Highlights of Wednesday's MLB games
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[September 15, 2016]
Sept 14 (The Sports Xchange) -
Highlights of Wednesday's Major League Baseball games:
Cubs 7, Cardinals 0
Jon Lester continued his remarkable late-season run and pushed the
Chicago Cubs to the brink of the National League Central title.
Lester allowed three hits over eight innings and knocked in the
game's first run to lead Chicago to a 7-0 win over the St. Louis
Cardinals on Wednesday at Busch Stadium.
Lester (17-4) walked one, struck out eight and faced just two
batters over the minimum. It was the sixth consecutive start in
which Lester has allowed zero or one run.
The Cubs (93-52) clinched at least a tie for the division title and
can pop the champagne Thursday night with a victory over Milwaukee
at Wrigley Field. It will be their first division championship since
2008.
Orioles 1, Red Sox 0
Mark Trumbo's towering solo home run in the second inning proved to
be the difference for Baltimore at Fenway Park.
Trumbo's blast was his major-league-leading 42nd and his first since
a Sept. 2 solo shot against the Yankees. His previous career high in
homers was 34.
Orioles starter Kevin Gausman (8-10) outdueled 20-game winner Rick
Porcello, tossing eight scoreless innings while allowing four hits
and one walk. Zach Britton shut down the Red Sox in the ninth to
convert his 43rd straight save opportunity to start the year, a
major league record for a left-handed pitcher.
Rays 8, Blue Jays 1
Corey Dickerson belted a home run and had four RBIs, Kevin Kiermaier
also went deep and Alex Cobb won for the first time in nearly two
years as Tampa Bay defeated Toronto.
Cobb (1-0), who was making his third start since returning from
Tommy John surgery, allowed one run, two hits and three walks in 6
2/3 innings. The right-hander struck out four in winning for the
first time since Sept. 2, 2014.
The Rays (62-83) won the rubber match of the three-game series and
took the season set 11-8 from the skidding Blue Jays (79-66), who
are 3-9 in September.
Nationals 1, Mets 0
Tanner Roark threw seven scoreless innings and Wilson Ramos belted a
homer with one out in the seventh as Washington beat New York.
The second-place Mets are now 10 games back of the first-place
Nationals (87-59) with 16 games left. The magic number for
Washington to clinch the National League East is seven.
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Ramos, showing signs of life after a long slump, hit the first pitch
he saw from reliever Fernando Salas into the seats in center for his
21st homer of the season. Roark gave up three hits with seven
strikeouts and four walks as he went seven scoreless innings for the
ninth time this year.
Dodgers 2, Yankees 0
Clayton Kershaw retired the first 12 hitters he faced but had his
second start since returning from a back injury halted by a second
rain delay, and Justin Turner produced the tiebreaking double with
none out in the top of the ninth inning for Los Angeles.
Corey Seager opened the ninth against Dellin Betances when his
one-hopper went off Starlin Castro's glove for an error. Seager
stole second before Turner doubled down the left field line. Turner
eventually then scored the second run on a throwing error by
Betances.
Kershaw needed only 44 pitches to get through the first four
innings, which were interrupted by a 12-minute rain delay after the
top of the fourth. He wound up allowing one hit in five innings.
Tigers 9, Twins 6
Miguel Cabrera drove his 33rd home run of the season off the top of
the railing on the wall in deep left center to break a 6-6 tie with
one out in the seventh inning and lead Detroit over Minnesota.
The win went to Shane Greene after a scoreless seventh. Bruce Rondon
worked the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez gained his 42nd save after
a run-free ninth.
Detroit added two unearned runs in the eighth. James McCann reached
on a passed ball charged to Kurt Suzuki while striking out. He was
bunted to second, stopped at third on a single to left by Jose
Iglesias and scored on a bloop single to center by Ian Kinsler, his
fourth hit of the game. Iglesias scored on reliever Michael Tonkin's
wild pitch.
Phillies 6, Pirates 2
Philadelphia had 15 hits and Pittsburgh's late-season struggles
continued at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies got home runs from Freddy Galvis and Tommy Joseph, and
rookie Jake Thompson provided six strong innings on the mouth. Every
starting position player for the Phillies had a hit, and six players
had multi-hit games.
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The loss was the 13th in 16 games for Pittsburgh, which has seen its
National League wild-card hopes take a hit. The Pirates trail the
New York Mets by six games.
Padres 3, Giants 1
Luis Perdomo pitched into the seventh inning and the bullpen threw
hitless ball the rest of the way as San Diego finished a three-game
sweep.
The loss kept the Giants just one game ahead of the St. Louis
Cardinals (76-69) in the National League wild-card race on the eve
of their four-game series.
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Luis Sardinas had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run for
the Padres, who have won six straight against the Giants. The
three-game sweep was San Diego's first in San Francisco since May
2010.
A's 8, Royals 0
Sean Manaea collected his first career road victory as Oakland
downed Kansas City.
Manaea, who was 0-6 with a 6.44 ERA in his first eight road starts,
handcuffed the Royals on three hits for five innings. After walking
one and giving up two singles in the first, Manaea (6-9) limited
Kansas City to one hit the next four innings. John Axford, Liam
Hendriks, and Chris Smith completed the four-hit shutout.
The A's widened the margin with a three-run eighth. Khris Davis had
a two-run single off Brandon McCarthy, giving him six RBIs for the
series. Ryon Healy's two-out single off left-hander Scott Alexander
scored Davis with the final run.
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Marlins 7, Braves 5
Jose Fernandez bounced back from a rocky start to retire 10 of the
last 11 batters he faced and pitch Miami over Atlanta at Turner
Field.
Fernandez (15-8) settled down after he allowed four runs in the
second inning and broke a five-game road losing streak.
The Marlins took a 5-4 lead with a four-run rally in the sixth,
getting a run on an infield single and RBI from Derek Dietrich and a
three-run homer by Marcell Ozuna, his 23rd home run of the season.
It was Ozuna's first home run since Aug. 18 and matched his career
best since in 2014.
Brewers 7, Reds 0
Domingo Santana hit a three-run homer, Scooter Gennett added a
two-run shot and Junior Guerra tossed six shutout innings for
Milwaukee.
The Brewers won for just the second time in its previous seven
meetings with Cincinnati and avoided being swept by the Reds for the
first time since 2013.
Guerra gave up three hits and two walks and struck out five. The
Brewers improved to 14-6 when he pitches. The loss halted the Reds'
four-game win streak.
Indians 6, White Sox 1
Josh Tomlin's return to the rotation was a success for Cleveland,
which defeated Chicago. Cleveland, which lost the first two games of
the series, has a chance to earn a split in the finale Thursday.
Tomlin, who was removed from the rotation during a stretch of poor
outings, earned the win in his first start since Aug. 30. Replacing
injured right-hander Danny Salazar, Tomlin went five innings and
allowed one run on four hits. He struck out two and didn't allow a
walk.
Four Cleveland relievers combined to hold Chicago scoreless in the
final four innings.
Astros 8, Rangers 4
Marwin Gonzalez delivered a seeing-eye, two-run single in the eighth
inning to provide needed insurance for Houston, which averted a
series sweep by defeating Texas.
Gonzalez rolled a single off Tanner Scheppers just under the glove
of shortstop Elvis Andrus and into center field, driving home Tyler
White and Yulieski Gurriel to extend the Astros' tenuous lead to
7-4.
The Rangers nearly clawed their back from a four-run deficit,
getting a two-run home run from Nomar Mazara in the seventh inning
before Jonathan Lucroy added an RBI single in the eighth. Earlier,
Teoscar Hernandez hit a two-run homer as Houston built a 5-1 lead.
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Mariners 2, Angels 1
Nelson Cruz hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning to
give Seattle a win over Los Angeles at Angel Stadium.
Kyle Seager also hit a solo homer as the Mariners extended their
best winning streak of the season to eight games. Seattle moved
within 1 1/2 games of the Toronto Blue Jays for the second wild-card
spot and within 8 1/2 games of the first-place Texas Rangers in the
American League West.
Right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma established a career high with his 16th
victory. Iwakuma (16-11) induced 10 groundouts in 6 1/3 innings,
conceded one run on five hits and three walks and registered two
strikeouts. Edwin Diaz pitched a perfect ninth inning with one
strikeout for his 16th save.
Diamondbacks 11, Rockies 6
Jean Segura had five hits including a pair of home runs to power
Arizona past Colorado, completing a three-game sweep.
Brandon Drury homered in his third straight game and Chris Owings
also homered for the Diamondbacks, who swept a home series for the
first time since Sept. 29 - October 1, 2015, also against the
Rockies.
The Diamondbacks finished with 16 hits, the 14th consecutive game
against Colorado in which Arizona had double-digit hits. It's the
longest single-season streak against a single opponent since the
Brooklyn Robins accomplished the feat against Philadelphia in 1930.
(Editing by Simon Jennings)
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