SCHERZER DOMINANT AS NATIONALS DEFEAT O’S
washington» Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings and Bryce Harper’s two-run double helped the Nationals avoid a four-game home-andhome sweep with a 4-0 victory over the Orioles on Thursday night.
Scherzer (14-7) struck out 10 and did not walk a batter. He retired 12 straight after Adam Jones’s fourth-inning double and 21-of-22 before Mark Trumbo’s leadoff single in the eighth.
Jayson Werth’s solo home run staked Washington to a 1-0 lead. Daniel Murphy’s RBI double in the eighth came before Harper’s second hit.
Former Rockie Ubaldo Jimenez (5-11) allowed one run and five hits over six innings.
THURSDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
Cole Hamels allowed only two singles over eight innings for his 14th victory, Carlos Gomez hit a three-run homer in his first at-bat with Texas and the AL-best Rangers beat the Indians 9-0 in the opener of a four-game series matching division leaders. Hamels struck out eight without a walk, and the lefty improved to 21-5 in his 38 starts since the Rangers acquired him last season. … Albert Pujols reached the 100-RBI mark for the 13th time, the fifth player in history to achieve the feat, Mike Trout had three hits and drove in four runs, and the Angels beat the Blue Jays 6-3. The Angels prevented J.A. Happ from becoming the first 18game winner in the majors. … St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright lost his glove trying to tag out Yoenis Cespedes and lost the game, too, when Alejandro De Aza homered and drove in five runs to send the Mets over the Cardinals 10-6. Seth Lugo (1-2) pitched five scoreless innings for his first big-league win. … Alcides Escobar homered and drove in two runs to lead the surging Royals past the Marlins 5-2. Kansas City has won 15-of-18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild-card spot. The Royals’ bullpen pitched four scoreless innings to push their franchise-record scoreless streak to 38M innings — the best in the majors since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39L straight. … Mikie Mahtook ended a stretch of 34 hitless at-bats with a goahead double in the seventh off Drew Pomeranz (10-10) as the Rays beat the Red Sox 2-1. Pomeranz is 2-3 since being traded from San Diego to Boston. Jake Odorizzi (9-5) improved to 6-0 in eight starts since the all-star break. … James McCann had a three-run homer among his four hits, Daniel Norris pitched into the seventh inning and the Tigers completed a sweep at Minnesota with an 8-5 victory, handing the Twins their seventh straight defeat. … Todd Frazier tied it with an RBI single in the seventh inning and won it with a line drive down the leftfield line in the ninth to lift the White Sox to a 7-6 victory over the Mariners .… Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and a pair of RBI singles, including the tiebreaker in the 10th inning as the Pirates stopped a nine-game skid at Miller Park, beating the Brewers 3-2.
FOOTNOTES
Bautista activated. Toronto slugger Jose Bautista was activated from the 15-day disabled list. … Boston placed rookie left fielder Andrew Benintendi on the 15-day DL with a left knee sprain. … Washington acquired left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski from Oakland for minor-league infielder Max Schrock and $500,000 cash, to be paid Sept. 30. … The Dodgers swapped backup catchers with Philadelphia, getting Carlos Ruiz and trading A.J. Ellis to the Phillies. The Associated Press