KANSAS CITY, Missouri: Houston’s Scott Kazmir pitched seven strong innings in his first outing for the Astros, leading the visitors to a 4-0 win at Kansas City in Friday’s clash of American League divisional leaders.

The Astros moved into a virtual tie for the lead of the AL West division while the Royals lead in the Central was trimmed to 5-1/2 games. The other AL division leader, the New York Yankees, suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Minnesota and ex-Yankees pitcher Phil Hughes.

St. Louis maintained its six-game break atop the National League Central by defeating Atlanta while Pittsburgh remained in touch with a victory over Washington. Despite that defeat, the Nationals stayed three games clear atop the NL East as the New York Mets were beaten at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Houston’s Kazmir (6-5) , acquired by the Astros in a trade with Oakland on Thursday, only allowed one runner past first base, retired the last nine batters he faced, and lowered his season earned run average to 2.24. He hasn’t lost a July start since 2010, going 7-0 in 14 July starts since.

Preston Tucker had three of the Astros’ hits, including his fourth home run in five games when he hit a bases-loaded homer in the second.

Minnesota’s Phil Hughes pitched seven scoreless innings against his former team as the Twins cruised past the Yankees 10-1.

Hughes (9-6) wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh but the Twins were otherwise comfortable in handing New York its first loss in five games.

Miguel Sano, Trevor Plouffe, Torii Hunter and Brian Dozier all hit homers for Minnesota.

St. Louis’ Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer in the second inning for the second game running to help the Cardinals beat Atlanta 4-2.

Rookie Tim Cooney (1-0) earned his first major league win, giving up two earned runs and no walks while striking out five over seven efficient innings.

St. Louis improved to 6-1 since the All-Star break and pushed its home record to an MLB-best 35-12. Meanwhile, the Braves have lost their last six road games.

Pittsburgh’s Gregory Polanco homered and drove in three runs as the Pirates beat Washington 7-5, exacting some measure of revenge against Max Scherzer and the Nationals.

Just over a month after Scherzer pitched a no-hitter against the Pirates, Pittsburgh touched Washington’s ace for five runs in five innings. Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez also homered off Scherzer; the most home runs he has given up in a game in nearly four years.

Los Angeles’ Justin Turner homered and drove in three runs against his former club to lead the Dodgers past the Mets 7-2.

Rookie Dodgers pitcher Ian Thomas (1-1) allowed one run over five innings in his first major league start. He was called up to pitch in place of Zack Greinke— who left the team the previous day to go home for the birth of his first child.

Texas’ Josh Hamilton doubled, singled and scored two runs in his return to Angel Stadium, and helped the Rangers beat Los Angeles 4-2.

Hamilton was booed throughout at the stadium where he played the previous two seasons after signing a five-year, $125 million deal with the Angels. He was traded back to Texas three months ago following two dismal years in Los Angeles.

Hamilton’s double started the Rangers’ three-run rally in the fourth.

Texas starter Colby Lewis (10-4) shook off his poor history against the Angels to dominate their surging lineup, striking out nine while yielding only one run in seven-plus innings.

San Francisco’s Hunter Pence had four hits and drove in two runs as the Giants beat Oakland 9-3 in an interleague clash between the Bay Area rivals.

Brandon Belt had three RBIs for San Francisco, which has won nine out of ten to stay within three games of the NL West lead.

Tampa Bay’s Tim Beckham snapped an eighth-inning tie with a two-out, bases-loaded single that gave the Rays a 3-1 victory over Baltimore.

The sputtering Rays were limited to two hits in the first seven innings and, given that the Orioles had not lost this season when leading after seven frames, their victory hopes looked over.

However Kevin Kiermaier was walked leading off the eighth, stole second and raced home for the tying run on John Jason’s two-out single. Evan Longoria followed with a bloop single and James Loney was walked intentionally before Beckham singled up the middle.

Seattle’s Felix Hernandez pitched seven strong innings to pick up his 12th win of the season and guide the Mariners past Toronto 5-2.

Boston’s Xander Bogaerts hit a single up the middle in the 11th inning to drive home the winning run, giving the Red Sox a 2-1 win against Detroit and snapping an eight-game losing slump.

Chicago’s Jose Quintana pitched his first career shutout and complete game to steer the White Sox to a 6-0 victory over Cleveland.

Milwaukee’s Jimmy Nelson threw seven innings in one of his best starts of the season to win a pitching duel with Patrick Corbin, and give the Brewers a 2-1 win against Arizona.

San Diego’s Matt Kemp, Yonder Alonso and Brett Wallace all homered in a 3-1 win against Miami.

Philadelphia’s Jeff Francoeur hit a two-run homer with two outs in the 10th inning to lift the Phillies to a 5-3 win at the Chicago Cubs.

Colorado’s Carlos Gonzalez homered twice, tying the game each time, and Charlie Blackmon scored on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to lift the Rockies past Cincinnati 6-5.