The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nationals get past Dodgers
Nearing their first playoff berth since arriving in Washington, the host Nationals scratched out a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of a doubleheader Wednesday, supporting Jordan Zimmermann’s six innings of onerun pitching with two RBI groundouts and a sac fly.
The win was the Nationals’ 90th, the most for a Major League Baseball club in the nation’s capital since 1933 — also the last time a D.C. team played beyond the regular season.
Pitching on seven days’ rest because of Monday’s scheduled day off and Tuesday’s rainout, Zimmermann (11-8) kept putting runners on base and working around it. He allowed six hits, walked four and hit a batter, but Hanley Ramirez’s RBI single in the third produced the Dodgers’ only run.
Brewers 3, Pirates 1: Marco Estrada pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie shortstop Jean Segura hit a double and triple as Milwaukee stayed in contention for a postseason berth with a victory over host Pittsburgh. Estrada (4-6) allowed three hits and retired the last 10 batters he faced in improving to 4-1 with a 1.23 ERA in his past six starts. He struck out four and walked one. John Axford worked around Andrew McCutchen’s leadoff home run in the ninth inning, his 29th, for his 30th save in 38 opportunities. The homer broke a string of 22 scoreless innings for the Pittsburgh bullpen. Milwaukee has won four straight games, seven of eight and 22 of 28. It entered the day 2 ½ games behind St. Louis in the race for the second NL wild card. steely self in giving up four hits in his first September start since 2010. The 40-year-old lefthander, injured on June 27, boosted the Yankees into a half-game division lead over the pesky Baltimore Orioles. Robinson Cano had an RBI double in a three-run first against Henderson Alvarez (913) that also included Alex Rodriguez’s run-scoring groundout and Curtis Granderson’s sacrifice fly. Alfonso Soriano escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth after Toronto closed to 3-2, and New York extended a winning streak to three for the first time since Aug. 13-15. The Yankees went on to win the second game 2-1.
Twins 6, Indians 4: Josh Willingham had four hits and four RBIs, Liam Hendriks finally got his first career win and visiting Minnesota beat Cleveland, dropping the Indians into last place in the AL Central. Willingham belted a tiebreaking tworun homer off Zach McAllister (5-8) in the fifth inning, giving Minnesota a 4-2 lead. He also had three singles. Hendriks (1-7) pitched six effective innings to get the win in his 18th career start. Glen Perkins worked the ninth for his 14th save. Minnesota’s Joe Mauer went 1 for 4 with a walk and had an RBI single taken away when the umpires reversed a call. Cleveland shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera homered, but left in the seventh with a sore right wrist.
Tigers 6, Athletics 2: Miguel Cabrera homered, Omar Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander pitched six scoreless innings to help host Detroit beat Oakland. Verlander (15-8) allowed five hits and three walks while striking out five. The Tigers have won two straight over the A’s — and 28 of their past 36 games at home — in their chase to catch the AL Central-leading White Sox. Oakland, clinging to an AL wild-card spot, has dropped three straight and might have had a costly loss on the mound because Brett Anderson (42) left after two-plus innings with a strained right oblique.