Scherzer’s arm, Harper’s bat power Nats past Orioles
WASHINGTON >> Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings and Bryce Harper’s two-run double helped the Washington Nationals avoid a four-game homeand-home sweep with a 4-0 victory over the Baltimore 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 helped the Nationals pull away.
The Nationals had lost four straight including three in a row to the Orioles, who won twice in Baltimore before the teams shifted to Washington. • Washington acquired reliever Marc Rzepczynski from Oaklan, giving the NL East leaders another lefty in the bullpen.
Oakland also sent $500,000 to be paid on Sept. 30 to the Nationals for minor league infielder Max Schrock. The 30-year-old Rzepczynski was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 56 games this season. ANGELS 6, BLUE JAYS 3>> 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 Los Angeles beat the Toronto.
Jered Weaver pitched 5.2 innings to snap a three-start losing streak as the Angels won consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 2-3 and prevented J.A. Happ from becoming the first 18-game winner in the majors. RAYS 2, RED SOX 1 >> Enny Romero earned his first major league save, relieving with two outs in the ninth inning and fanning Red Sox slugger David Ortiz to give Tampa Bay a win and a four-game split. TIGERS 8, TWINS 5 >> James McCann had a three-run homer among his four hits, Daniel Norris pitched into the seventh inning and Detroit completed a sweep at Minnesota with a victory for the Twins’ seventh straight defeat.
The Tigers, trying to stay close in the wild-card race, are 10-2 against the Twins this year. ROYALS 5, MARLINS 2 >> Alcides Escobar homered and drove in two runs to lead surging Kansas City past Miami. Salvador Perez and Kendrys Morales also drove in runs for the Royals as the defending World Series champions have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot. RANGERS 9, INDIANS 0 >> 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 Cleveland in the opener of a four-game series matching division leaders.
Hamels (14-4) retired 19 straight batters after Francisco Lindor’s solid two-out single to left in the first. The only other baserunner for the Indians was Carlos Santana after a leadoff hit in the eighth, though he was stranded at second after advancing on a passed ball.