Nationals claim NL’s top seed

WASHINGTON: Michael Morse, Tyler Moore and Ryan Zimmerman each blasted home runs as the Washington Nationals clinched the National League’s top seed with a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday.
The NL East-champion Nationals entered into Wednesday’s regular-season finale needing a victory, or a loss by the Cincinnati Reds, to get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“It’s quite an accomplishment (to have the best record),” Zimmerman said of the Nationals who finished with a majors-high 98 wins.
“Obviously, winning the division was a goal, and now we have done that. And now we have a chance to go do some stuff in the playoffs.
“This is a great season, a great team, a good group of guys. We have accomplished a lot that we should be proud of, but we have a lot more to accomplish, hopefully.” No Washington baseball team has made the playoffs since 1933.
Washington next plays Sunday against the winner of Friday’s wild-card game between Atlanta and St. Louis.
Right-handed pitcher Edwin Jackson gave up one run on six hits over 6 2/3 innings for the Nationals, which won the final two games of the three-game series against Philadelphia. Jackson fanned six and walked one batter.
Darin Ruf knocked in the only run for Philadelphia, who missed out on the playoffs for the first time in six seasons.
Philadelphia was trying to finish with a record above .500 for a 10th straight season.
“It didn’t happen this year,” Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins said.
“It’s pretty obvious the reasons why, no excuses. Reasons that we weren’t in the race pretty much for a lot of the season.
“We gave ourselves a chance when we got healthy.” Nationals manager Davey Johnson left Wednesday’s game early because he felt numbness in his left leg, which was later diagnosed as a nerve issue. He is expected to rejoin the team for the playoffs.
In Pittsburgh, Ben Sheets made the 250th and final regular season start of his Major League Baseball career on Wednesday as the Braves shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-0.
The 34-year-old Sheets announced his retirement on Tuesday.
Matt Carpenter hit the go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift St. Louis to 1-0 victory over the Reds.
The defending-champion Cardinals, who clinched the NL’s second wild card spot on Tuesday, will travel to Atlanta for Friday’s wild card contest.