Associated Press
The baseball roundup …
PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard hit an RBI double in the 10th inning soon after Cliff Lee fell one strike short of his seventh shutout, and Philadelphia beat Florida 2-1 on Thursday night to sweep a doubleheader.
The Phillies, who won the opener 3-1, reduced their magic number for clinching a fifth straight NL East title to two.
Jose Lopez spoiled Lee’s shutout bid when he hit a tying home run on an 0-2 pitch in the ninth.
Lee struck out 12 and allowed five hits in nine innings.
John Mayberry Jr. gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with a homer in the sixth inning.
Nationals 10, Mets 1
NEW YORK — Ian Desmond had a career-high five hits and Tommy Milone earned his first major league win, leading Washington to a four-game sweep.
Desmond drove in three runs and Ryan Zimmerman had two RBIs for the Nationals, who won their fifth straight overall and moved past the Mets into third place in the NL East. The franchise has not finished third or higher since 2002, when it played in Montreal and ended the season in second place.
Rays 9, Red Sox 2
BOSTON — Boston shortstop Marco Scutaro had to dodge a broken bat and wound up letting the go-ahead single through his legs on Thursday night as the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Red Sox 9-2 and cut their deficit in the AL wild-card race to three games.
The Red Sox dropped to 3-11 in September to fall from first place in the division to 41/2 games behind the New York Yankees and into a race with the Rays for the wild-card. Boston and Tampa Bay play three more times at Fenway Park this weekend.
Rangers 7, Indians 4
ARLINGTON, Texas — Michael Young hit a three-run double to go over 100 RBIs for the second time in his career and the AL West-leading Rangers completed a three-game series sweep of Cleveland.
Cleveland’s loss cut Detroit’s magic number for clinching the AL Central to one. The Tigers played later at Oakland.
Josh Hamilton homered for the third straight game and Adrian Beltre also homered in extending his career-best hitting streak to 19 games.
Texas stretched its division lead over the idle Los Angeles Angels to 31/2 games.
Royals 7, White Sox 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Melky Cabrera had four hits, including a home run, and Billy Butler hit a three-run homer to lead the Royals to a victory over the White Sox.
The loss officially eliminated the White Sox from the playoffs.
The Royals’ five-game winning streak is their longest since they won five straight from Sept. 7-11, 2009.
Cabrera’s four-hit game matched a career high and his double in the sixth was his 40th as an outfielder — he has one as a DH. The Royals are the first team in major league history to have three outfielders with 40 or more doubles.
Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur both have 45.
Butler’s 19th home run in the sixth inning came off Mark Buehrle (11-9), who has lost five of his last six starts.