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Baseball: Athletics call up Japanese pitcher Okajima

The Oakland Athletics selected the contract of pitcher Hideki Okajima from minor-league affiliate Sacramento on Friday before their Major League Baseball game against Kansas City. Left-hander Okajima went 0-1 with a 2.16 earned-run average in 14 relief appearances with Sacramento this season. The 37-year-old spent five seasons with the Boston Red Sox from 2007-11 and was a major contributor to Boston's 2007 World Series title run. He went 3-2 with a 2.22 ERA and five saves over 66 appearances that year, earning a spot on the American League All-Star squad.

Preview: Mets at Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals have it all working as they put the majors’ best record on the line Wednesday at home in the third of a four-game set against the New York Mets. The Cardinals have won 10 of their 12 games in May in no small part because their hitting (a league-best .308 batting average this month) has caught up with their pitching (a league-low 3.06 ERA this season). No St. Louis pitcher has been better than Shelby Miller, who is coming off a one-hitter in his last start.

Oakland Athletics - PlayerWatch

3B Josh Donaldson went 2 for 4 Saturday, with a single and a home run, but he appeared to turn his right ankle in the top of the ninth inning. Donaldson was trying to turn a single off the left-field wall into a double, but he injured his ankle on the slide and got thrown out at second base. Donaldson said after the game that he was initially "kind of scared" but added that the injury was "not that big a deal."

Preview: Braves at Reds

The Cincinnati Reds will look to continue their hot play - and their dominance over the Atlanta Braves at Great American Ball Park - when the pair of playoff hopefuls begin a three-game set Monday night. The Reds, who are coming off a three-game road sweep over the Chicago Cubs, are 12-4 at home and haven't lost a series at Great American this year. They've won six straight against the Braves there dating to 2011.

Preview: Diamondbacks at Padres

The San Diego Padres snatched a victory on Thursday afternoon and earned a split of four-game road trip. When they host the Arizona Diamondbacks in the opener of a three-game series on Friday, the last-place Padres will be looking for their fifth straight home win. The Diamondbacks have lost three straight and have had trouble closing out games throughout the first month. Arizona blew its league-leading 10th save on Wednesday.

Boston defiant as Red Sox, with guest Neil Diamond, make emotional return (VIDEO)

Fans joined in a rousing rendition of their adopted anthem "Sweet Caroline," with 72-year-old singer Neil Diamond leading the chorus from the field while wearing a Red Sox cap.

Baseball: Buchholz flirts with no-hitter in Red Sox win

Boston righthander Clay Buchholz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and struck out 11 as the Red Sox blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 on Sunday at Fenway Park. Buchholz had issued just four walks before surrendering a leadoff single to Kelly Johnson in the top of the eighth. He gave up one more hit before completing the inning. It was the third consecutive superb effort to start the season for Buchholz, who has surrendered just one run over 14 innings. Dustin Pedroia went three-for-four with a run scored to pace the Red Sox offense.

NBA: Buchholz flirts with no-hitter in Red Sox win

Boston righthander Clay Buchholz took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and struck out 11 as the Red Sox blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0 on Sunday at Fenway Park. Buchholz had issued just four walks before surrendering a leadoff single to Kelly Johnson in the top of the eighth. He gave up one more hit before completing the inning. It was the third consecutive superb effort to start the season for Buchholz, who has surrendered just one run over 14 innings. Dustin Pedroia went three-for-four with a run scored to pace the Red Sox offense.

KBO-opening day starters

By Yoo Jee-ho SEOUL, March 29 (Yonhap) -- A record-tying six foreign pitchers will be among the eight opening day starters this weekend in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), teams announced Friday. Eight of the nine KBO clubs will start their 2013 season on Saturday, while the expansion NC Dinos will play their first-ever KBO game Tuesday. Of the eight teams in action, only two will start home-grown pitchers. In 2010, teams also started six foreign pitchers on opening day.

Baseball: Red Sox star Ramirez loses on debut in Taiwan

Former Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez left a capacity crowd of 20,000 fans disappointed on his debut in Taiwan on Wednesday as his team were edged 9-8 in extra-innings. Ramirez joined the newly founded baseball team EDA Rhinos earlier this month, becoming the best known former Major League Baseball (MLB) heavyweight to play in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League. The Dominican-born player went two from six at the plate, hitting two singles which failed to have any significent impact on the game's conclusion.
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