Aug 24, 2019 4 min read

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The first-place Atlanta Braves have signed catcher Francisco Cervelli and immediately plugged him into the starting lineup against the New York Mets.

Cervelli, who has a history of concussions, was recently granted his release by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He gives the NL East leaders a veteran replacement for injured catcher Brian McCann, who is sidelined with a sprained left knee.

The 33-year-old Cervelli joined the Braves on Saturday at Citi Field and batted seventh against Mets right-hander Zack Wheeler. He had hits in his first two at-bats, including a two-run double to open the scoring in the top of the second inning.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker says Cervelli will split playing time with Tyler Flowers behind the plate and likely remain with the club when McCann returns because by then rosters will have expanded in September.

Cervelli batted .193 in 34 games for the Pirates this season before getting hurt. He is a .269 career hitter with 36 home runs in 700 major league games.

LA Dodgers 2, NY Yankees 1: Kenley Jansen escaped a bases-loaded jam in a bizarre ninth inning that saw both managers on the field trying to figure out what happened, and the Los Angeles Dodgers held off the New York Yankees 2-1.

With many in the sellout crowd of 53,803 at Dodger Stadium on their feet, Jansen struck out Mike Tauchman and pinch-hitter Gary Sanchez to end a matchup between the teams with the best records in baseball.

But it was the play right before that to load the bases that left most everyone in the ballpark wondering what was going on.

There were runners at first and second with one out when Gio Urshela hit a grounder to third baseman Justin Turner, who looked to start a game-ending double play. Second baseman Max Muncy caught Turner’s flip but then got wiped out by Brett Gardner’s hard slide for an apparent forceout.

Gleyber Torres, who had started the play on second base, rounded third and then headed home with Muncy down on the ground, trying to score the tying run. Instead, Torres was stopped by the umpires because time had been called.

The strange sequence set off a 2-minute replay review. Gardner was called safe at second, beating the throw with a hard but legal slide. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn’t appear to think Gardner was safe, while Yankees manager Aaron Boone came out, too, seemingly to seek clarification on why Torres wasn’t allowed to score.

Washington 7, Chicago Cubs 2: Trea Turner reached base four times and scored twice, Yan Gomes and Howie Kendrick each drove in two runs and the surging Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2.

Washington has won four straight and six of seven to extend its lead over Chicago for the top NL wild-card spot to three games. The Nationals have scored a total of 97 runs in their last nine games.

A day after losing to the Nationals 9-3, the Cubs dropped consecutive games at Wrigley Field for the first time since June 25-26 against Atlanta. First baseman Anthony Rizzo exited in the fifth inning with tightness in his middle back – he missed time in May with back trouble.

Turner got Washington off to a quick start, going 2 for 3 with two walks and a stolen base to extend his streak of reaching base safely to 31 games, the longest current streak in the majors. Anthony Rendon stretched his hitting streak to 11 games and drove in a run.

Washington starter Joe Ross, who had to leave his last start after being hit in the right shin by a comebacker, allowed two runs on six hits in 41/3 innings. Five Nationals relievers combined to hold Chicago to one hit over the final 4 2/3 innings. Wander Suero (4-7) got the final two outs of the fifth to get the win.

Jose Quintana (11-8) allowed four earned runs in four innings and had his career-high streak of seven straight wins snapped. The left-hander hadn’t lost since June 22 against the New York Mets.

Nicholas Castellanos had two hits and an RBI for the Cubs.