LOS ANGELES (AP) San Francisco lefty Matt Moore lost his no-hit bid with two outs in the ninth inning on a soft, clean single by Corey Seager as the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-0 in Major League Baseball on Thursday.
Moore’s try ended on his 133rd and final pitch, and he was immediately pulled after Seager’s hit plopped onto the grass in shallow right field. He missed most of the last two seasons after Tommy John surgery.
Giants center fielder Denard Span sprinted for two outstanding catches, including a leadoff grab in the ninth, to give Moore a chance.
Moore struck out seven and walked three to earn his first win for the Giants since they got him in a trade with Tampa Bay on Aug. 1. Reliever Santiago Casilla needed just one pitch to get the final out.
Moore nearly gave San Francisco an MLB record five straight years with a no-hitter, too. And he almost became the first Giants pitcher to no-hit the Dodgers since 1915, when New York’s Rube Marquard stopped Brooklyn.
In other games, Max Scherzer allowed two hits over eight innings and Bryce Harper had a two-run double as Washington avoided a four-game home-and-home sweep with a 4-0 victory over Baltimore.
Scherzer (14-7) struck out 10 and did not walk a batter. He retired 12 straight after Adam Jones’ fourth-inning double, and 21 of 22 before Mark Trumbo’s leadoff single in the eighth.
The Nationals had lost four straight including three in a row to the Orioles, who won twice in Baltimore before the teams shifted to Washington.
In St. Louis, Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright lost his glove trying to tag out Yoenis Cespedes and lost the game, too, when Alejandro De Aza homered and drove in five runs to give the New York Mets a 10-6 win.
The Mets led 3-0 in the fifth when Wainwright (9-8) and Cespedes were involved in a bizarre play.
Cespedes tried to go from first to third on a single by James Loney. When several Cardinals chased the ball, Wainwright covered third base. Cespedes slid and his cleat pinned Wainwright’s glove to the bag – he would’ve been out, but when Wainwright pulled away his hand, the mitt stayed stuck under Cespedes’ foot.
Because Wainwright didn’t control the ball, Cespedes was called safe in a ruling upheld by replay. Moments later, De Aza hit a three-run homer to make it 7-0.
In Toronto, Albert Pujols reached the 100 RBI mark for the 13th time in a season, the fifth player in history to achieve the feat, and Mike Trout had three hits and drove in four runs as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Blue Jays 6-3.
The Angels also prevented J.A. Happ from becoming the first 18-game winner in MLB. After winning 11 straight decisions, Happ (17-4) suffered his first lost since June 10 at Detroit. He allowed four runs and six hits in five innings.
One day after his 584th home run moved him past Mark McGwire into sole possession of 10th place on the career list, Pujols joined Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, Alex Rodriguez and Babe Ruth as the only players with 100 or more RBIs in 13 seasons.
Kansas City’s Alcides Escobar homered and drove in two runs to lead the surging Royals past Miami 5-2.
The Royals’ bullpen pitched four scoreless innings to push its club-record scoreless streak to 38 2/3 innings – the best in MLB since 2002-03 when San Francisco tossed 39 1/3 straight.
The defending champion Royals have won 15 of 18 to pull within four games of the second AL wild card spot.
Texas’ Cole Hamels allowed only two singles over eight innings for his 14th victory and Carlos Gomez hit a three-run homer as the American League-best Rangers beat Cleveland 9-0 in the opener of a four-game series between division leaders.
Hamels (14-4) retired 19 straight batters after Francisco Lindor’s two-out single to left in the first.
Atlanta’s Matt Wisler, called up from the minor leagues in time for the game, didn’t allow Arizona a hit for six innings as the Braves won 3-1.
Wisler (5-11) allowed a run and two hits with four strikeouts in eight innings. Paul Goldschmidt broke up his no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the seventh.
In Milwaukee, Andrew McCutchen hit a home run and a pair of RBI singles, including the tiebreaker in the 10th inning, as Pittsburgh beat the Brewers 3-2 to stop a nine-game skid at Miller Park.
McCutchen has 44 RBIs in 56 career games at Miller Park, his highest total at any opposing park.
Elsewhere, Tampa Bay beat Boston 2-1, the Chicago White Sox edged Seattle 7-6, and Detroit defeated Minnesota 8-5.
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