Nationals hit eight home runs to blast Brewers
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals staged their own version of the Home Run Derby, with Michael Blazek serving as the unwilling batting practice pitcher.
Washington tied a franchise record with eight homers and matched two major league marks during a prolific third inning that highlighted a 15-2 rout of the fading Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.
Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman each homered twice for the Nationals, who banged out 19 hits in reaching double figures in runs for the 18th time this season.
"We have a lineup that can do some special things," Harper said. "Anything can happen."
Washington equaled two big league records in a seven-run third: Most consecutive home runs (four) and most home runs in an inning (five).
"We had a big offensive barrage today," manager Dusty Baker said, understating the obvious.
All the home runs in the third inning were hit off Blazek (0-1), who was making his first major league start following 108 appearances in relief.
"I felt like I made some decent pitches but they were locked in on everything," the right-hander said.
"It's not how I pictured it going."
He could have hardly imagined becoming the first pitcher in baseball history to allow five home runs in an inning.
Only five other major league teams hit five homers in an inning, a feat that had not occurred since Milwaukee did it in 2006.
Washington became the eighth team to hit four in a row, the first since Arizona in 2010.
After Harper connected in the first inning, Brian Goodwin started the long-ball party in the third with a tworun drive after Blazek walked Washington starter Max Scherzer.
"The last thing I wanted to do was lead off the inning with a walk, especially to a pitcher," Blazek said. "It just kept building and building from there."
Wilmer Difo, Harper and Zimmerman followed with long home runs.
The streak was interrupted when Daniel Murphy flied out, after which some of the fans reacted with good-natured booing.
Anthony Rendon resumed the fun with a shot to dead center that finally chased Blazek, who gave up seven hits — six of them long balls.
Zimmerman and Jose Lobaton both homered off Wily Peralta in the fourth for a 15-1 lead.
The eight home runs tied the franchise mark set in July 1978 by the Montreal Expos against Atlanta.
Pitching on his 33rd birthday, Scherzer (12-5) allowed one run over six innings and struck out nine to bring his total this year to 201 — his sixth consecutive season with at least 200, the longest active streak in the majors.
He contributed offensively with two walks and an infield hit.
"What a birthday gift! I wanted to get a win and a knock," he said. "Fifteen runs, a pitcher's best friend."
Harper chipped in with three hits and four RBIs while extending his career-best hitting streak to 19 games.
Travis Shaw and Lewis Brinson homered for the Brewers, who have lost nine of 11 to drop from first place in the NL Central.
"It's on to the next challenge," manager Craig Counsell said, referring to a weekend series against the division-leading Cubs in Milwaukee.
One positive for the Brewers in this one: Left fielder Hernan Perez pitched a scoreless eighth inning.
MOVE OVER, HONDO
Zimmerman's two home runs upped his total with the Nationals to 237, tied with Frank Howard for most in D.C. history.
Known affectionately as "Hondo," the 6-foot7 Howard played with the expansion Senators from 1965-71.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Stephen Strasburg (10-3, 3.25 ERA) was placed on the 10-day disabled list with an elbow impingement. Baker expects Strasburg to miss only one start . ... OF Michael Taylor (oblique strain) is almost ready to begin baseball activities, Baker said. Taylor has been on the DL since July 7.
INDIANS 2, ANGELS 1
CLEVELAND (AP) — Trevor Bauer pitched a season-high eight innings, Francisco Lindor singled to break a tie in the seventh and Cleveland beat Los Angeles for its seventh consecutive victory.
Cleveland is on its longest winning streak of the season and is a season-high 10 games over .500.
The Indians completed a 7-0 homestand.
Bauer (9-8) is 4-0 in five starts against the Angels.
He struck out six and allowed seven hits. Cody Allen pitched the ninth for his 18th save. JC Ramirez (9-9) took the loss.
BLUE JAYS 8, ATHLETICS 4, 10 INNINGS
TORONTO (AP) — Steve Pearce hit a game-winning grand slam in the 10th inning and Toronto beat Oakland to complete a four-game sweep.
Oakland reliever Liam Hendriks (3-2) walked the bases loaded with two outs before Pearce hooked a 3-2 pitch down the left field line and into the second deck.
Kendrys Morales, who hit a game-winning homer in the ninth inning Wednesday, had two more home runs Thursday.
Morales connected off Sean Manaea in the fifth and added a tying blast off Blake Treinen in the ninth, the 19th multihomer game of his career.
Josh Donaldson also homered for Toronto, hitting a solo blast in the first.
Roberto Osuna (3-0) worked one inning for the win.
MARLINS 4, REDS 1
MIAMI (AP) — Chris O'Grady pitched seven scoreless innings to help the Marlins beat the Reds to open a fourgame series.
Derek Dietrich, who drove in five of Miami's franchise-record 22 runs in a win over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday, homered and knocked in three.
Tyler Moore also drove in a run for the Marlins, who have won five of seven. The Reds have dropped seven of eight and are 2-12 since the All-Star break.
O'Grady (2-1) allowed five hits. He struck out five and walked two.
A.J. Ramos got the final four outs for his 20th save in 22 opportunities. He entered in the eighth and got out of a bases-loaded jam after Scooter Gennett had an RBI single off Junichi Tazawa.
Adam Duvall popped out with two on to end the game.
CUBS 6, WHITE SOX 3
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Schwarber homered twice and drove in four runs, and the rolling Cubs beat the White Sox for their third consecutive victory.
Anthony Rizzo also connected and Jon Lester pitched seven effective innings as the Cubs improved to 11-2 since the All-Star break. The NL Central leaders also increased their advantage over the second-place Brewers to 1 1/2 games ahead of their big series this weekend in Milwaukee.
Lester (8-6) allowed two runs and four hits in his third straight win since he got just two outs in the shortest start of his career July 9 against Pittsburgh. The starting pitchers for the Cubs are 10-0 with a 2.50 ERA in the last 13 games.
Jose Abreu homered twice and Willy Garcia also went deep for the lowly White Sox, who have lost seven in a row at home for the first time since 2011 and 12 of 13 overall. Mike Pelfrey (3-8) was tagged for five runs and six hits in fiveplus innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, CARDINALS 0
ST. LOUIS (AP) — J.D. Martinez hit a grand slam and Zack Godley pitched seven innings as the Diamondbacks beat the Cardinals.
The Diamondbacks won their third game out of four, improved to 59-43 and snapped the Cardinals' three-game winning streak.
Godley (4-4) reversed a trend of two poor outings, in which he allowed 10 earned runs in 11 2/3 innings, with the best performance of his 14-start career. Only three Cardinals advanced into scoring position as Godley struck out seven.
Archie Bradley and Fernando Rodney each pitched an inning in relief for the Diamondbacks, who had their first shutout since May 30 at Pittsburgh.
Martinez's blast, his fourth homer as a Diamondback in four days and 20th overall, gave Arizona a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. It was the fourth grand slam of his career for Martinez, who was acquired from the Detroit Tigers on July 18.
Paul Goldschmidt had two singles, walked and scored on the grand slam.