Brilliant Ethier strikes twice as Dodgers sweep fallen Angels

Los Angeles Angels’ Johnny Giavotella (right) is out at second against the tag of Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Howie Kendrick in the fourth inning at Dodger Stadium. PICTURE: USA TODAY Sports

Reuters/Los AngelesAndre Ethier hit a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth and a two-run shot in the 10th as the Los Angeles Dodgers completed a three-game sweep of the Freeway Series, handing the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 defeat at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. Ethier had not hit a home run since June 29, a span of 20 games, before the eighth-inning shot off Angels reliever Joe Smith and had not had a multi-homer day in more than four years. “Not too many times in baseball you get to take the last shot. That was one of them right there,” Ethier told reporters of his walk-off blast. The Dodgers are winners of six in a row against their southern California neighbours, the longest winning streak for either team in this interleague matchup. The Angels, meanwhile, will lick their wounds all the way back down the I-5 Freeway after going 0-6 on a six-game road trip to Houston and Los Angeles. The Angels have lost nine of their past 10 overall to fall four games behind the Astros in the AL West. “We didn’t lose today because of yesterday’s game. We didn’t lose yesterday because of the day before,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said of the slump. “We played three games here. If some things had turned out a little differently, we win three. It ends up we lose three. This is just a stretch. We’re a good team.” The Dodgers dominated the weekend series with starting pitchers Zack Greinke, Clayton Kershaw and Mat Latos. That trio allowed just three runs on 11 hits over 22 innings in the series. Making his first start for the Dodgers since being acquired in a trade-deadline deal with the Miami Marlins, Latos went six innings and allowed just one run on four hits and a walk. “Mat was really good I believe,” Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said. “Kind of what we’ve seen in the past... he’s aggressive. You don’t see any fear in him at all.” The win completed a 4-1 homestand for the Dodgers, who moved a season-high 15 games over .500 (60-45) and 2 ½ games ahead of the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. “Since the (All-Star) break, I think we’ve played pretty good baseball. I felt we’ve been ready to play,” Mattingly added. “I think offensively we’ve had good quality at-bats. Guys are doing the job. We’re getting good pitching. “But obviously, this one, you enjoy it for a little bit. But there’s a lot of baseball to be played.” Mets 5, Nationals 2 Curtis Granderson, Daniel Murphy and Lucas Duda all belted homers in a five-run, five-pitch sequence in the second inning as New York rolled past Washington 5-2 on Sunday. By completing a three-game sweep in front of an electrified crowd of 35,374 at Citi Field, the Mets moved into a virtual tie for first place with the Nationals in the National League East. Washington had been alone in first every day since June 20. Mets rookie Noah Syndergaard (6-5) allowed two runs on seven hits and no walks while striking out nine. Anthony Rendon (3-for-4) and Yunel Escobar homered for the Nationals. Blue Jays 5, Royals 2 Chris Colabello hit a two-run home run, R.A. Dickey pitched seven shutout innings and Toronto beat Kansas City. The benches emptied with two outs in the top of the eighth when Blue Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez was ejected after hitting a batter with a pitch. Ben Zobrist followed with his ninth home run of the season, and third of the series, against Roberto Osuna, to cut the lead to 3-2. The Blue Jays scored twice in the bottom of the inning to complete the four-game series with the Royals with three wins. Pirates 3, Reds 0 Charlie Morton pitched seven shutout innings and Neil Walker hit a solo home run, lifting Pittsburgh over Cincinnati to earn a split. Both benches cleared in the top of the eighth after Brandon Phillips was hit by Pirates left-hander Tony Watson, an inning after Andrew McCutchen of the Reds was plunked by Pedro Villarreal. Tigers 6, Orioles 1 Daniel Norris allowed just one run over 7 1/3 innings in his Detroit debut, J.D. Martinez homered and the Tigers breezed past Baltimore, earning a split of the four-game series. The Orioles finished their homestand at 5-2 and remain within striking distance of one of the two American League wild-card playoff spots. Marlins 5, Padres 2 Closer A J Ramos blew Jose Fernandez’s chance at a major league record but Miami still managed to rally in dramatic fashion over San Diego. Adeiny Hechavarria of the Marlins had the first walk-off hit of his career, a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. It was his fifth homer of the season, and it came on a 1-0 pitch from reliever Brandon Maurer (7-4). In 24 career starts at Marlins Park, Fernandez has a 1.15 ERA. Had he won, he would have tied Johnny Allen (1932-33) and LaMarr Hoyt (1980-82) as the only major league pitchers since 1900 to have won the first 16 decisions of their career at home. Braves 6, Phillies 2 Atlanta right-hander Julio Teheran allowed two runs and struck out seven to pick up just his second road win of the season. Teheran (7-6) got the run support he needed with a two-out, four-run rally in the top of the fifth inning that put the Braves ahead for good against the Phillies. He earned his first road win since his season debut on April 6 at Miami. Rays 4, Red Sox 3 James Loney drove in two runs, including the winning run on a one-out bloop single to centre in the eighth inning, as Tampa Bay avoided a three-game sweep with a victory over Boston. Loney’s go-ahead hit scored Asdrubal Cabrera from second. Cabrera hit a ground-rule double to right to tie the game as Evan Longoria crossed the plate. Longoria led off the eighth with a double off the Green Monster in left field. Astros 4, Diamondbacks 1 Collin McHugh earned his fourth consecutive win and Houston secured yet another home series victory by defeating Arizona. The Astros have won or split nine consecutive home series and are 14-2 over their last 16 games at Minute Maid Park. Houston moved a season-high 14 games over .500 for the third time this season, riding McHugh for seven strong innings. Yankees 12, White Sox 3 New York made sure the trip home was a happy one by concluding its 10-game road trip with a win over Chicago. The Yankees won the series against the White Sox and bumped their record to 7-0-1 in their last eight completed series. New York has not lost a series since the Los Angeles Angels took two of three games from them June 29 to July 1 in Anaheim. Cubs 4, Brewers 3 Chicago kept rolling, tagging right-hander Kyle Lohse for nine hits, to complete a four-game sweep of Milwaukee. Cubs starter Clayton Richard (2-0) was brought back from Triple-A Iowa earlier in the day and made his first start since July 20. He held Milwaukee to a run on five hits while striking out there in six innings of work. Mariners 4, Twins 1 (11 innings) Logan Morrison’s RBI double broke the tie a as Seattle scored three times in the 11th inning to beat Minnesota. The Mariners got a pair of walks to lead off the 11th against Twins right-hander Kevin Jepsen. Both eventually came around to score as Jepsen, seeing his first action in a Twins uniform since being acquired on Friday, took the loss. He was charged with two runs on two walks in one-third of an inning. Cardinals 3, Rockies 2 Pinch hitter Brandon Moss grounded an RBI single to left in the bottom of the ninth as St Louis squeaked past Colorado. Jason Heyward started the winning rally with a one-out double off Scott Oberg (2-2) and reached third when Randal Grichuk beat out an infield single. Acquired from Cleveland on Thursday, Moss worked the count to 2-1 and then collected his second hit in 11 at-bats as a Cardinal. Rangers 2, Giants 1 Martin Perez allowed two hits in 8 1/3 innings as Texas edged San Francisco. Perez (1-2), who was making his fourth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, needed just 80 pitches in his outing and came out after allowing a one-out double to Angel Pagan in the ninth inning. A’s 2, Indians 1 Mark Canha stroked a walk-off double to left-center field in the 10th inning, sending Oakland past Cleveland. Canha blasted a 3-1 pitch from Cody Allen (1-3) off the wall in left to score Sam Fuld from first base. Fuld reached with a single to center. The win went to Fernando Rodriguez (2-1) as the Athletics earned a split of the four-game set in a series that pitted two last-place teams.