WASHINGTON — Stephen Strasburg struck out 14 in 7 1/3 shutout innings, Brian Dozier and Matt Adams homered, and the Washington Nationals continued their midseason surge with a 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
Washington has won seven of its last eight and is 25-10 since May 24. The Nationals improved to 44-41, the first time they’ve been three games over .500 this season.
Strasburg (10-4) was, as usual, brilliant against the Marlins. He allowed two hits and two walks while extending his personal winning streak against Miami to 11. The right-hander is 20-7 with a 2.86 ERA in 34 career starts against the Marlins, who didn’t get a man past first until the eighth.
Strasburg’s gem included the first immaculate inning of his career. Strasburg needed just nine pitches to strike out Garrett Cooper, Neil Walker and Starlin Castro in the fourth.
Fernando Rodney induced a double-play grounder to escape a bases-loaded jam in the eighth, and Sean Doolittle gave up a run in the ninth but stranded the bases loaded for his 19th save in 22 tries.
REDS 3, BREWERS 0: Yasiel Puig homered for the second consecutive game and Cincinnati overcame the loss of second baseman Scooter Gennett to a groin injury, holding on to win at home.
Gennett left after two at-bats because of tightness in the left side of his groin. Gennett was an All-Star last year and the Reds’ most productive hitter over the last two seasons, but he suffered a severe injury to the other side of his groin during spring training and had been sidelined until last week. He has two singles in 19 at-bats over five games.
Sonny Gray (5-5) beat the Brewers for the second time in three starts this season, matching his career high with 12 strikeouts in eight innings. He allowed four hits to a starting lineup missing All-Stars Christian Yelich and Yasmani Grandal, who were getting rest.
BRAVES 9, PHILLIES 2: Josh Donaldson and Austin Riley hit three-run homers off Nick Pivetta and host Atlanta solidified its NL East lead by beating Philadelphia.
Donaldson’s homer gave Atlanta a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Following Riley’s blast, Matt Joyce added a pinch-hit, two-run homer off Juan Nicasio in Atlanta’s six-run sixth.
Atlanta leads second-place Philadelphia by 5 ½ games after splitting the first two games of the series.
Bryce Harper hit a line-drive homer to left field in the sixth. It was his 200th career homer and 1,000th career hit.
PIRATES 6, CUBS 5: Jung Ho Kang scored on Corey Dickerson’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to cap a frantic rally and lift Pittsburgh to a win at home.
Josh Bell hit his 26th home of the season and fourth of the series and added a double to give him 59 extra-base hits, the most ever by a National League player before the All-Star break.
The Cubs turned to recently signed closer Craig Kimbrel (0-1) to protect a one-run lead in the ninth and the Pirates pounced.
Elias Diaz walked with one out, Kang followed with a double to right field that Chicago’s Willson Contreras couldn’t track down. Diaz beat the throw to the plate from Chicago second baseman Addison Russell on Adam Frazier’s fielders’ choice. Kang followed Diaz home when Dickerson’s fly ball to left field was deep enough to allow Kang to easily beat Kyle Schwarber’s heave.
The Pirates have won three straight and 12 of 17 to pull within one game of .500 (42-43).
INTERLEAGUE
YANKEES 5, METS 1: Domingo German pitched six sharp innings in his return from injury, Didi Gregorius and Gio Urshela hit consecutive homers, and the Yankees beat the host Mets.
German (10-2) allowed a run over six innings, giving up five hits and no walks. He struck out six and threw 80 pitches in a tidy return from a strained left hip flexor, which had sidelined him since June 8.
The AL East-leading Yankees have won 14 of 16 overall and forced a four-game split in this year’s Subway Series. The Mets haven’t won the season series since 2013.
Urshela also made three stellar defensive plays at third base, and Gregorius had two hits for his career-best sixth straight multihit game. Gleyber Torres added two hits and two RBI.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
WHITE SOX 7, TIGERS 5: Dylan Cease threw five innings in a winning major league debut, and host Chicago beat struggling Detroit in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
Cease showed why the White Sox have been anticipating big things since they acquired him along with outfielder Eloy Jimenez as part of the trade in July 2017 that sent pitcher Jose Quintana to the crosstown Cubs.
The 23-year-old right-hander gave up three runs and four hits, struck out six and walked four. Three of those walks came during a two-run first in which he hit a batter. But he also mixed a sharp curve with a mid-90s fastball to keep the Tigers off balance.
Yolmer Sanchez had two hits, drove in two runs and scored two as the White Sox won for the fourth time in five games. Sanchez hit an RBI double and came around in a two-run fourth against Daniel Norris that put Chicago on top 4-2, and added an RBI single in a two-run sixth.
Surging slugger Jose Abreu went 2 for 4 with a double and a run. He is 10 for 19 over his past five games.
James McCann added an RBI double and run-scoring single, and Ryan Cordell drove in two.
ORIOLES 9, RAYS 6: Renato Nunez hit a three-run homer to complete a six-run ninth inning, and Baltimore held on to win at St. Petersburg, Florida.
Nunez’s 19th home run came off Jose Alvarado (0-5) after an RBI triple by Jonathan Villar. The blast put the Orioles up 9-3 before Tampa Bay tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth. Shawn Armstrong came in to get the final out with two runners on base and earn his second save.
NOTES
RANGERS: The Texas Rangers agreed to terms with their top two draft picks, Big 12 Conference third basemen Josh Jung and Davis Wendzel.
Jung was the eighth overall pick out of Texas Tech in last month’s draft, and Wendzel from Baylor was taken 41st overall. Jung and Wendzel were the co-Big 12 players of the year this season.
RAYS: The Tampa Bay Rays put first baseman Ji-Man Choi on the 10-day injured list with a strained left ankle and recalled infielder Mike Brosseau from Triple-A Durham.
DODGERS: StarterRich Hill has been transferred to the 60-day injured list with a left forearm strain.
The 39-year-old left-hander went on the IL June 20. He is 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA in 10 starts this season.
Los Angeles acquired pitcher Casey Sadler from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for pitcher Nathan Witt.
Sadler was added to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
PHILLIES: Domestic assault charges against outfielder Odubel Herrera were dismissed after his girlfriend declined to press charges.
Herrera must complete counseling within 60 days as a condition of the dismissal.
Major League Baseball said afterward that Herrera will remain on administrative leave through Friday, when his case will be re-evaluated.
His girlfriend, Melany Martinez-Angulo, assured the judge no one had pressured her to drop the case. The two emerged from the courtroom holding hands and declined to speak with reporters.
ALL-STAR GAME: Los Angeles Angels second baseman Tommy La Stella has been replaced on the American League All-Star team, a day after fouling a 97 mph fastball off his right shin and leaving a game against the Texas Rangers.
La Stella was placed on the injured list because of a right-tibia fracture, an injury that will sideline him for 8 to 10 weeks.
A first-time All-Star named as a reserve, La Stella was supposed to be replaced by Tampa Bay’s Brandon Lowe for next week’s game in Cleveland. But Lowe’s status also is questionable because of a right leg injury. Lowe also fouled a ball off his leg and left a game Tuesday night.
Major League Baseball also announced that Jose Berrios will fill in for fellow Minnesota right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who left Tuesday’s game in Oakland with a blister on right middle finger and was headed for the injured list.
Hunter Pence, the Rangers outfielder selected by fans to be the starting designated hitter, was replaced on the AL team by Xander Bogaerts of Boston. Pence has been out since June 16 with a right groin strain and was pulled off his rehab assignment Tuesday after re-aggravating the injury during a minor league game.
YANKEES: Play-by-play television announcer Michael Kay will have surgery to correct an issue with his vocal cord, keeping him out of the broadcast booth for at least a month.
Kay, 58, has called Yankees games since 1992 and has been the lead TV broadcaster since 2002.
The announcement comes a day after longtime radio play-by-play man John Sterling said that he would skip the Yankees’ next series – the first time he will miss a game since 1989.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.