The Nationals have never reached the World Series during the franchise’s 47-year history that began in 1969 as the Montreal Expos before the team relocated to Washington in 2005.
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In the top of the third, Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang faked a tag on Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper, who appeared to jar himself sliding around Kang. Their win ensured a playoff berth, and they sealed the division about 20 minutes later when the second-place Mets lost to Philadelphia. That last happened May 11.There are still things the team wants and needs to accomplish this final week of the regular season. “We might as well try to win it now.’ It gives you a little energy, which I’m sure we all needed after last night”.
The Nationals were nine games up on the Mets when their chief NL East rivals made a trip to town September 12 for a three-game series, and manager Dusty Baker’s club made a statement with two of its biggest performances of the season. Cole threw a wild pitch behind the back of Kang.
“I don’t think that was necessary”, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. “I’m just so happy for these guys”. “I love it. Look at them”. But Felipe Rivero quickly erased all that by allowing five runs in the eighth, including two on a homer by Jayson Werth, who’d been at the center of the bench-clearing incident earlier but wasn’t ejected.
Kim’s home run was one of just five hits the Orioles had.
“It was more of a team effort”, Werth said.
Marc Rzepczynski and Blake Treinen got one out each to end the game, and a pocket of Nationals’ fans behind the visiting dugout cheered.
REDS 6, BREWERS 1: Dan Straily (14-8) allowed one run and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, and Joey Votto hit a two-run homer in the first off Taylor Jungmann (0-5). Harper lined a ball into the right-field corner.
Yadier Molina drove in four runs and Stephen Piscotty also homered for the Cardinals, while Randal Grichuk drove in three runs and Jhonny Peralta had three hits.
Washington C Wilson Ramos is 10-for-25 during his six-game hitting streak. 3.
Chris Heisey replaced Harper for the bottom of the third, at which point Cole threw the first pitch of the at-bat high above Kang’s head.
He pitched three innings but got pulled with two outs in the third after giving up a run. Since starting his Pittsburgh career 5-0 after being acquired August 1 from the New York Yankees, he lost for the second start in a row.
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“I thought he was getting into a nice spot going into the fourth inning and we more or less took him out of the game with our defense”, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. NOTES: Washington 2B Daniel Murphy (buttocks strain) missed his sixth consecutive game. Pirates SS Jordy Mercer was out of the lineup because of a forearm injury. Sean Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly made it 3-2.Andrew McCutchen, at third when Florimon popped out behind the plate, scored on a heads-up baserunning move. The Pirates waited until Friday to announce a starter and then switched to Tyler Glasnow later that night.
