Nationals clinch NL East title with 6-1 victory

PITTSBURGH (AP) — 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 second-place New York Mets lost to Philadelphia.

Lopez (4-3) came on to the start the bottom of the fourth inning with a 6-1 lead and allowed three hits while striking out five and walking one.

Ivan Nova (12-8) lost his second straight outing after a 5-0 start with Pittsburgh, giving up six runs — three earned — and eight hits in four innings.

RED SOX 6, RAYS 4

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — 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 extending its winning streak to 10 — the team's longest in September since 1949.

Boston maintained a 5½-game lead over Toronto for the division title and ensured no worse than the AL's second wild card.

Pedroia stopped an 0-for-17 skid with a single in the sixth and gave Boston a 6-3 lead with a seventh-inning drive off Danny Farquhar.

Porcello (22-4) gave up three runs, eight hits and struck out nine over 6 1/3 innings, and Craig Kimbrel reached 30 saves for the sixth straight season. Ryan Garton (1-2) was the loser.

BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 0

TORONTO (AP) — 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 seven-game winning streak and likely will miss the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Jason Grilli (7-5) struck out Billy Butler in the eighth to strand a runner at third, and Roberto Osuna completed a three-hitter for his 35th save.

PHILLIES 10, METS 8

NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets fell behind 10-0 by the fourth inning, then fell short of what would have been the largest comeback victory in team history.

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.

Philadelphia's Maikel Franco and Darin Ruf each hit long a home run for the second consecutive night as Philadelphia built its lead.

Sean Gilmartin (0-1) fell behind 3-0 after 12 pitches and left having allowed five runs in twothirds of an inning.

Jay Bruce hit his first career pinch-hit home run with one out in the ninth. The Mets put two on before Michael Mariot got his second save by retiring Lucas Duda on a popup and Travis d'Arnaud on a comebacker.

Alec Asher (2-0) allowed four unearned runs over five innings.

ROYALS 7, TIGERS 4

DETROIT (AP) — Paulo Orlando hit a tying, two-run double and Eric Hosmer followed with a three-run homer against Francisco Rodriguez (3-4), capping a comeback from a 4-2 deficit in the ninth.

Wade Davis (2-1) pitched a onehit eighth and Kelvin Herrera, Kansas City's seventh pitcher, got three straight outs for his 12th save.

Detroit's five-game winning streak was stopped and the World Series champion Royals ended a four-game skid.

CARDINALS 10, CUBS 4

CHICAGO (AP) — 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.

Jason Hammel (15-10) allowed six runs and six hits while getting just seven outs, hurting his bid for a postseason rotation spot.

Alex Reyes (4-1) needed 115 pitches to get through five innings but settled down after a tough start to allow three runs and six hits.

RANGERS 5, ATHLETICS 0

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — 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. Robinson Chirinos added an RBI double in the ninth for Texas (92-63), which moved 29 games above .500 for the first time since exactly four years ago on Sept. 24, 2012.

A's rookie Raul Alcantara (1-2) struck out six with one walk over six innings. He allowed four runs on seven hits.

ORIOLES 6, DIAMONDBACKS 1

BALTIMORE (AP) — Mark Trumbo connected for his league-leading 45th homer and Trey Mancini hit his third homer in nine major league at-bats,

Baltimore pulled a half-game ahead of the Tigers for the AL's second wild card and trail the Toronto Blue Jays by 1 1/2 games for the top spot.

Wade Miley (9-13) allowed one run and seven hits and tied a career high with 11 strikeouts over 8 2/3 innings to beat Robbie Ray (8-14).

WHITE SOX 8, INDIANS 1

CLEVELAND (AP) — 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.

Joel Quintana (13-11) gave up one run in six innings and beat Cleveland for the second time in 11 days. The Indians' magic number is two for clinching the AL Central.

MARLINS 6, BRAVES 4

MIAMI (AP) — Derek Dietrich hit a two-run homer, helping stop Atlanta's season-high seven-game winning streak.

Atlanta's Freddie Freeman extended his hitting streak to 28 games in the first inning and has reached base in 44 straight. He also hit a solo home run in the sixth, his 32nd.

Brian Ellington (4-2) earned the win in relief and A.J. Ramos got his 39th save. Five days after getting his first big league win, Aaron Blair (1-7) allowed five runs in 3 1/3 innings.

ANGELS 10, ASTROS 4

HOUSTON (AP) — Kole Calhoun had three hits and two RBIs, and Los Angeles scored nine runs in the final two innings. Houston fell to three games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild card.

Albert Pujols, Mike Trout and C.J. Cron each added two RBIs for the Angels.

Jose Valdez (2-3) allowed two runs in the seventh for the win, and Luke Gregerson (4-2) took the loss.

TWINS 3, MARINERS 2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Miguel Sano hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning off Ariel Miranda (5-2) and Tyler Duffey (9-11) gave up four runs and four hits in seven innings. Seattle is 2½ games back for the second AL wild card.

Sano's 24th homer followed Nelson Cruz's tying two-run shot for Seattle in the top of the fourth. Cruz's homer reached the third deck in left field for what was estimated by MLB's Statcast as 493 feet, the second-longest home run in the majors this season behind a 504-foot strike by Miami's Giancarlo Stanton in Colorado's Coors Field.

Jorge Polanco had a solo home run for Minnesota, which snapped a seven-game losing streak.