Nats clinch NL East, beat Pirates behind Lopez, Drew
PITTSBURGH >> The Washington Nationals clinched their third National League East title in five years, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 Saturday night behind 5 1/3 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. Their win ensured a playoff berth, and they won the division about 20 minutes later when the secondplace New York Mets lost to Philadelphia.
Lopez (4-3) came the start the bottom on to of the fourth inning with a 6-1 lead and allowed three hits while striking out five and walking one. He was removed with a runner on first and one out in the ninth inning.
Marc Rzepczynski and Blake Treinen got one out each to end the game, and a pocket of Nationals’ fans behind the visiting dugout cheered. RED SOX 6, RAYS 4 >> Dustin Pedroia hit his fourth career grand slam to help Rick Porcello get his major leagueleading 22nd win, and Boston clinched a playoff berth by extending its winning streak to 10 — the team’s longest in September since 1949.
Boston maintained a 5½game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the AL’s second wild card. BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 0 >> Jose Bautista hit a three-run homer off Tyler Clippard (3-5) in the eighth inning, reaching 30 homers for the seventh straight season.
New York has been shut out in three straight games for the first time July 27-28, 1975. The Yankees have lost 10 of 13 following a sevengame winning streak and likely will miss the playoffs for the third time in four years. ROYALS 7, TIGERS 4 >> Paulo Orlando hit a tying, tworun double and Eric Hosmer followed with a threerun homer against Francisco Rodriguez (3-4), capping a comeback from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth. CARDINALS 10, CUBS 4 >> Yadier Molina drove in four runs and Stephen Piscotty homered to help St. Louis in its wild-card chase. Randal Grichuk added three RBIs and Jhonny Peralta had three hits. RANGERS 5, ATHLETICS 0 >> The lone veteran in the lineup a day after Texas won another AL West title, Elvis Andrus hit a pair of two-run homers.
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. ORIOLES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 1 >> Mark Trumbo connected for his league-leading 45th homer and Trey Mancini hit his third homer in nine major league at-bats, WHITE SOX 8, INDIANS 1 >> Melky Cabrera and Jose Abreu hit RBI singles in the first off Cody Anderson (2-5), and Todd Frazier connected for his 39th homer in the sixth as Chicago stopped a six-game losing streak. MARLINS 6, BRAVES 4 >> Derek Dietrich hit a two-run homer, helping stop Atlanta’s season-high seven-game winning streak. ANGELS 10, ASTROS 4 >> Kole Calhoun had three hits and two RBIs, and Los Angeles scored nine runs in the final two innings.