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Bryce Elder threw a six-hit shutout for his first career complete game, and the Atlanta Braves defeated Washington 8-0 Monday night to close within one game of the first-place New York Mets in the NL East and hand the Nationals their 100th loss of the season.

Matt Olson and Orlando Arcia hit two-run homers and Marcell Ozuna added a solo shot for Atlanta, which like New York has already clinched a playoff berth. Both teams have eight games remaining, including a head-to-head three-game series beginning Friday in Atlanta.

Elder (2-3) threw 106 pitches and allowed only one runner to reach third base while taming the Nationals in his eighth career start. He struck out six for the Braves, who have won three in a row and eight of 11. It was the rookie’s first victory since April 12, when he defeated Washington in his big league debut.

Thomson has Phillies on brink:Rob Thomson has the sparse office decor of a manager who still has interim in his title. He also has the Philadelphia Phillies on the brink of their first playoff berth in 11 years.

Get there – and end the longest postseason drought in the National League – and maybe Thomson can hang a few more keepsakes. The ones already on the wall are mostly framed newspaper pages with boldface headlines of the greatest moments of the Phillies’ last heyday, reminders of the success the franchise has yet to duplicate during the trying slog of a decade since 2011.

The man in the middle of the framed photo behind the manager’s chair is the one who has the Phillies positioned for the postseason. There’s Thomson, wide smile, arms stretched and palms out, dapper in a fedora and a suit and tie. Even as road-trip attire has relaxed, the 59-year-old Thomson wears a suit and tie on every trip, a tribute to his father who told him that was how a ballplayer dressed. The Phillies surprised him on a summer road trip to Texas by, well, following suit and dressing to the nines in an homage to their manager.

The self-effacing Canadian clearly won over his players – and won over 60% of his games since he was hired in June after Joe Girardi was fired and the Phillies were foundering below .500.

Just don’t ask Thomson if he thinks he deserves credit for the turnaround.

“I don’t. It’s almost embarrassing,” Thomson said. “That’s who I am. I think it’s about players. I think it’s about a whole community of people that pull together and win games.”

They have to win just a few more to clinch an NL wild-card spot.

The Phillies’ magic number is eight as they open a 10-game road trip Tuesday at Wrigley Field. If the Phillies keep their third wild-card spot, it’s off to St. Louis for a best-of-three series. Win that, and it’s Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS on the road, with Atlanta or the New York Mets the most likely starting spot. Should the Phillies survive up to 15 straight road games, they will play Game 3 of the NLDS on Oct. 14 at Citizens Bank Park. That’s 19 days away.

American League

Surgery for Rangers’ Dunning:Texas Rangers right-handed starter Dane Dunning underwent arthroscopic hip surgery Monday and the team said his availability to pitch in spring training will be determined by the progress of his rehab.

The Rangers will recall right-hander Tyson Miller from Triple-A Round Rock on Tuesday, when he is expected to pitch in the opener of a three-game series in Seattle. Right-hander Jesus Tinoco will pitch as an opener.

Dunning finished 4-8 with a 4.46 ERA after career highs of 29 starts and 153 1/3 innings pitched. The 27-year-old Dunning was a first-round pick by Washington out of the University of Florida in 2016, was traded to the White Sox the following year and acquired by Texas in December 2020 in a three-player trade that sent Lance Lynn to Chicago.

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