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BILL BOYCE/AP
PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP
The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox 6-3 on Sunday, then took scoreboard watching to a new level by staying on the field and rooting for the Texas Rangers to beat the Los Angeles Angels. If the Angels had lost, Baltimore would have clinched its first playoff berth since 1997. After celebrating their fourth-straight win, the nearly two dozen Orioles gathered around the first-base line to watch the ninth inning, which began with Texas winning 4-3. Orioles’ Nate McLouth, left; Adam Jones, back; and Endy Chavez celebrate after Many in the crowd of 41,257 beating the Red Sox on Sunday. stood and watched, too. But the Angels rallied to win 5-4, keeping the Orioles’ magic number to clinch a wild-card berth at one. The O’s remain tied atop the AL East with the Yankees, who beat the Blue Jays 9-6 on Sunday. (AP)
The Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman reacts after striking out during the fourth inning of Sunday’s 10-4 loss in St. Louis.
Strike One Champagne still on ice after Nats fail to clinch division title J^[ DWj_edWbi The Nationals played 158 games for the opportunity they arrived at Sunday morning. The baseball season is a complex, twisted endeavor, and the Nationals had reduced it to uncomplicated anticipation. Their magic number stood at one. Win, and clinch. “This is what you show up at
February in spring training for,” manager Davey Johnson said before the game. All of that fizzled in a matter of face-palming moments as the Nationals fell, 10-4, to the St. Louis Cardinals, a defeat that will bring the National League East race to Washington on Monday night with a still-beating pulse. Ross Detwiler’s implosion and the second-place Atlanta Braves’ 6-2 victory over the New York Mets held the Nationals’ magic number at one, building the anticipation for at least one more day.
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' J^[ cW]_Y dkcX[h for the Nationals to clinch the NL East title.
The Nationals hoped for a happy flight home. They will instead settle for a chance t o c l i nc h f i r s t place in front of their home crowd at Nationals Park du r ing a t hreegame, season-ending series against the Philadelphia Phillies. They will give the ball Monday night to John
Lannan, the longest-tenured Nationals starter, the left-hander who spent all season relegated to Class AAA Syracuse. The delay happened because of an ugly afternoon. Detwiler became the second Nationals’ starter in the series to melt down against the Cardinals, a possible first-round playoff opponent. Chien-Ming Wang announced his arrival from the bullpen with consecutive, crucial wild pitches. Johnson let the Nationals’ best chance to come back end with Wang at the plate and a dormant bullpen. The Nationals forced themselves to wait for champagne, and they might have made their fans switch to brown liquor. Detwiler, pitching close to his
suburban home town of Wentzville, Mo., allowed seven runs in 2 1 ⁄ 3 innings. Only three were earned, but Detwiler shouldered most of the blame. He walked five of the 16 batters he faced, allowed four hits and used 81 pitches to record seven outs. Friday, Edwin Jackson had lasted only 11 ⁄ 3 innings. Rookie Bryce Harper hit his 22nd home run for Washington, a solo shot. Danny Espinosa also had a two-run homer for the Nationals. The Nationals’ loss moved them into a tie with the Cincinnati Reds for the best record in the National League. They hold the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series, five games to two. (THE WASHINGTON POST/AP)
8hWl[i M_d The Atlanta Braves won for a major league record 23rd-straight time in games started by Kris Medlen, beating the New York Mets 6-2 on Sunday in the regular-season home finale for Chipper Jones. Medlen (10-1) gave up one unearned run and three hits in six innings, adding to his momentum heading into the postseason. The Braves have already clinched an NL wild-card spot and are on track to host the one-game playoff, which Medlen would start. (AP)