TIGERS 4, ROYALS 1
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Miguel Cabrera and Andy Dirks homered as the Tigers beat the Royals to avoid being swept.
Doug Fister (8-5) picked up the victory with six strong innings, yielding a run, while allowing six hits and striking out five and walking one.
Cabrera, who is second in the league with 31 home runs to Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, drove a 1-1 pitch out to left in the first inning.
Miguel Tejada tied it in the second with his third home run of the season and the 307th of his career. Tejada took an 0-1 Fister pitch out to left.
Dirks broke the tie with a home run with one out in the fifth to straightaway center, just eluding Jarrod Dyson’s leap at the wall.
James Shields (4-7), who has won only one of 10 home starts, took the loss.
INDIANS 7, TWINS 1
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Justin Masterson took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Michael Brantley hit a bases-loaded triple and the Indians beat the Twins to avoid a three-game sweep.
Masterson (11-7) had faced the minimum through six, allowing only a hit batter, when Brian Dozier led off the seventh with a broken-bat blooper to center field that dunked in under the glove of a sliding Drew Stubbs for a double.
The Indians led 3-0 on Mike Aviles’ sacrifice fly and two-run homer by Jason Kipnis when they loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on a walk to Kipnis and consecutive singles by Nick Swisher and Carlos Santana off starter Scott Diamond (5-9).
WHITE SOX 3, BRAVES 1
CHICAGO (AP) — Left fielder Casper Wells robbed Reed Johnson of a home run in the eighth inning to help the White Sox beat the Braves.
With the White Sox leading 3-1, Wells leaped up against the left-field wall to make a spectacular catch and rob Johnson of the game-tying homer. It was one of several great defensive plays by the White Sox.
Alex Rios added two hits and an RBI for Chicago and Jose Quintana scattered nine hits in 5 2-3 innings for the win.
White Sox relievers Ramon Troncoso and Donnie Veal each retired the two batters they faced and Nate Jones pitched a scoreless eighth. Closer Addison Reed pitched scoreless ninth for his 25th save in 29 chances.
Braves starter Mike Minor (9-5) pitched his first career complete game in the loss.
CARDINALS 3, PADRES 2
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright worked eight sharp innings for his National League-leading 13th win and Allen Craig ended the game with a leaping catch at the left-field wall as St. Louis beat San Diego.
Craig has 12 hits and six RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak for the Cardinals, who took two of three in both series against the Padres this season. The St. Louis defense turned three double plays behind Wainwright (13-5), who allowed two runs with seven strikeouts and two walks.
Yonder Alonso singled three times with an RBI for the Padres. Eric Stults (8-8) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Craig’s tough catch preserved Edward Mujica’s 28th save in 30 chances and robbed pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko of at least an extra-base hit that would have put the Padres.
The Cardinals, who have won nine of 12, own the best record in the majors. The Padres have lost 19 of 24.
ROCKIES 4, CUBS 3
DENVER (AP) — Tyler Chatwood pitched six solid innings, Nolan Arenado hit a go-ahead single and Colorado beat Chicago to win the three-game series.
Chatwood (6-3) went the distance last time out but was a tough-luck loser to Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0. This time, he allowed seven hits and two runs — one earned.
Rex Brothers allowed a run in the ninth before earning his fifth save.
Starlin Castro had four hits for the Cubs, matching a career high, and Anthony Rizzo homered.
Edwin Jackson (6-11) settled down after a rough start to go seven innings. His three-game winning streak was snapped.
BREWERS 1, MARLINS 0, 13 INNINGS
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Caleb Gindl hit his first career home run in the bottom of the 13th inning and Milwaukee shut out punchless Miami for the third consecutive game.
Miami has gone a club-record 37 innings without a run, the longest drought by a major league team in 28 years. The Houston Astros were held scoreless for 42 consecutive innings in July 1985, according to STATS.
The Marlins haven’t scored since Derek Dietrich drove in two runs in the fourth inning of a 5-2 loss in 10 innings to Washington on July 14.
This one was the longest scoreless game in the majors since Boston won 1-0 in 16 innings at Tampa Bay on July 17, 2011.
The Brewers were the last team in the majors to produce a shutout this season, but now have eight in the team’s past 31 games. The Marlins have been blanked 12 times.
John Axford (4-3) pitched two innings for the win and helped the Milwaukee pitching staff set a franchise record with 35 scoreless innings.
Gindl connected off Ryan Webb (1-4) after a pitching duel between Miami’s Henderson Alvarez and Milwaukee’s Wily Peralta.