Nationals beat Pirates to nail down division title

Bryce Harper and Wilson Ramos drove in two runs as the Washington Nationals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 on Saturday and clinched the National League East title. The Nationals earned their third division title in five years but they needed some help to do it as the second place New York Mets lost 10-8 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
 “It never gets old,” said Nationals outfielder Jayson Worth, who now has won eight division titles in his career. “It’s such a hard thing to accomplish. You spent six months trying to do it. It’s why you go to spring training early, so you can do everything possible to put yourself in position to do this. It’s really special.”
 The celebration didn’t end with the players. “This is what I came back into baseball for,” said Nationals manager Dusty Baker, who is 67 years old. “Man, I was called back into it. This is where I am supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing.”
 Relief pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings for Washington.
 The loss hurt the host Pirates’ dwindling chance to get into the Major League Baseball playoffs. Pittsburgh has won seven of its past 10 games but can’t afford any more losses in its final eight games.
 Washington’s Joe Ross was making his second start since missing 66 games because of a sore shoulder.
 He pitched three innings but got pulled with two outs in the third after giving up a run. He also left the bases loaded for reliever Sean Burnett.
 Ross was charged with one run and five hits in 2 2/3 innings.
 Pirates starter Ivan Nova dropped to 12-8 on the season. Since starting his Pittsburgh career with five wins and no losses after being acquired August 1 from the New York Yankees, he lost for the second start in a row. Nova gave up six runs and eight hits in four innings of work. He also hit two batters and threw a wild pitch.

Red Sox 6, Rays 4
Dustin Pedroia hit a two-out grand slam in the seventh inning as Boston clinched a postseason berth with its 10th straight victory. The Red Sox’s winning streak is its longest since 2009. Boston’s Rick Porcello (22-4) became the majors’ first 22-game winner and Boston’s first since Pedro Martinez won 23 in 1999. Tampa Bay’s Logan Forsythe hit his 20th home run of the season, a solo shot, with two outs in the ninth off closer Craig Kimbrel, who picked up his 30th save of the season. Kimbrel had held opponents hitless (0-for-20) in his previous eight appearances.

Giants 9, Padres 6
Angel Pagan raced home with the tiebreaking run on a 10th-inning error by rookie right fielder Hunter Renfroe and Denard Span followed with a two-run homer off reliever Kevin Quackenbush to give San Francisco a victory over San Diego. The Padres had rallied from a 6-0 deficit to tie the score in the seventh. San Francisco prevented Los Angeles from clinching the National League West title and moved the Giants into a first-place tie with the New York Mets in the National League wild-card race. St. Louis trails the Mets and Giants by a half-game.

Phillies 10, Mets 8
Maikel Franco hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Darin Ruf laced a three-run homer in the fourth as Philadelphia raced out to a 10-run lead and hung on. New York and San Francisco are tied for the NL wild-card lead, one-half game ahead of St. Louis. The Mets nearly pulled off the biggest comeback in team history after manager Terry Collins pulled his three best players—Jose Reyes, Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes—with the Phillies ahead 10-0 after four innings.

Cardinals 10, Cubs 4
St. Louis scored six runs in the first three innings en route to routing Chicago and staying afloat in the National League wild-card race. Stephen Piscotty homered, Yadier Molina drove in four runs and Randal Grichuk drove in three for the Cardinals, who are one-half game behind the Mets and the Giants in the NL wild-card race. St. Louis has won five of its last seven games. The NL Central champion Cubs saw their four-game winning streak end. They remain stuck on 98 victories and tied for a franchise-record 56 home wins. Chicago last won 99 games in 1935, when it reached 100.

Blue Jays 3, Yankees 0
Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer with two out in the eighth inning to send Toronto past New York. The Blue Jays beat the Yankees for the second straight time with two games left in the four-game series between the American League East rivals. Toronto leads the AL wild-card race by 1 1/2 games over Baltimore and is two games clear of third-place Detroit. It was the third loss in a row for the Yankees and the third straight game in which they have been shut out as their chances for a wild-card spot are all but gone.

Orioles 6, D’backs 1
Trey Mancini and Mark Trumbo homered and starter Wade Miley shut down his former team for 8 2/3 innings as Baltimore rolled past Arizona. The victory moved the Orioles (84-71) back into second place in the AL wild-card battle by one-half game as Kansas City’s five-run ninth inning handed the Detroit Tigers a 7-4 loss earlier on Saturday. It was Mancini’s third homer this week after his recent call-up.

White Sox 8, Indians 1
Jose Abreu and Carlos Sanchez had three hits apiece and Todd Frazier homered as Chicago beat Cleveland. The Indians’ four-game winning streak and the White Sox’s six-game slide were snapped. The win stalled Cleveland’s quest to clinch the American League’s Central Division title. The Indians’ magic number for clinching was reduced to two, though, with Detroit’s loss to Kansas City.

Royals 7, Tigers 4
Eric Hosmer belted a three-run home run to help Kansas City overcome a two-run deficit with two outs in the ninth. Paulo Orlando blasted a two-run double in the ninth for the Royals. Hosmer’s 24th home run of the season, which gave him 100 RBIs, came on a low 1-1 changeup by Francisco Rodriguez (3-4). Detroit fell one-half game behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot in the AL.

Twins 3, Mariners 2
Early homers by Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano helped Minnesota snap a seven-game losing streak. The Twins, who have 99 losses, got seven solid innings from starter Tyler Duffey (9-11). Nelson Cruz homered for Seattle, which fell two games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot in the AL.

Angels 10, Astros 4
Albert Pujols stroked a game-tying single in the eighth and C.J. Cron followed with a sacrifice fly that capped Los Angeles’ four-run inning in its victory over Houston. The Angels piled on with five runs in the ninth to move within one win of completing a four-game series sweep. The Astros wasted another strong start from right-hander Brad Peacock by squandering a three-run lead. They also fell 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the final wild-card spot in the AL.

Rangers 5, Athletics 0
Shortstop Elvis Andrus hit a pair of two-run homers, Yu Darvish pitched seven shutout innings and Texas rolled to victory. One day after clinching the American League West crown, Rangers manager Jeff Banister gave all of his regulars except Andrus and right fielder Nomar Mazara the day off. Adrian Beltre, Carlos Beltran, Ian Desmond, Jonathan Lucroy, Rougned Odor, Mitch Moreland and Carlos Gomez were spectators as Andrus had the first multi-homer game of his career and drove in a career-high tying four runs.

Marlins 6, Braves 4
Dee Gordon had two hits, three steals and scored twice as Miami defeated Atlanta. The Marlins snapped the Braves’ seven-game winning streak, which was the longest run by Atlanta since 2014. The Braves’ Freddie Freeman had an RBI single and a solo home run. He has 32 homers this season, and also extended his career-high hit streak to 28 games.

Reds 6, Brewers 1
Dan Straily struck out five batters in 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball and Joey Votto hit his 26th home run of the season as Cincinnati beat Milwaukee. Straily (14-8) cruised through his outing, scattering five hits and two walks to post his third consecutive victory. The only earned run he gave up came on a solo home run from Domingo Santana in the second inning. Votto also drew three walks.

Dodgers 14, Rockies 1
Clayton Kershaw tossed seven scoreless innings and Josh Reddick hit a grand slam as Los Angeles crushed Colorado. Reddick went 3-for-4 with five RBIs and three runs. It was Reddick’s fourth career slam and the seventh this season for the Dodgers. Justin Turner, Adrian Gonzalez and Joc Pederson drove in two runs apiece as the Dodgers reduced their magic number to one to capture their fourth straight National League West title.