Grand slam assures Nationals as host for wild-card game
The Nationals assured themselves of hosting the NL wild-card game by holding on to beat the already-eliminated Cleveland Indians 10-7 Saturday with the help of a grand slam in a nine-run second inning from Gerardo Parra, whose dugout dancing and “Baby Shark” walk-up music have become trademarks of Washington’s turnaround.
Nationals Park will be the site of a win-or-go-home game Tuesday night between Washington, which will send three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer to the mound, and either the St. Louis Cardinals or Milwaukee Brewers. One of those clubs will be the NL Central champion; the other will be the league’s second wild-card entry.
Asked before Saturday’s game about the importance of clinching home-field advantage, Scherzer said: “Would it be nice? Yes. But is it imperative? No. We’re ready to play anybody, anywhere.”
Sure looks that way at the moment. Washington extended its winning streak to seven games, the longest run this season for a team that was 19-31 before heading in the right direction.
The lone bit of bad news for the Nationals on Saturday was the way starter Patrick Corbin got hit around, giving up six runs in 4 1/3 innings – on three homers.
The Indians, meanwhile, have lost four in a row. An 8-2 defeat at Washington on Friday eliminated them from the playoff race after Cleveland won the previous three AL Central titles.
Playing in place of an ill Victor Robles, Parra drove in four runs Friday – with a homer, a double and a sacrifice fly – and continued his surge Saturday, going 2 for 2 in the second inning alone.
That included his second grand slam with Washington, which signed him in May to a deal worth the $555,000 minimum after the 32-year-old outfielder was designated for assignment by San Francisco.
Daniel Hudson (3-0), the fifth of six Washington pitchers, struck out two in a perfect eighth.
Cleveland’s Adam Plutko (7-5) lasted 1 1/3 innings, his shortest start in the majors, and was charged with eight runs and seven hits. Parra’s slam came off reliever Hunter Wood.
LA Dodgers 2, San Francisco 0: Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched seven sharp innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers posted their 105th win to match the highest total in franchise history, beating the San Francisco Giants 2-0 for their sixth straight victory.
The NL West champions tied the win mark of the 1953 “Boys of Summer” team based in Brooklyn that included Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider and other Hall of Famers.
The Dodgers began the day one game behind Houston for the best record in baseball and one game ahead of the Yankees. Los Angeles will begin the Division Series next Thursday at home against the NL wild-card winner.
Ryu (14-5) allowed five hits, struck out seven and didn’t walk a batter. He also hit an RBI single in the fifth for the game’s first run.
Kenta Maeda pitched the eighth. Kenley Jansen hit Evan Longoria to start the ninth and gave up Kevin Pillar’s single before striking out three for his 33rd save.
Max Muncy hit his 35th homer in the sixth off rookie Logan Webb (2-3). Webb singled in the fifth for his first major league hit.
Retiring Giants manager Bruce Bochy oversaw his 4,031st game, moving past Sparky Anderson for sole possession of seventh place on the all-time list while managing his second-to-last game with San Francisco. Bochy was honored on the field before the game by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who presented Bochy with a key to the city.
Toronto 4, Tampa Bay 1: The Tampa Bay Rays are definitely going to the AL Wild Card Game. It sure looks like they are headed west, too.
Tampa Bay managed just three hits and lost 4-1 to the Toronto Blue Jays, damaging the Rays’ chances of hosting Oakland in next week’s wild-card showdown.
Matt Duffy homered in the seventh inning, but that was it for Tampa Bay. Duffy finished with two hits and Tommy Pham singled for the team’s other hit.
The Rays (96-65) partied Friday night after clinching a postseason berth when they beat Toronto and Washington beat Cleveland. Still, Cash said he had no issue with his team’s energy and intensity Saturday.
The Rays began the day tied with Oakland in the wild-card race. The Athletics won four of seven regular-season meetings with the Rays, giving them the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Oakland visited Seattle on Saturday night. Tampa Bay could still host the wild-card game if the Athletics lose their final two and the Rays beat the Blue Jays on Sunday.
The Rays are 48-32 on the road with one game remaining.
Teoscar Hernandez hit his 25th homer for Toronto, and Trent Thornton (6-9) pitched five effective innings. Rowdy Tellez had two hits and drove in a run.
The Blue Jays jumped on Ryan Yarbrough (11-6) for three runs before he recorded his first out of the game.
Minnesota 4, Kansas City 3: The Minnesota Twins lost third baseman Luis Arraez to an apparent right leg injury in the seventh inning of their 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Arraez collided with first baseman Willians Astudillo while he was chasing Hunter Dozier’s pop fly at the mound. Astudillo caught the ball and Arraez grabbed the back of his right leg as he tumbled to the ground.
Arraez, a rookie who is batting .334 in 92 games for the AL Central champions, had to be carted off the field.
Nelson Cruz hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth for Minnesota, which has won six in a row and eight of nine overall. Mitch Garver had two doubles and scored twice, and Astudillo had two hits and two RBIs.
Kansas City slugger Jorge Soler went deep twice to move into the AL lead with 47 homers. Soler snapped a tie with the Angels’ Mike Trout, who is out with an injury.
Whit Merrifield had three hits in Ned Yost’s penultimate game with Kansas City. The 65-year-old Yost is retiring after Sunday’s finale to his 10th season as Royals manager.
Baltimore 9, Boston 4: Renato Núñez homered in his second straight game and was one of four Baltimore players to go deep as the Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 9-4.
DJ Stewart, Richie Martin and Trey Mancini also homered for Baltimore, which won its 54th game of the season and has a chance to close out a dismal year with a three-game sweep of the defending World Series champion Red Sox on Sunday at Fenway Park.
Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez homered for the Red Sox, who lost their third straight.
John Means (12-11) recovered from a rough start and pitched five solid innings for the Orioles, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out five.
Martin and Stewart drove in two runs apiece and Mancini capped off the day with a solo homer to right in the ninth, his team-high 35th of the season.
Bogaerts and Martinez hit back-to-back homers for Boston in the first, when the Red Sox took a 3-2 lead.
Martin’s solo homer in the second tied it and Núñez put Baltimore ahead again in the third with a towering shot over the Green Monster, his second homer of the series and 31st of the season.