Major leagues: Scherzer’s pinch single in 14th sparks Nats to win
Nationals ace Max Scherzer singled as a pinch hitter in the 14th inning and scored the tiebreaking run on Wilmer Difo’s triple, sparking the Washington Nationals to a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Braves Saturday.
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 hit to right-center field.
Spencer Kieboom added an RBI single. Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, touched off a dugout celebration after he scored.
Justin Miller (2-0) struck out five in three innings, facing the minimum, and Sean Doolittle got three straight outs for his 14th save in 15 chances. Washington’s bullpen has allowed two earned runs in its last 33 innings.
Jesse Biddle, the fifth Atlanta reliever, struck out eight of his 13 batters, including Juan Soto with the bases loaded to end the 11th. He walked two in three innings.
Giants’ Belt has appendectomy: San Francisco Giants first baseman Brandon Belt has had an appendectomy and is expected to be released from a Bay Area hospital Saturday.
The club said he underwent the procedure late Friday.
Belt had one at-bat in a 4-0 victory against Philadelphia on Friday night. He was removed in the third inning and taken to a hospital for possible appendicitis. Manager Bruce Bochy says Belt hadn’t felt well before the game and then got worse.
Belt is batting .307 with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs in 53 games.
American League
Minnesota 7, Cleveland 1: Eddie Rosario hit a two-run home run and Brian Dozier drove in two runs to support Lance Lynn’s third straight victory, leading the Minnesota Twins past the Cleveland Indians 7-1.
Dozier hit an RBI triple in the third inning against Trevor Bauer (4-4), right before Rosario’s 10th homer of the season. Dozier added an RBI double during a four-run sixth that was fueled by a fielding error on second baseman Jason Kipnis.
Detroit 7, Toronto 4: John Hicks’ two-run single in the eighth inning broke open a tie game and the Detroit Tigers went on to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-4.
Miguel Cabrera singled off Seunghwan Oh (1-1) with one out in the eighth, and was replaced by pinch-runner Victor Reyes. Victor Martinez followed with a ground-rule double to left-center and Ronny Rodriguez ran for him.
The Blue Jays intentionally walked Niko Goodrum to load the bases, bringing up Hicks. After striking out in his first three at-bats, he fouled off the first five pitches before looping a two-run single over the head of second baseman Devon Travis.
Kansas City 5, Oakland 4: Jorge Soler hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals bounced back after wasting a four-run lead to defeat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 for their third win in four games.
Tim Hill (1-1), a 28-year-old rookie left-hander, allowed Chad Pinder’s tying single in the eighth and got his first major league win.
Soler hit his ninth home run on a curveball from Yusmeiro Petit (2-2) with an 0-2 count.
N.Y. Yankees 8, Baltimore 5: Giancarlo Stanton and Miguel Andujar homered to help Masahiro Tanaka win his fifth straight decision, and the New York Yankees beat Baltimore 8-5 to extend the Orioles’ losing streak to seven games.
Tanaka (7-2) allowed four runs and eight hits with seven strikeouts and one walk over 5 1/3 innings. He is 5-0 in seven road games this season – the best stretch of his career.
Pedroia back to DL: Dustin Pedroia’s return from the disabled list lasted three games.
The four-time All-Star second baseman was put back on the DL by the Boston Red Sox on Saturday because of left knee inflammation.
“He wasn’t able to bounce back yesterday and I think it’s the smart thing to do,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I know he’s a little frustrated, but it is what it is. It was major surgery.”
The 34-year-old had knee surgery in October, made his season debut May 26 and went 1 for 11 with two walks. He was a late scratch from the lineup Thursday because of lingering soreness.
Cora said he hopes Pedroia won’t need to stay on the DL beyond the 10 days. He will fly back to Boston on Sunday for treatment on Monday and will likely have to go see a doctor for evaluation in New York early next week.
Interleague
Jhoulys Chacin combined with two relievers on a five-hitter, and the Milwaukee Brewers backed him with four home runs in a 5-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
Chacin (4-1) pitched three-hit ball over 5 2/3 innings and the Brewers won for the sixth time in eight games.
The NL Central leaders also picked up a rare victory over the White Sox after dropping 13 of their last 16 against them.