Around the Horn in MLB: Victory a Relief to Nats

(AP) — The Washington Nationals are a major-league-best 11-3 after getting seven outstanding innings from their bullpen.

• Yusmeiro Petit  worked four innings of one-run relief as the Nats downed the Marlins 3-1 in Miami. Petit was pressed into service during the third inning after starter Joe Ross had to leave with a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand.
• Bryce Harper tops the majors with 21 RBIs after hitting a run-scoring double in the third. Michael Taylor homered and Ryan Zimmerman hit an RBI double to help the Nationals improve to 6-2 on the road.

Elsewhere in the majors:

•     Peter Bourjos supplied the tying and game-winning RBI singles as Philadelphia downed the Mets 5-4 to avoid a three-game sweep. Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda hit back-to-back solo shots in the fifth inning, giving the Mets 12 home runs in the series.
•     Matt Holliday belted a two-run homer and the Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Chicago Cubs 5-3 in St. Louis. Carlos Martinez limited the Cubs to a run and three hits in seven innings.
•    The Cincinnati Reds pulled out a 6-5 win over Colorado on Tucker Barnhardt's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Barnhardt finished with two RBIs, Jay Bruce belted a two-run homer and Adam Duvall added a solo shot.
•    Justin Turner doubled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning before Yasmani Grandal added an RBI single in the Dodgers' 5-3 triumph over Atlanta. Adrian Gonzalez knotted the score with a two-run homer in the sixth.
•    Zack Greinke outpitched Madison Bumgarner and Welington Castillo banged out a two-run homer in the seventh inning of Arizona's 2-1 win at San Francisco. Greinke picked up his first win for the Diamondbacks by holding the Giants to a run and six hits while recording seven strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings of Arizona's fourth consecutive win.
•    Alexi Ramirez collected two RBIs with a triple and a single before Matt Kemp's solo blast gave San Diego an 8-0 lead by the fourth inning of an 8-2 pounding of Pittsburgh. Drew Pomeranz fanned 10 and allowed only an unearned run and four hits over 6 2/3 frames.
•    Jordan Zimmermann scattered seven hits and had eight strikeouts over a scoreless 6 1/3 innings to pitch Detroit past Kansas City 3-2. Ian Kinsler had two hits and two RBIs while the Tigers were building a 3-0 lead.
•    Chris Sale is the majors' first four-game winner of the season after allowing an unearned run and just two hits in seven-plus innings of a 2-1 triumph over the Angels. Sale gave up just a pair of singles by Mike Trout and left after hitting Kole Calhoun leading off the eighth.
•    Cole Hamels was sharp in the Rangers' 2-1 win against Houston, limiting the Astros to a run and five hits with seven K's in 6 2/3 innings. Rougned Odor put Texas in front with a two-run homer in the second inning.
•    Baltimore topped Toronto 4-3 as Josh Thole's passed ball allowed Caleb Joseph score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. The Orioles blew a 3-0 lead before winning for just the second time in their last six games.
•    Norichika Aoki  tripled home Seattle's runs and Taijuan Walker baffled Cleveland in a 2-1 win over the Indians. Walker allowed just an unearned run on three hits and no walks while striking out six, lowering his ERA to 1.50 through three starts.
•    Oakland was a 5-2 winner over the New York Yankees behind Kendall Graveman, who gave up a run and three hits fanning eight in 6 1/3 innings. Khris Davis hit a two-run single and Billy Burns was 3-for-5 with a run scored in the Athletics' fourth consecutive win.
•     Mookie Betts launched a two-run homer and David Ortiz doubled twice while collecting three ribbies in Boston's 7-3 win against Tampa Bay. Winning pitcher Rick Porcello is 3-0 after striking out nine while allowing three runs over seven innings.

MLB-ESPN-SCHILLING

• Schilling gets the boot
• BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — ESPN has announced that it has fired network analyst and former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling following his comments on Facebook about transgender people.
• Schilling reposted an item that was apparently referring to laws in several states that restrict bathroom access to transgender people. He defended the post on his blog, saying he was expressing his opinion, and that those criticizing him are frauds.

MLB-DIVERSITY

• Bad marks for minority hiring
• UNDATED (AP) — An annual report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida indicates that Major League Baseball teams could do a better job of hiring minority candidates.
• Baseball teams were given a grade of C-plus for racial hiring practices for managers. Three of the 30 skippers in the majors are minorities, down from 10 in 2009.