Minor gets 200 Ks as Rangers beat Red Sox
ARLINGTON, Texas — Mike Minor worked into the ninth inning to reach 200 strikeouts in a season for the first time after the Rangers purposely let a foul pop drop, Danny Santana hit a grand slam and Texas beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 on Thursday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Willie Calhoun led off the Rangers seventh with his 21st homer to break a 5-5 tie. Rougned Odor added his 29th homer later in the inning.
Minor (14-10) started the day needing nine strikeouts to reach 200, and he struck out six of his first 11 batters. He got another in the fifth but didn’t get his eighth until Sam Travis ending the seventh on his 117th pitch, which matched his career high.
When Minor walked the batter before Travis, manager Chris Woodward took a step out of the dugout toward the mound before getting waved back by the 31-year-old left-hander.
Boston went 1-2-3 in the eighth on three pitches, two groundouts and a popout.
So Minor came back out for the ninth. Sandy León flied out before Chris Owings popped up a 1-1 pitch. First baseman Ronald Guzmán was coming in to make the catch but then heard Minor and catcher Jose Trevino shouting at him to let the ball drop to the ground. Owings took a called third strike on the 126th and final pitch by Minor, who finished with a career-high 208 1/3 innings.
Jose Leclerc got the final out for his 14th save in 18 chances.
Jackie Bradley Jr. and Owings hit solo homers in the Boston seventh to tie the game at 5-5.
Santana’s slam in the fifth put Texas up 5-3.
Nationals 6, Phillies 3
WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg was dominant in his final regular-season start and Washington held its lead in the NL wild-card chase, beating Philadelphia to sweep the five-game series.
The Nationals remained one game ahead of Milwaukee, which topped Cincinnati 5-3, atop the wild-card race.
Strasburg (18-6) allowed one run on four hits in six innings while striking out 10. He fanned Bryce Harper three times on his way to a career-best 251 strikeouts this season.
Strasburg set a career high for wins this year and had a 3.32 ERA. Both Strasburg and fellow ace Max Scherzer would have at least regular rest for the NL wild-card game against either Milwaukee or St. Louis on Tuesday.
After Harper said the heckling from Nationals fans went over the line Wednesday night, he drew a mix of boos and cheers his first time up. The former Washington star was then booed in the rest of his at-bats.
Michael A. Taylor hit his first homer in over a year for the Nationals, who completed the first five-game sweep in franchise history. Washington went 14-5 against Philadelphia this season, including the final nine at home after dropping the first meeting on April 2.
The Nationals scored three more in