Sports Sep. 18, 2013 – 03:33PM JST ( )
ST PETERSBURG, Fla —
The Texas Rangers pulled even with the Tampa Bay at the top of the American League wild-card race and ended a seven-game losing streak with a 7-1 win over the Rays on Tuesday, while the Nationals beat the Braves 4-0 to sweep a day-night doubleheader and ensure the Braves leave Washington without the National League East title.
Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus homered and drove in three runs for Texas.
The Rangers, who held the No. 1 wild-card spot or the AL West lead for most of the summer, won for only the fourth time in 17 games.
At Washington, Tanner Roark (7-0) threw seven shutout innings, allowed just two hits, struck out six and retired the final 13 batters he faced.
Ryan Zimmerman hit a home run, Ian Desmond an RBI double and Adam LaRoche an RBI single in the eighth inning. Steve Lomardozzi had a second-inning RBI single off Freddy Garcia (1-2).
Washington entered the nightcap, which followed the Nationals’ 6-5 win in the makeup of a series opener postponed by a shooting rampage a day earlier at the nearby Navy Yard, within 4½ games of Cincinnati for the NL’s second wild-card berth. The Nationals, who have won 10 of 11, have 11 games remaining.
In the AL, Danny Valencia tripled to stop closer Koji Uehara’s streak of 37 consecutive outs and pinch-runner Alexi Casilla scored on Matt Wieters’ sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to lift the Baltimore Orioles over the Boston Red Sox 3-2.
The Orioles overcame a 2-0 deficit on Brian Roberts’ run-scoring groundout in the fifth and Chris Davis’ 51st homer of the season in the sixth that tied the score 2-2. Davis broke the club record set by Brady Anderson in 1996.
Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera homered and Austin Jackson hit a two-run single as the AL Central-leading Tigers held off the Seattle Mariners 6-2 despite a short-handed bullpen.
R.A. Dickey pitched seven innings for Toronto to win his fourth straight decision, and Colby Rasmus and Rajai Davis homered as the Blue Jays downed New York 2-0 for the Yankees’ fourth straight loss.
The Yankees came in 2½ games behind Texas in the AL wild card race and lost for the eighth time in 12 games. The Yankees have 11 games remaining.
The Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals 5-3, the Oakland Athletics edged the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 and the Chicago White Sox defeated the Minnesota Twins 4-3. In interleague play, the Cincinnati Reds trounced the Houston Astros 10-0.
In the NL,
Matt Holliday had four hits, including a two-run homer, to help the St. Louis Cardinals down the Colorado Rockies 11-4 and take the NL Central lead.
The Cardinals entered the night tied with Pittsburgh, which lost 5-2 at home to San Diego. St. Louis reduced its magic number for clinching a playoff spot to five with 11 games remaining.
At Pittsburgh, Jedd Gyorko blasted a three-run homer among his three hits for San Diego as the Padres defeated the Pirates 5-2.
Ronny Cedeno added three hits for San Diego, which beat the Pirates for the second straight game and dropped Pittsburgh one game behind St. Louis in the NL Central.
In other games, the Los Angeles Dodgers downed the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-3, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 6-4, the San Francisco Giants were 8-5 winners over the New York Mets and the Milwaukee Brewers edged the Chicago Cubs 4-3.
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