus a skater will perform start of her postmatch news confer- The Kuwaiti Winter Games Club in her country and the judging ence, when she explained that her announced Sunday the National committees will follow the per- trainer convinced her to retire rather Skating Team fi gure skating formances through direct trans- than risk further injury. “I didn’t want girls will participate in the World mission. to stop,” she said. “I trusted him, and I He added that eight players will represent the national team knew it was the best decision.” in this big tournament: Hessa The tournament was the fi rst in the FIGURE SKATING Al-Saraawi, Lulwa Al-Dharman, United States for the 20-year-old An- Sarah Al-Laho, Khairiyah Al- dreescu since she won the 2019 US Championship in Bucharest, Kanderi, Lara Al-Barrak, Hajar Open. She sat out 2020 because of Romania, on 8-10 of May, an Al-Kanderi, Norah Qutainah, injuries and the coronavirus pandemic event expected to witness inter- Ru’a Al-Qartas, Salma Al-Sakka and now faces another possible layoff. national participation. and Elizabeth Frank. “I’m going to see what’s up with my The president of the club Salem He indicated that the club will foot, and start visualizing the healing Al-Ajmi said in a statement to set up a camp for players from process if it’s something bad,” An- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the 16th to the 30th April to pre- dreescu said. that the tournament will be held pare for the tournament. On Sunday, 19-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner will try to become the very privileged to be mentioned in that It did. Barty was one point from youngest men’s champion in tour- sentence.” defeat in her opening match against nament history when he plays No. The match between Barty and An- Kristina Kucova, but she gained mo- 26-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. dreescu was their fi rst, and a potential mentum from there and will keep her Each is seeking the biggest title of his friendly rivalry looms. Barty dominat- No. 1 ranking next week. career. Barty made her own break- ed from the start of the fi nal with her With the pandemic limiting travel, through by winning the 2019 Miami strong serve and all-court game. the 2019 French Open champion heads championship. The tournament was “She doesn’t play like a lot of the into the clay court season expecting to canceled last year at the start of the players on tour,” Andreescu said. “She remain away from home for months. coronavirus pandemic. likes to mix it up, like me. That’s not “It’s a great start for us,” Barty Five other women have earned fun to play against. I guess I’m getting said. “I’m looking forward to what St Louis Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright throws during the fi rst inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds consecutive Miami titles: Stefanie a taste of my own medicine.” will hopefully be a big season for us, in Cincinnati, on April 3. (AP) Graf, Monica Seles, Arantxa Sánchez- Barty was playing outside of Aus- and hopefully we can play some really Vicario, Venus Williams and Serena tralia for the fi rst time since February good tennis.” Because the pandemic Williams. 2020, and she arrived in Miami after a reduced tournament revenue and se- Álvarez hits 3-run homer as Astros beat A’s again “I shouldn’t belong with that trip that took 45 hours because of two verely limited attendance, the champi- group,” Barty said with a smile. “I canceled fl ights. on received $300,110, compared with haven’t earned the right to be on a list “I said to my coach when we got the $1.35 million Barty won in 2019. CINCINNATI, April 4, Loaisiga (1-0) pitched two innings, and prior to the game, then gave up just one with those champions. They’re genu- Chad Green got a four-out save in the run and six hits. The 35-year-old right- here, it can only get better from here,” Only 750 fans were allowed on the (AP): Nick Castellanos absence of Aroldis Chapman, who com- hander struck out fi ve and walked one. ine champions and legends, and I feel she said. grounds per session. stood over, fl exed and pleted a two-game suspension for throw- Javier Báez singled twice, drove in a run jawed at St Louis pitcher ing near the head of Tampa Bay’s Mike and scored one. He also stole two bases. Jake Woodford after scor- Brousseau last Sept 1. Phillies 4, Braves 0 ing, setting off a series of Orioles 4, Red Sox 2 In Philadelphia, Zack Wheeler al- In Boston, Maikel Franco drove in lowed only one hit and struck out 10 in scuffl es that included re- two runs after a Boston error, Pedro Sev- seven innings and had two hits and two lievers shoving in the out- erino had his second two-hit game in a RBIs at the plate to lead Philadelphia row and Matt Harvey made his Orioles over Atlanta. fi eld as the Cincinnati Reds debut in a win over the Red Sox. Wheeler retired the fi nal 17 Atlanta beat the Cardinals 9-6. Franco’s single came after Red Sox hitters he faced after a one-out single by St. Louis starter Adam Wain- third baseman Rafael Devers made a Travis d’Arnaud in the second. wright was knocked around for six diving stop on Austin Hays’ grounder Archie Bradley and Hector Neris re- runs and chased in the third. The but sailed the throw to second. The Ori- tired all six hitters in the fi nal two in- next inning, the teams started tag- oles also took advantage of a Boston nings. Overall, the Braves struck out 14 error for a two-run inning in Friday’s times out of 28 at-bats. ging each other. opener, a 3-0 win. Castellanos, who homered on open- Marlins 12, Rays 7 ing day and hopped out of the box Harvey missed his chance at the win when he was pulled with two outs in the In Miami, Starling Marte had four hits before tossing his bat, was plunked and Miami beat Tampa Bay at home for by Woodford with two outs and none fi fth after giving up two singles and a the fi rst time since 2018. on in the fourth. Castellanos retrieved walk in the inning. Adam Plutko (1-0) Garrett Cooper homered and drove in the ball and offered to toss it back to relieved him and went 2-1/3 innings, al- three runs for the Marlins, and pinch-hit- Woodford before flipping it out of lowing one hit and striking out two. ter Adam Duvall also went deep. Marte play. Tigers 5, Indians 2 and leadoff man Miguel Rojas each A wild pitch soon sent Castellanos In Detroit, Julio Teheran pitched scored three times. scampering home from third and he through trouble in his Detroit debut, Tampa Bay, the reigning American scored with a headfi rst slide for a 7-2 leading the Tigers to a win over Cleve- League champion, won 11 of the previ- lead as he bumped into Woodford, who land. ous 12 matchups between the Sunshine In this photo taken by underwater camera, Japanese swimmer Rikako Ikee competes on way to winning the wom- took the throw from catcher Yadier Mo- For a second straight game, Detroit State rivals over the past three years. Mi- en’s 100-meter butterfl y at the Japan’s national championships at Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo, on April 4. (AP) lina at the plate. scored two runs in the fi rst and led the ami was 0-7 against the Rays at home As Castellanos began walking away, rest of the way. Willi Castro hit an RBI since a 3-0 victory on July 4, 2018 - in- Molina rushed up and tapped him from cluding losses in the fi rst two games this behind, and the benches and bullpens season. Ikee qualifi es for Tokyo Oly after leukemia emptied in a wild scene. Padres 7, Diamondbacks 0 There was more pushing and shoving BASEBALL TOKYO, April 4, (AP): Japanese swim- before order seemed to be restored. But In San Diego, Joe Musgrove was bril- mer Rikako Ikee on Sunday qualifi ed as relief pitchers for both teams were liant in his debut for his hometown Pa- Australian women break ODI for the Tokyo Olympics just two years triple off Zach Plesac (0-1) and came dres, Manny Machado homered for his after she was diagnosed with leukemia. heading back to their bullpens, they tan- home on Miguel Cabrera’s groundout. gled in the outfi eld. fi rst hit of 2021 and Wil Myers drove in She swam a time of 57.77 seconds The Tigers added three runs in the sev- three runs on two doubles as San Diego in the 100-meter butterfl y at Japan’s Twins 2, Brewers 0 enth. record for ‘consecutive’ wins beat Arizona. MOUNT MAUNGANUI, New toss and elected to bowl first in the open- national championships held at the new In Milwaukee, José Berríos and three Royals 11, Rangers 4 With his parents and other family swimming venue for the Tokyo Olym- Minnesota relievers combined on a one- members in the stands, Musgrove (1-0) Zealand, April 4, (AP): The Australian ing game of a three-match series. pics. That qualifi ed her for a place in the In Kansas City, Michael A. Taylor women’s cricket team won its 22nd Alyssa Healy (65), Ellyse Perry (56 hitter with 17 strikeouts to outduel Mil- homered and drove in three for the sec- held the Diamondbacks to three hits in medley relay. waukee’s Corbin Burnes. six innings while striking out eight and consecutive match and surpassed not out) and Ashleigh Gardner (53 not She was overcome with tears in the ond straight game, leading Kansas City Ricky Ponting’s 2003 side to set a new out) then struck impressive half centu- The Twins held Milwaukee hitless over Texas. walking none. After allowing a one-out water after the race, and could barely until Omar Narváez delivered a one-out single in the fi rst, he retired 11 straight, one-day international record in a six- ries to make easy work of the chase speak out of the water later, sniffl ing and Released by Washington after hitting wicket victory against New Zealand with 69 balls to spare and lift the cur- single off reliever Tyler Duffey in the .196 last season, Taylor is off to a sensa- seven by strikeout. crying at the same time. She slammed eighth inning. Neither team had a hit or on Sunday. rent world champions past Ponting’s tional start for Kansas City. After getting her left arm against the water when she walk until Minnesota’s Byron Buxton Dodgers 6, Rockies 5 star-studded 2003 team with a 22nd three hits and throwing out two runners realized she’d won. led off the seventh with a homer against In Denver, Zach McKinstry hustled straight victory. “I was not expecting to win the 100 Burnes (0-1). at the plate from center fi eld in a 14-10 for a go-ahead, inside-the-park homer CRICKET “It’s a great achievement from this win on opening day, Taylor came back meters at all, and I was feeling far less Buxton’s homer came on the 87th in the eighth inning when left fi elder group over a long period of time,” confi dent than during the Olympic qual- and fi nal pitch from Burnes, who had 11 with a home run and double as the Roy- Raimel Tapia reached over the fence Lanning said after the match. “Those als improved to 2-0. ifi ers fi ve years ago,” she said. strikeouts. Berríos (1-0) struck out 12, to bring the ball back, only to have it The tourists were rarely troubled at wins have come over three years, “I thought I wouldn’t be able to win hit a batter and didn’t walk anybody in Cubs 5, Pirates 1 bounce out of his glove and roll away, Mount Maunganui with player of the which I think just shows how consis- for a long time. But I trained hard to six innings but left after 84 pitches. In Chicago, Jake Arrieta pitched six helping Los Angeles beat Colorado. match Megan Schutt taking 4 wickets to tent we’ve been at this format.” win. And, in the end, I came into the Astros 9, Athletics 1 solid innings in a triumphant return to Kenley Jansen got fi ve outs to earn restrict New Zealand to 212 all out after The Southern Stars have not lost an race telling myself I’m back. And so the save. Australia captain Meg Lanning won the ODI since October 2017. I feel that, even if you go through suf- In Oakland, California, Yordan Álva- the Cubs, Kris Bryant and Jason Hey- ward homered, and Chicago beat Pitts- McKinstry lined a fastball from My- fering and pain, your hard work will al- rez hit a three-run homer and Houston chal Givens (0-1) that resulted in his fi rst ways be rewarded.” kept thriving through all the boos, slug- burgh. Arrieta (1-0) got a warm reception major league homer. It was the fi rst in- ging its way to a third straight win over side-the-park homer by a Dodgers player MLB Results/Standings Oakland. since Chris Taylor on Sept 18, 2017, at SWIMMING Houston has outscored Oakland 26-7 Philadelphia. in three games against the defending AL Angels 5, White Sox 3 West champion A’s, who were elimi- WASHINGTON, April 4, (AP): Results and standings from the MLB games on Saturday. The 20-year-old Ikee returned to the nated by the Astros in a four-game AL In Anaheim, California, Justin Up- Baltimore 4 Boston 2 LA Angels 5 Chic W. Sox 3 Detroit 5 Cleveland 2 Astros 9 Oakland 1 pool about a year ago but had said her Division Series last fall. ton’s homer capped a three-run rally goal was only to prepare for the 2024 in the eighth inning and Los Angeles, NY Yankees 5 Toronto 3 Chic Cubs 5 Pittsburgh 1 Lance McCullers Jr (1-0) did his part. KC Chiefs 11 Texas 4 Phillies 4 Atlanta 0 Olympics in Paris. She had downplayed The Houston right-hander struck out helped by a fl yball that bounced off the Miami 12 TB Rays 7 Cincinnati 9 St Louis 6 her chances for her home Olympics. seven and walked three in fi ve innings, head of White Sox center fi elder Luis Twins 2 Milwaukee 0 SD Padres 7 Arizona 0 Seattle 4 SF Giants 0 LA Dodgers 6 Colorado 5 She would have been among the allowing two hits and one run. Robert, beat hot-hitting Yermín Mer- favorites in several Olympic races in cedes and Chicago. East Division East Division Yankees 5, Blue Jays 3 W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Tokyo races if she had not fallen ill Mercedes homered, doubled and sin- Baltimore 2 0 1.000 _ Philadelphia 2 0 1.000 _ and faced setbacks. “I wanted to try to In New York, Gary Sánchez joined gled to become the fi rst player since at TB Rays 2 1 .667 -1/2 New York 0 0 .000 1 Elston Howard in 1963 as the only feel true happiness just being here,” she least 1900 to begin a season with eight New York 1 1 .500 1 Washington 0 0 .000 1 added. “My teammates cheered me on, Yankees catchers to homer in each of straight hits. The 28-year-old rookie Toronto 1 1 .500 1 Miami 1 2 .333 1-1/2 the fi rst two games of a season and Jay Boston 0 2 .000 2 Atlanta 0 2 .000 2 sending me off (to the race). And so I Bruce blooped a two-run single in the Mariners 4, Giants 0 Central Division Central Division am now fi lled with happiness.” W L Pct GB W L Pct GB Ikee won six gold medals in 2018 at the seventh for his fi rst hit with his new team In Seattle, Chris Flexen returned to Detroit 2 0 1.000 _ Chicago 1 1 .500 _ in New York’s win over Toronto. the majors with a win after a year in Kansas City 2 0 1.000 _ Cincinnati 1 1 .500 _ Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, which Two-time Cy Young Award winner South Korea, and Seattle got home runs Twins 1 1 .500 1 Milwaukee 1 1 .500 _ included the 50 and 100-meter freestyle, Corey Kluber, limited by injuries to from Mitch Haniger and Ty France Chicago 1 2 .333 1-1/2 Pittsburgh 1 1 .500 _ and the 50 and 100-meter butterfl y. She Cleveland 0 2 .000 2 St Louis 1 1 .500 _ also won gold in two relays, and added one inning in the previous two seasons, while shutting out San Francisco. West Division West Division pitched around control problems to al- Flexen (1-0) struck out six and al- W L Pct GB W L Pct GB two silvers. Her time in winning the low one earned run over four innings in Los Angeles Angels’ David Fletcher lowed four hits in fi ve sharp innings to Houston 2 0 1.000 _ San Diego 3 0 1.000 _ 100-meter butterfl y in Jakarta was 56.08 his Yankees debut. (22) singles during the third inning help the Mariners take their fi rst series of Los Angeles 2 1 .667 -1/2 Los Angeles 2 1 .667 1 seconds, the fastest of the season. She Seattle 2 1 .667 -1/2 Colorado 1 2 .333 2 was closing in on the world record held Left-hander Lucas Luetge also de- of a baseball game against the Chi- the year. The 26-year-old right-hander Oakland 0 2 .000 2 SF Giants 1 2 .333 2 buted for the Yankees in his fi rst major cago White Sox, on April 3, in Ana- spent 2020 with the Doosan Bears of the Texas 0 2 .000 2 Arizona 0 3 .000 3 by Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden of 55.48. It league appearance in six years. Jonathan heim, California. (AP) Korea Baseball Organization. remains the world-record time.