Kansas City, Missouri: Kansas City won their eighth straight game and took over the lead in the American League Central division by edging Oakland 3-2 on Monday, led by pitcher Yordano Ventura.
The Royals, who have not made the play-offs since 1985, surged to the top of the division ahead of Detroit, who lost at Pittsburgh.
Among the day’s other games, Baltimore beat New York to open a seven-game lead on the Yankees in the AL East, the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their lead in the National League by beating slumping Atlanta and Seattle romped past Toronto.
Kansas City have not led their division this late in a season since 2003.
Ventura set up the victory by pitching the first six innings before handing over to Kelvin Herrera (3-2), who pitched a perfect seventh to take the win.
Alcides Escobar drove in a run in the second inning before delivering a two-out single off Sonny Gray (12-6) in the seventh, putting Kansas City in front.
Baltimore’s Chris Davis hit a two-run homer after replacing an injured Manny Machado and helped the Orioles beat the Yankees 11-3.
After Davis put the Orioles ahead in the fifth inning, Nelson Cruz connected with a man on in the seventh and Jonathan Schoop added a three-run shot in the eighth to turn a tight game into a convincing win. Cruz now has 31 homers, tied for the major league lead with rookie Jose Abreu of the White Sox.
Machado, a 2013 All-Star third baseman, sprained his right knee in the second inning. He dropped onto his back in the batter’s box and needed help getting off the field.
Los Angeles’ Kevin Correia won in his Dodgers debut, setting up a 6-2 win over Atlanta.
The Dodgers increased their NL West lead to five games over idle San Francisco. The Braves have dropped 10 of 12 and fallen four games behind NL East-leading Washington.
Correia was tied for the major league lead in losses with a 5-13 record when he was traded from Minnesota to the Dodgers on Saturday. He excelled for Los Angeles, giving up one run and one walk in six innings, while striking out five.
Atlanta’s Julio Teheran (10-9) allowed five runs in 7 1-3 innings.
Pittsburgh’s Travis Snider hit two home runs and Starling Marte had a bases-loaded triple as the Pirates coasted to an 11-6 win against Detroit.
Detroit’s Justin Verlander (10-11) left after one inning with right shoulder soreness. He gave up five runs and two walks in that time.
Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke (4-3) was responsible for eight hits in five-plus innings.
Seattle’s Felix Hernandez allowed one run in seven strong innings to steer the Mariners to an 11-1 rout of Toronto.
Hernandez (13-3) made his 16th straight start of at least seven innings while allowing two earned runs or less. Hernandez needed just 96 pitches to get through seven.
Robinson Cano ignited a seven-run sixth inning with a homer for a 3-1 lead. Mike Zunino followed with an RBI triple - the second triple of his career - and Endy Chavez then added an RBI double.
