Verlander stars as Astros clinch AL West
HOUSTON: Justin Verlander struck out 10 batters over seven innings in his first home start for Houston while Derek Fisher and Marwin Gonzalez homered in a big fifth inning as the Astros clinched the American League West with a 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday for their first division title since 2001.
George Springer and Carlos Correa also homered for the Astros, who won their first division title since 2001 and seventh overall. The Astros become the first team in Major League Baseball history to win titles in three divisions after previously winning the NL West and NL Central.
Verlander (13-8) retired his first seven batters before Ben Gamel homered into the right-center bullpen in the third. He allowed just two singles after that to improve to 3-0 since he was acquired from Detroit on Aug. 31.
Andrew Moore (1-4) allowed three runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Tigers 12 White Sox 0: In Detroit, Matthew Boyd’s no-hit bid ended when Tim Anderson doubled with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Detroit left-hander closed out a one-hitter for the first shutout of his professional career.
Boyd (6-10) allowed only two runners — a walk to Rob Brantly in the third and Anderson’s double to the gap in right-center field with two outs in the ninth. He struck out five and threw 121 pitches — his big league high.
Dylan Covey (0-6) allowed five runs, seven hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Rays 3 Red Sox 2: In St. Petersburg, Florida, David Price pitched two hitless innings in his first big league game since July 22 after being sidelined by left elbow inflammation. The 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner made his first relief appearance since 2010.
Jake Odorizzi (9-8) gave up one hit in six innings, a Jackie Bradley Jr. home run. Jesus Sucre hit a tiebreaking solo home run off Eduardo Rodriguez (5-6) in the sixth. Alex Colome pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 45th save. Tampa Bay remained 5½ games behind the Twins.
Nationals 7 Dodgers 1: In Washington, Stephen Strasburg ended his club-record scoreless streak at 35 innings, but two home runs from Ryan Zimmerman helped the All-Star win his fourth consecutive start as the Washington Nationals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Strasburg (14-4) allowed a run in the second inning on Logan Forsythe’s double, the first against the right-hander since Aug. 19. He struck out eight and combined with three relievers to toss a fivehitter.
The Nationals avoided a threegame sweep against the NL frontrunners. Washington’s slumbering offense came alive on Zimmerman’s three-run shot in the sixth off reliever Ross Stripling (3-5). Zimmerman and pinchhitter Adam Lind homered in the eighth.
Los Angeles lost 11 in a row and 16 of 17 before ripping off four consecutive wins, including the first two games this series. The Dodgers magic number to clinch the NL West dropped to four when second-place Arizona lost at San Francisco.
Padres 4, Rockies 3: In Denver, Rockies closer Greg Holland dropped the ball trying to tag Matt Szczur at home on Austin Hedge’s squeeze bunt in the ninth inning, allowing San Diego to finish its rally and beat Colorado.
Hedges bunted back to Holland (3-6) with runners at the corners and one out, but after making a