Sunday, September 25, 2016
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Nationals 6, Pirates 1
PITTSBURGH
Washington clinched a postseason berth and no worse than a tie for the National League East title, beating Pittsburgh behind 51/3 scoreless innings from rookie reliever Reynaldo Lopez. Stephen Drew’s two-run single capped a three-run first inning for the Nationals, who return to the postseason after a one-year absence. They reduced their magic number to one for their third division title in five years. Cardinals 10, Cubs 4
CHICAGO
Yadier Molina drove in four runs, Stephen Piscotty homered and St. Louis boosted their playoff hopes by getting to Jason Hammel early in a rout of Chicago. Randal Grichuk added three RBIs and Jhonny Peralta had three hits and scored three runs for the Cardinals, who snapped a two-game skid and moved into a tie with San Francisco for the final NL wild-card spot pending the Giants’ game at San Diego.
Marlins 6, Braves 4
MIAMI
Derek Dietrich hit a two-run homer to help Miami end Atlanta’s winning streak at seven games. Dee Gordon had two hits, two walks and three stolen bases — one shy of tying the Marlins’ single-game franchise high, which he has done on two separate occasions. Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to 28 games in the first inning and has reached base in 44 straight.
Reds 6, Brewers 1
MILWAUKEE
Dan Straily pitched into the seventh inning and Joey Votto hit a two-run homer to lift Cincinnati to a victory over the Milwaukee. Continuing his dominance of the Brewers this season, Straily (14-8) allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts over 62/3 innings. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA in four starts against Milwaukee in 2016.
Phillies 10, Mets 8
NEW YORK
The Mets fell behind by 10 runs early and finished just short of what would have been the largest comeback victory in team history, losing to Philadelphia. New York’s NL wild-card lead was cut to a half-game over St. Louis and San Francisco, which played at San Diego later Saturday.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Royals 7, Tigers 4
DETROIT
Michael Fulmer pitched seven sharp innings for his first win in over a month and Detroit homered three times in a victory over Kansas City. Justin Upton, Victor Martinez and Cameron Maybin went deep for the Tigers, who won their fifth game in a row while chasing a postseason spot in the American League. Fulmer (11-7) allowed a run and eight hits, striking out nine with no walks.
Rangers 5, Athletics 0
OAKLAND, CALIF.
The lone veteran in the lineup a day after Texas won another AL West title, Elvis Andrus hit a pair of two-run homers in the Rangers’ victory against Oakland. Yu Darvish (6-5) had all the run support he needed on a couple of big swings from Andrus, who had his first career multi-homer game. Andrus established career highs for homers with eight and RBIs with 68.
Blue Jays 3, Yankees 0
TORONTO
Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer off Tyler Clippard in the eighth inning, and Toronto beat the Yankees to send New York to its third consecutive shutout defeat. New York has been blanked in three straight games for the first time July 27-28, 1975. The Yankees, who have lost 10 of 13 following a seven-game winning streak, dropped 41/2 games back for the AL’s second wild card with eight games left.
Red Sox 6, Rays 4
ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.
Dustin Pedroia hit his fourth career grand slam to help Rick Porcello get his major league-leading 22nd win, and Boston clinched a playoff berth by beating Tampa Bay for their 10th consecutive win. Boston maintained a 51/2-game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the AL’s second wild card. While the Red Sox technically have a magic number of one, the Blue Jays and Orioles play each other three times in the season’s final week.
Angels 10, Astros 4
HOUSTON
Kole Calhoun had three hits and two RBIs, and Los Angeles scored nine runs in the final two innings to rally for the second straight game in a victory over Houston. It’s the third straight victory in this series for the Angels, who scored six runs in the ninth inning on Friday night to win 10-6. It was another costly loss for the Astros, who fell to three games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card.
Twins 3, Mariners 2
MINNEAPOLIS
Miguel Sano hit a tiebreaking homer in the bottom of the fourth inning and Tyler Duffey pitched seven strong innings for his best start in more than a month as Minnesota beat Seattle. Duffey (9-11) had allowed at least five earned runs in three of his past five starts. The right-hander gave up the two runs and four hits while striking out four.
Associated Press