PITTSBURGH — Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds threw the season's seventh no-hitter, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 1-0 Friday night. The seven no-hitters matches the modern record for most in a season, tying 1990 and 1991. There were eight no-hitters in 1884. The last no-hitter for the Reds was a perfect game by Tom Browning on Sept. 16, 1988. This was the 15th no-hitter in Reds history. Bailey (13-10) walked one and struck out 10. He threw 115 pitches and retired the side in order in the ninth, striking out pinch-hitter Brock Holt then getting pinch-hitter Michael McKenry and Alex Presley to both pop out. When Presley's popup was caught by second baseman Brandon Phillips, Bailey was mobbed near the mound by teammates who doused him with water. The 26-year-old Bailey improved to 5-0 in his six career starts with a 1.40 ERA at PNC Park. All three of his complete games and both his shutouts have come against Pittsburgh. Mets 3, Braves 1: Lucas Duda's three-run homer in the seventh gave New York the lead, Jonathon Niese pitched seven strong innings for his third straight win and the Mets beat Tim Hudson and the Braves. The Braves, who have wrapped up at least a wild-card berth, began the night four games behind the Nationals in the NL East. Atlanta has only five games remaining in the regular season. Marlins 2, Phillies 1: Carlos Lee's game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Marlins to a win over Philadelphia and eliminated the Phillies from playoff contention. The Phillies overcame a horrible first half and came from way behind to get within three games of St. Louis for the second wild card spot. But they lost five of the next six to fall out of the chase. Cardinals 12, Nationals 2: Allen Craig matched his career best with four hits to go with two RBIs, Yadier Molina hit a two-run home run and the Cardinals punished Edwin Jackson and the Nationals early to win a matchup of teams on the cusp of clinchers. Roger Bernadina homered for Washington, which had its magic number for wrapping up the NL East reduced to two when Atlanta lost to the Mets. The Nationals, who secured the first postseason berth for Washington, D.C., since 1933 a week earlier, lead the Braves by four games with five to play and could wrap up the division title Saturday. Astros 7, Brewers 6: Edgar Gonzalez allowed one hit before tiring in the sixth and Brett Wallace, Jason Castro and Jose Altuve all homered and the Astros beat Yovani Gallardo for the first time in three seasons, dousing the Brewers' faint playoff hopes. The win helped Houston avoid matching their franchise-worst loss total set last season (56-106). It was their first victory since Bo Porter was named as the 17th manager in franchise history on Thursday. His role with Houston begins immediately following his service as the third base coach for the playoff-bound Washington Nationals. Dodgers 8, Rockies 0: Clayton Kershaw pitched eight strong innings, Shane Victorino hit a three-run homer and the Dodgers beat the Rockies to remain three games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card with five games to play. The Dodgers' third victory in a row clinched a winning season for the second straight year under manager Don Mattingly. Diamondbacks 8, Cubs 3: Justin Upton and Cody Ransom homered to power the Diamondbacks past the slumping Cubs. The Diamondbacks snapped a two-game losing streak but still were eliminated from the NL wild card midway through the game when St. Louis beat Washington. Giants 3, Padres 1: Ryan Vogelsong pitched six strong innings and Buster Posey increased his lead in the NL batting race, but not before giving the Giants a big scare in a win over the Padres. Posey took a wild pitch off his neck in the second inning with Everth Cabrera batting. Vogelsong's pitch bounced in the dirt, ricocheted up and hit right underneath Posey's hockey-style catcher's mask. The slugger was on his knees for a few minutes and was attended to by a trainer before staying in the game. — Agencies
