NEW YORK -- Gio Gonzalez was inches from a no-hitter and the Washington Nationals hit five home runs Monday night, including long balls by their first two batters, in a 9-0 rout of the New York Mets.
Gonzalez held the overmatched Mets hitless into the seventh before pinch-hitter Zach Lutz broke up the bid with a soft single for New York's only hit. Lutz swung at the first pitch of the inning and hit a looper that landed on the first base line, taking out a chunk of chalk well behind the bag.
First baseman Adam LaRoche made a diving attempt as the ball hit the dirt, but it squirted by and into foul territory along the right field line. First base umpire John Hirschbeck correctly called it fair, and Gonzalez (10-6) paused behind the mound to stare in his direction (see full recap).
Braves top Marlins to snap skid
MIAMI -- Evan Gattis drove in two runs to highlight Atlanta's highest-scoring inning in more than a month, and the Braves snapped a four-game slide by beating the Miami Marlins 5-2 on Monday night.
Justin Upton, Freddie Freeman and Gattis all doubled to lead off what became a five-run fourth, Atlanta's biggest inning since a five-run fifth against Philadelphia on Aug. 2. Kris Medlen (13-12) was the beneficiary that night against the Phillies and again on Monday, getting the win after allowing six hits and two runs in 6 1-3 innings.
Atlanta (86-57) passed idle Boston (87-58) for baseball's best record.
Chris Coghlan tied a career high with four hits for Miami, which lost for the 24th time in its last 34 games. Ed Lucas added a two-run double in the seventh for the Marlins (see full recap).
MLB
Tillman leads Orioles past Braves
BALTIMORE -- Chris Tillman took a three-hitter into the eighth inning and the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees 4-2 on Monday night in a game that featured an on-field confrontation between the teams' managers.
With the victory, the Orioles moved within 1 1-2 games of idle Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card. The Yankees fell three games behind Tampa Bay.
Tillman (16-5) allowed two runs and four hits in seven-plus innings. He walked none and struck out nine, matching his career high.
Both dugouts emptied briefly after the first inning, when Orioles manager Buck Showalter angrily exchanged words with Joe Girardi after the Yankees manager apparently said something to Baltimore third base coach Bobby Dickerson. Showalter had to be restrained by home plate umpire Ed Hickox (see full recap).
Pirates blank Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Clinching their first winning season since 1992, rookie right-hander Gerrit Cole had a career-high nine strikeouts over seven innings to outpitch Yu Darvish and lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.
The Pirates (82-61) didn't get a runner to second base against Darvish (12-8) until Marlon Byrd's two-out double in the seventh. He came home when Pedro Alvarez followed with a double.
Pittsburgh had lost a season-high four games in a row since getting their 81st victory last Tuesday at Milwaukee to guarantee their first non-losing season in more than two decades.
They finally have their winning season after taking the opener of a three-game interleague series between wild-card leaders (see full recap).