Scherzer stars as Nationals blank NY Mets
Cubs edge Brewers to stay in wild-card race
NEW YORK: Max Scherzer pitched his second no-hitter this season for Washington, striking out a team-record 17 and leading the Nationals over the NL East champions New York Mets 2-0 in Major League Baseball on Saturday for a doubleheader sweep.
Only one batter reached base against Scherzer, and that came when third baseman Yunel Escobar bounced a throw for an error on Kevin Plawecki’s leadoff grounder in the sixth inning.
The All-Star righty became just the sixth pitcher to throw two no-hitters in a year, and the first since Roy Halladay in 2010 — the former Phillies ace had one in the regular season and another in the play-offs.
Scherzer struck out nine straight batters before Curtis Granderson hit an easy popup to Escobar to end it on his 109th pitch.
Johnny Vander Meer, who pitched two in a row, Nolan Ryan, Virgil Trucks and Allie Reynolds also threw a pair in the same season.
The Mets lost their fifth in a row, having dropped the opener 3-1. The slide has ruined their chance of getting home-field advantage in the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who beat the San Diego Padres 2-1 later on Saturday.
The Nationals won the opener, 3-1, when Bryce Harper hit a tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth off Addison Reed (3-3).
Kyle Hendricks allowed one hit and struck out eight in six innings, and the Chicago Cubs kept alive their hopes to host to the NL wild card game with a 1-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Chicago won their seventh straight game behind a stellar effort from Hendricks (8-7). He held Milwaukee without a baserunner until Martin Maldonado singled with one out in the sixth.
The Cubs will face Pittsburgh in the wildcard match-up on Wednesday. The Pirates lost 3-1 to Cincinnati on Saturday, leaving them one game ahead of the Cubs, who hold the tie-breaker.
The Los Angeles Angels rallied for five runs in the ninth inning, taking their playoff hopes into the final day of the regular season with an 11-10 win over Texas that again kept the Rangers from clinching the AL West title.
Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson, pitching for the fifth straight day, entered with a 10-6 lead and allowed consecutive homers to Erick Aybar and Kole Calhoun.
Collin McHugh earned his 19th victory, Colby Rasmus homered twice and the Houston Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 to clinch at least a tie for the American League’s second wild card.
The Astros remained in contention for the AL West title as well as the league’s first wild card.
McHugh (19-7), pitching a night after teammate Dallas Keuchel won his 20th game, allowed a run and six hits in seven innings to improve to 6-0 in his last seven starts. Jose Altuve homered and doubled for Houston.
Tim Beckham had a two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the AL-East champion Toronto Blue Jays 4-3.
Edwin Encarnacion homered for the fourth consecutive game for the Blue Jays, who fell one game behind Kansas City, who earlier beat the Minnesota Twins 5-1. Toronto hold the tie-breaker.