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PITTSBURGH -- The Washington Nationals clinched a postseason berth and no worse than a tie for the National League East title, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-1 Saturday night behind 5 1/3 scoreless innings from rookie reliever Reynaldo Lopez.Stephen Drews two-run single capped a three-run first inning for the Nationals, who return to the postseason after a one-year absence. They reduced their magic number to one for their third division title in five years..Lopez (4-3) came on to the start the bottom of the fourth inning with a 6-1 lead and allowed three hits while striking out five and walking one. He was removed a runner on first and one out in the ninth inning.Marc Rzepczynski and Blake Treinen got one out each to end the game, and a pocket of Nationals fans behind the visiting dugout cheered.Joe Ross allowed one run and five hits over 2 2/3 innings in his second start since missing 2 1/2 months with right shoulder inflammation.Drews single came after Bryce Harpers sacrifice fly. Harper also drove in a run with a grounder during a three-run fourth that included three errors and increased the Nationals lead to 6-1. Jayson Werth hit into a run-scoring forceout and Anthony Rendon had a sacrifice fly.Wilson Ramos had three hits for the Nationals. and Drew and Werth added two each.Pittsburgh lost for the just the third time in 10 games but fell four games out of the second NL wild card with eight games remaining.Ivan Nova (12-8) lost his second straight start, giving up six runs -- three earned -- and eight hits in four innings. He had gone 5-0 in his first eight starts after being acquired from the New York Yankees on Aug. 1 in a trade.Rookie Josh Bell homered in the third.TRAINERS ROOMNationals: Drew was taking the place of 2B Daniel Murphy (strained glute), who did not start for the sixth game in a row.Pirates: RF Gregory Polanco (facial bruise) sat out a day after being injured while running in the fence while chasing a fly ball. . LF Starling Marte (back strain) was not in the starting lineup for the 17h time in the last 18 games. . SS Jordy Mercer (right forearm discomfort) did not start for a third consecutive game.UP NEXTNationals: Dusty Baker delayed announcing his Sunday starter until he knew whether Washington had clinched the NL East.Pirates: RHP Tyler Glasnow (0-2, 4.11) will make his third career start and first since July 23. The rookie was placed on the disabled list the following day with shoulder inflammation and has made three relief appearances since being activated Aug. 28. . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. . Breaking three of his own world records on his way to winning in Paris, Chan silenced the critics and left the audiences standing in appreciation and awe. . Collaros, 25, was solid last season, posting a 5-2 record as the starter while incumbent Ricky Ray was injured. Collaros also started Torontos 23-20 regular-season finale loss to Montreal — Ray didnt dress because the Argos had already clinched first in the East Division — but was one of three quarterbacks to play that day. . If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency. . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Jacksonville Jaguars guard Luke Joeckel will have surgery Thursday morning on his damaged left knee. The operation will include a repair of a major MCL injury, a meniscus tear and possibly an ACL tear, sources told ESPN.?Noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery.Sources say an MRI of Joeckels injury revealed that his medial collateral ligament had torn off the bone, and it will be reattached by staple.The MRI did not provide clarity on whether his ACL had torn,, which Dr.dddddddddddd Andrews will determine during the surgery, sources said.Joeckel, who was injured in Sundays win over the Indianapolis Colts at Londons Wembley Stadium, was placed on injured reserve, and there is little expectation he will return in 2016.The Jaguars former first-round pick will be a free agent next March. He turns 25 on Nov. 6. ' ' '
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