Nationals wrap up NL East crown

The Washington Nationals won the National League East when they defeated the host Pittsburgh Pirates 6- 1 and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies held off the New York Mets 10- 8 after opening a 10- 0 lead after four innings.

Stephen Drew had a two- run single in a threerun first inning for the Nationals, and rookie Rey

naldo Lopez ( 4- 3) pitched 5⅓ scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory.

The Mets’ loss dropped them into a tie with the San Francisco Giants, who beat the San Diego Padres 9- 6 in 10 innings, for the NL wild- card lead. Both lead the St. Louis Cardinals by a half- game.

Rick Porcello ( 22- 4) yielded three runs and eight hits and struck out nine in 6⅓ innings, Dustin

Pedroia hit a grand slam and the Boston Red Sox extended their winning streak to 10 games with a 6- 4 victory against the host Tampa Bay Rays.

The result enabled the Red Sox to clinch no worse than the second wild- card berth in the American League and reduced their magic number for winning the AL East title to three.

Clayton Kershaw ( 12- 3) allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings, Josh Reddick hit a grand slam and the Los Angeles Dodgers romped past the visiting Colorado Rockies 14- 1 to reduce their magic number for winning the NL West to one.

The Dodgers are on the brink of becoming the first team to win four consecutive division titles since the Phillies won the NL East five times in a row in 2007- 11. Paulo Orlando hit a two- run double and Eric Hosmer a three- run homer in a five- run ninth inning that rallied the Kansas City Royals past the host Detroit Tigers 7- 4. The loss ended the Tigers’ winning streak at five and dropped them a half- game behind the Baltimore Orioles in the battle for the second AL wild- card spot.