San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Scherzer’s pinch hit in 14th helps Nationals top Braves
Nationals ace Max Scherzer has had plenty of great moments as a three-time Cy Young Award winner.
Now he’s delivered one with his bat, too.
Scherzer singled as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning and scored the tie-breaking run on Wilmer Difo’s triple, sparking the Washington Nationals to a 5-3 victory over the host Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
“For me to get in a tie game at a point and time where we needed to win against a team that’s playing really good baseball, I got an opportunity,” he said. “Holy cow. I got a hit and scored a run. That’s too cool. I never thought in a million years it would happen.”
In his third big-league pinch-hit appearance, Scherzer singled up the middle against Miguel Socolovich (0-1) and sped home from first base on Difo’s two-out hit to right-center field. Spencer Kieboom added an RBI single.
Scherzer touched off a dugout celebration after he scored.
“I just screamed,” Scherzer said. “I didn’t say any four-letter words. I’m usually pretty good for that — at least one, two, three or four of those — but I kept it pretty PG. That was a good outburst.”
Cubs 7, Mets 1: Despite striking out 24 times, visiting Chicago won as pinch-hitter Javier Baez homered to cap a six-run burst in the 14th inning. Cubs reliever Luke Farrell struck out seven in five scoreless innings, with Brandon Morrow getting the final three outs. New York starter Jacob deGrom matched a career high by fanning 13 and combined with the bullpen to set a Mets franchise record for strikeouts. Cubs pitchers struck out 15. Diamondbacks 6, Marlins 2: Paul Goldschmidt and David Peralta homered, Zack Greinke pitched into the seventh inning and host Arizona beat Miami. The Diamondbacks have won four of five and have hit 14 home runs in their past five games, all at home.
Mariners 3, Rays 1: Marco Gonzales pitched into the seventh inning, allowing just one run, and Ryon Healy hit his ninth homer as host Seattle beat Tampa Bay.
Cardinals 3, Pirates 2: Kolten Wong led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a home run off Richard Rodriguez to win it for St. Louis. Austin Meadows had tied the score in the top half with a home run off Bud Norris (2-1), who blew a save for the first time in 12 chances. It was Wong’s second game-ending homer this season and the fourth of his career.
Rangers 3, Angels 2: Mike Trout went 3-for-5 with a triple and a home run but visiting Texas won it in the 10th inning when Ronald Guzman singled home Rougned Odor. Garrett Richards worked seven scoreless innings for the Angels.
Red Sox 5, Astros 4: Andrew Benintendi and Christian Vazquez homered during a three-run seventh inning that lifted visiting Boston. David Price (6-4) pitched six innings for the win and Craig Kimbrel earned his 19th save.
Dodgers 12, Rockies 4: Joc Pederson hit two solo homers, Matt Kemp hit a two-run homer during an eight-run seventh inning and visiting Los Angeles routed Colorado. Pederson also doubled and singled to tie a career high with four hits. Outfielder Kemp also threw out Charlie Blackmon at the plate in the first
inning when Blackmon tried to tag up on a flyball.
Yankees 8, Orioles 5: Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar homered to help Masahiro Tanaka (7-2) win his fifth straight decision, and visiting New York extended Baltimore’s losing streak to seven games.
Tigers 7, Blue Jays 4: John Hicks’ two-run single in the eighth broke open a tie game for host Detroit. The Blue Jays led 4-2 after Luke Maile and Yangervis Solarte hit solo homers in the fifth.
Twins 7, Indians 1: Eddie Rosario hit a two-run home run and Brian Dozier drove in two runs to support Lance Lynn’s third straight victory for host Minnesota.
Brewers 5, White Sox 0: Jhoulys Chacin combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, and visiting Milwaukee backed him with home runs by Erik Kratz, Jonathan Villar, Lorenzo Cain and Jesus Aguilar.
Padres 8, Reds 2: Rookie left-hander Eric Lauer pitched five strong innings, drove in his first run and picked off Joey Votto to tie for the most in the majors (five), to lead host San Diego.