UNDATED (AP) — The Detroit Tigers have clawed their way into a tie with Kansas City atop the AL Central after beating the Royals for the second straight night, 4-2. Max Scherzer improved to 16-3 by holding the Royals to one run over six and two-thirds innings.

Rajai (rah-JY') Davis and J.D. Martinez homered. Joe Nathan earned his 30th save in 36 chances.

In other baseball:

— The Washington Nationals jumped to a 5-0 lead after two innings and beat Atlanta for the second straight night, 6-4. New Nats closer Drew Storen earned his third save in three days. He has struck out six of the nine batters he's faced in that span. The Nats are nine games up on the Braves in the NL East, reducing their magic number to 10.

— Jacob deGrom burnished his rookie-of-the-year credentials by pitching three-hit ball for eight dominant innings, and the New York Mets held on to beat the Colorado Rockies 2-0 for their sixth win in seven games. The victory came after the Mets learned captain David Wright would be shut down for the rest of the season because of inflammation in his left shoulder.

— The Milwaukee Brewers' September collapse continues. Ex-Brewer Casey McGehee (mih-GEE') cracked a two-run home run and Marcell Ozuna followed with a solo shot in a three-run ninth inning rally that gave Miami a 6-3 win over the Brewers, who've dropped 13 of 14.

— AL East leader Baltimore beat Boston 4-1. Adam Jones cracked his 25th homer for the Orioles, who are up by 10 games in the division with 17 to play. Alejandro De Aza hit two homers for the Orioles, who've won 10 of 13.

— Tampa Bay nipped the New York Yankees 4-3. Left fielder Matt Joyce threw out Stephen Drew in the fifth inning when catcher Ryan Hanigan blocked the sliding runner.

— Houston nipped Seattle 2-1. Shortstop Jonathan Villar drove home the go-ahead run with a bad-hop single that eluded Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano (kah-NOH'). The loss drops the Mariners a half-game behind the Tigers in the race for the final AL wild card spot.

— San Diego downed NL West leader Los Angeles 6-3. That cuts the Dodgers' lead to two and a-half games over the Giants, who've won 10 of 13.

— San Francisco downed Arizona 5-1 on a Yusmeiro Petit (yoos-MEHR'-oh peh-TEE') four-hitter. He struck out nine. Leadoff hitter Angel Pagan had four hits and scored twice.

— Kole Calhoun hit a leadoff homer and the Los Angeles Angels stretched their winning streak to six with a 9-3 win over the Texas Rangers. The Angels own the best record in the majors at 89-55.

— The Angels maintained their eight-game lead over Oakland, which used an 18-hit attack to beat the Chicago White Sox 11-2. Jon Lester improved to 14-10 after giving up just two runs in eight innings. Josh Donaldson had a career-high four hits.

— Oswaldo Arcia's two-run homer capped Minnesota's four-run fourth inning and the Twins dented Cleveland's playoff hopes with a 4-3 victory. The last-place Twins won for just the fourth time in 16 games.

— Maikel Franco hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning to lift the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh.

— Cincinnati worked over NL Central leader St. Louis 9-5. Catcher Devin Mesoraco (mehz-uh-RAH'-koh) drove in three to help Mike Leake even his record at 11-11.

— Jose Bautista hit a go-ahead, three-run double in the seventh inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied to beat the Chicago Cubs 9-2 in interleague play.

BOSTON (AP) — Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia (peh-DROY'-uh) could miss the rest of the season with soreness in his left hand and left wrist. Boston manager John Farrell says Pedroia has been bothered by the ailment since midseason and an MRI on Tuesday showed increased inflammation.

In 135 games, Pedroia is batting .278 with seven homers and 53 RBIs. Last season, he hit .301 with nine homers and 84 RBIs before undergoing offseason surgery on his left thumb.

In other baseball news:

__ Washington Nationals slugger Ryan Zimmerman, hoping to return before the end of the regular season, took on-field batting practice Tuesday for the first time since injuring his right hamstring in July. Zimmerman said a recent MRI was encouraging. He said he's been able to run at about 50 to 60 percent of full speed.

__ Major League Baseball has sent a memo to teams clarifying this year's experimental rule intended to limit collisions at home plate, saying runners should not be called safe if the ball clearly beats them.

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