WASHINGTON -- Daniel Murphy homered twice, tormenting his former team yet again, and the Washington Nationals completed a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with 4-2 victory Wednesday night.
Max Scherzer (9-5) cruised against New York's sputtering offense, allowing two hits with 10 strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings. He retired 18 in a row before Brandon Nimmo's single in the eighth and finished with at least 10 strikeouts for the fourth straight game.
Murphy homered off Logan Verrett (3-5) in the second for a 1-0 lead and golfed a two-run drive in the eighth. He matched his career high with 14 homers and helped Washington win its fourth in a row.
The Mets went 23 innings without scoring before James Loney's two-run homer in the ninth off Shawn Kelley (see full recap).
Yankees score 6 runs in 9th inning to stun Rangers
NEW YORK -- Brian McCann hit a tying, three-run homer off Sam Dyson, Didi Gregorius capped a six-run ninth inning with his two-run shot and the New York Yankees woke up late to beat the Texas Rangers 9-7 Wednesday night.
Down 7-2 and in danger of falling 10 games behind AL East-leading Baltimore, the Yankees began their comeback when McCann homered off Cesar Ramos in the eighth.
Rob Refsnyder singled off Matt Bush leading off the ninth, Jacoby Ellsbury singled and Dyson (1-2) relieved.
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Brett Gardner singled and Refsnyder came home when center fielder Ian Desmond bobbled the ball for an error. After Alex Rodriguez lined out, McCann homered into the right-field bleachers, Starlin Castro walked and Gregorius lined the ball into the right-field seats for his first career game-ending homer.
Luis Cessa (1-0) allowed one run in three innings for his first big league win (see full recap).
Indians blank Braves to extend winning streak to 12
ATLANTA -- Danny Salazar threw seven innings, Lonnie Chisenhall hit his second homer of the series and the Cleveland Indians stretched their winning streak to 12 games by beating the Atlanta Braves 3-0 on Wednesday night.
Cleveland swept its fourth straight series to extend the majors' longest winning streak this season. The Indians began the day leading second-place Kansas City by six games in the AL Central.
The Indians need one more win to match the longest winning streaks in franchise history. They won 13 straight in 1942 and 1951. They had another 12-game streak in 1922.
Jason Kipnis broke a scoreless tie with a two-run single in the fifth.
Salazar (10-3) was dominant, allowing five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts. He lowered the AL's second-best ERA to 2.22 while winning his sixth straight start (see full recap).
