NATIONAL LEAGUE

After split, Nationals one victory from playoffs

— Matt Kemp scored a phantom run early, then hit a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning — right after Washington rallied with a six-run eighth — and the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers grabbed a 7-6 victory Wednesday night for a doubleheader split that prevented the Nationals from sewing up a playoff berth.

Kemp was credited with crossing home to give Los Angeles a 6-0 lead in the fourth, even though TV replays showed the inning’s last out already had been recorded on third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s headover-heels, reaching tag of runner Adrian Gonzalez.

That extra run loomed large when the hosts — who had won the opener 3-1 thanks largely to Jordan Zimmermann’s six innings of one-run pitching — wound up sending 12 batters to the plate while scoring six runs in the eighth.

Michael Morse had a home run and a two-run single, and Washington chased Josh Beckett, who had allowed only two hits through seven innings.

The announced crowd of 26,931 was getting loud when Kemp drove an 0-2 pitch from closer Tyler Clippard (2-5) over the wall in center for his 19th home run.

Ronald Belisario (7-1) earned the victory by getting the last two outs of the eighth inning. Brandon League picked up his third save with a hitless ninth.

Washington’s victory in Game 1 was Los Angeles’ ninth loss in 12 games — and lowered the host’s magic number for securing at least a wild-card spot to one. But the Nationals must wait at least another day to be certain of making the playoffs for the first time since moving from Montreal in 2005.

BRAVES 3, MARLINS 0 Kris Medlen (9-1) pitched allowed four hits in eight innings and visiting Atlanta won his start for the 21st consecutive time, beating Miami.

BREWERS 3, PIRATES 1 Marco Estrada (4-6) pitched seven scoreless innings and rookie shortstop Jean Segura hit a double and triple as visiting Milwaukee defeated Pittsburgh.

CARDINALS 5, ASTROS 0 David Freese and Yadier Molina both connected for their 20th home runs of the season, and Lance Lynn threw 61/3 shutout innings to lead host St. Louis over Houston.

DIAMONDBACKS 6, PADRES 2 Adam Eaton tripled to spark a three-run fifth inning and host Arizona rallied to beat San Diego.

PHILLIES 3, METS 2 Ryan Howard hit a go-ahead home run with two outs in the ninth inning and visiting Philadelphia rallied to beat New York.

REDS 6, CUBS 5 Drew Stubbs hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the 11th inning and visiting Cincinnati beat Chicago hours after Reds Manager Dusty Baker left the ballpark for chest X-rays. A team spokesman said the tests were to “rule out pneumonia.”

American League

RAYS 13, RED SOX 3 Desmond Jennings hit a two-run triple during Tampa Bay’s sevenrun sixth-inning, and the host Rays snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Boston.

ROYALS 3, WHITE SOX 0 Bruce Chen (11-12) pitched into the seventh inning, Alex Gordon hit a two-run double and host Kansas City beat Chicago.

TIGERS 6, ATHLETICS 2 Miguel Cabrera homered, Omar Infante drove in three runs and Justin Verlander (15-8) pitched six scoreless innings to help host Detroit beat Oakland.

TWINS 6, INDIANS 4 Josh Willingham had four hits and four RBI, Liam Hendriks (1-7) finally got his first career victory and visiting Minnesota beat Cleveland,

YANKEES 4-2, BLUE JAYS 2-1 Ichiro Suzuki had a go-ahead single in the eighth inning, his seventh hit of the day, to help host New York complete a doubleheader sweep of Toronto. Suzuki made a difficult catch with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of the opener to preserve a lead for Andy Pettitte in a firstgame victory.

Wednesday’s games

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Washington 3-6, LA Dodgers 1-7 Milwaukee 3, Pittsburgh 1 Atlanta 3, Miami 0 Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 2 Cincinnati 6, Chicago Cubs 5 (11) St. Louis 5, Houston 0 Arizona 6, San Diego 2 Colorado at San Francisco, (n)

AMERICAN LEAGUE

NY Yankees 4-2, Toronto 2-1 Minnesota 6, Cleveland 4 Detroit 6, Oakland 2 Tampa Bay 13, Boston 3 Kansas City 3, Chicago White Sox 0 Texas at LA Angels, (n) Baltimore at Seattle, (n)

Sports, Pages 22 on 09/20/2012

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