Braves run string to 12 in row, topping Nats

Washington — Hit by a pitch two innings after homering, Bryce Harper jawed and pointed at Atlanta’s Julio Teheran, and the dugouts and bullpens emptied, but the only haymakers thrown during the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves’ 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night came from the teams’ Twitter feeds.

All in all, it was the sort of stuff rivalries and highdrama playoff chases are made of.

Except, in this particular case, Evan Gattis’ tworun single in the fifth inning and the six innings thrown by Teheran (9-5) while allowing one run combined to produce Atlanta’s season-high 12th consecutive win, padding their NL East lead to 14 ½ games over Washington.

Gattis’ big hit came off Gio Gonzalez (7-5), who pitched one night after Major League Baseball announced its Biogenesis investigation cleared the left-hander.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cardinals 5, Dodgers 1 in St. Louis: Carlos Beltran and Matt Adams homered in the eighth inning, and St. Louis snapped Los Angeles’ 15-game road winning streak.

Joe Kelly pitched into the sixth inning, outperforming Clayton Kershaw and helping St. Louis to its fourth victory in the last six games. Tony Cruz added an RBI single.

The Dodgers’ road winning streak was a franchise record. Their previous loss away from Chavez Ravine was a 4-2 decision at San Francisco on July 6.

Mets 3, Rockies 2 in New York: Eric Young made a diving catch to take a go-ahead hit away from Todd Helton in the fifth inning, then raced home with the tiebreaking run in the eighth, and New York beat Colorado.

The Rockies have lost 12 of 18 since the All-Star break and have scored five runs in their last three games.

Phillies 9, Cubs 8 at Philadelphia: Darin Ruf and Chase Utley sparked a three-run fifth inning to lift Philadelphia over Chicago.

Philadelphia tagged Edwin Jackson (7-12) for seven runs and 10 hits in six innings.

Pirates 4, Marlins 3 in Pittsburgh: Josh Harrison homered leading off the bottom of the ninth, lifting Pittsburgh over Miami. Harrison sent a fastball from Miami’s Mike Dunn (2-3) into the first row of seats in left-center field for his first career walk-off homer.

The Pirates have won three straight and are a season-high 24 games over . 500 (68- 44).

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Tigers 5, Indians 1 at Cleveland: Justin Verlander dominated for eight innings and Don Kelly hit a three-run homer off Justin Masterson, leading Detroit to their 10th straight win, over Cleveland.

Verlander (12- 8) allowed one run and four hits as the Tigers beat the Indians for 10th time in 11 games and opened a fivegame lead over Cleveland in the AL Central.

Twins 7, Royals 0 at Kansas City, Mo.: Andrew Albers allowed four hits while pitching into the ninth inning in his major league debut Tuesday night, easily outdueling Kansas City ace James Shields and leading a Minnesota shutout.

The first big leaguer from Saskatchewan in more than 20 years, Albers at one point retired 15 straight. It was the first shutout in a big league debut since Detroit’s Andy Van Hekken did it in 2002.

White Sox 3, Yankees 2 at Chicago: Chris Sale allowed one run while outpitching Hiroki Kuroda in to the eighth inning, and Chicago beat New York.

Alex Rodriguez singled, walked, was hit by a pitch and lined out to center field after going 1 for 4 in his season debut Monday.

INTERLEAGUE

Reds 3, Athletics 1 at Cincinnati: Jay Bruce homered and made a runsaving catch on the warning track, and Mat Latos pitched into the eighth inning against Oakland’s slumping lineup on Tuesday night, leading a Cincinnati victory.