Jimenez, O’s tip Jays to gain wild card tie
Ubaldo Jimenez and two relievers combined on a three-hitter and the Baltimore Orioles won 4-0 last night in Toronto, moving into a tie with the Blue Jays in the AL wild card race with three games remaining.
Jimenez carved up the Jays. The only hit he allowed was Ezequiel Carrera’s single to begin the first. Josh Donaldson followed with a walk but Jimenez retired the next six batters. Devon Travis walked to open the third, but that was the first of 11 consecutive outs for Jimenez.
Jimenez (8-12) allowed one hit in 62⁄ innings, improving to 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA in five September starts. He walked three and struck out five.
The Orioles visit New York for the final weekend of the season, while the Blue Jays head to Boston.
Detroit, which was rained out yesterday, is 11⁄ games behind the Orioles and Blue Jays. Mariners 3, Athletics 2 — Struggling Mike Zunino delivered the go-ahead home run in the seventh inning and host Seattle held on to beat Oakland and remain two games back in the AL wild card chase. Twins 7, Royals 6 — Byron Buxton tripled, doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice as Minnesota defeated host Kansas City. Rays 5, White Sox 3 — Chris Archer (9-19) overcame a shaky seventh inning to avoid becoming the majors’ first 20-game loser since 2003 and lead visiting Tampa Bay past Chicago. Indians-Tigers, ppd. — The game between host Detroit and Cleveland was postponed after a fourhour delay because of bad weather, a move that could force the teams into a makeup game Monday if it needs to be played because of postseason implications. National League
Nationals 5, Diamondbacks 3 — Rookies Wilmer Difo hit his first major league homer, and Pedro Severino his second, helping injury-depleted NL East champion Washington move closer to clinching home-field advantage in the Division Series by beating visiting Arizona.
Washington has a twogame lead over NL West champion Los Angeles. Dodgers 9, Padres 4 — Joc Pederson doubled twice and drove in three runs, and visiting Los Angeles beat San Diego to avoid a three-game sweep.
Cubs 1, Pirates 1 — Chicago and host Pittsburgh played to the first tie game in the major leagues since 2005 when rain ended it in the sixth inning.
The Cubs and Pirates aren’t scheduled to play again this season, and the game won’t be made up because it doesn’t affect postseason positioning. So instead of a suspended game, the stats count and it was declared a tie, the first since Houston and Cincinnati went seven innings on June 30, 2005, before rain halted that game. Cardinals 4, Reds 3 — Yadier Molina hit a disputed double that drove in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, sending host St. Louis over Cincinnati. The Cardinals began the day one game behind San Francisco for the second NL wild card spot.
Matt Carpenter drew a one-out walk from Blake Wood (6-5). With two outs, Molina’s one-hop hit bounced off a sign above the left-field wall and back into play. Carpenter scored from first, and the Reds appealed. Umpire crew chief Bill Miller told the Reds that teams have 10 seconds to appeal on a game-ending play, and the complaint wasn’t made in time. Giants 7, Rockies 2 — Johnny Cueto (18-5) overcame a shaky start to strike out 11 in seven innings, while Brandon Crawford and Conor Gillaspie each had a pair of hits and an RBI as host San Francisco pulled away from Colorado to hold on to the second NL wild card spot.
Braves 5, Phillies 2 — Freddie Freeman’s 30-game hitting streak ended when he struck out in the eighth inning, but host Atlanta went on to score four runs to beat Philadelphia. Elsewhere in baseball — A day after fans said goodbye, family members and friends of Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez gathered for a private funeral mass in Miami. Fernandez and two friends were killed in a boat crash off South Beach on Sunday. Members of the Marlins walked the hearse from Marlins Park into St. Brendan’s Catholic Church for a public viewing.