WASHINGTON: Washington secured top seed throughout the National League playoffs by beating Miami 4-0 in the opening game of their double-header on Friday.

In other key results, Kansas City beat the Chicago White Sox to secure a first playoff berth for the Royals since winning the 1985 World Series and they also moved within a game of AL Central leader Detroit, which was beaten at home by Minnesota, while Oakland edged closer to secure the second NL wild card by defeating Texas.

Seattle pulled out the victory it needed to stay alive in the AL wild-card chase, beating the Los Angeles Angels, while both St. Louis and Pittsburgh won, keeping the Cardinals ahead by one game with two to play in the chase for the NL Central crown.

Washington pitcher Doug Fister threw a three-hitter in the opening game of the double-header to give the National a vital win.

Anthony Rendon hit a solo homer off Marlins starter Jarred Cosart (4-4), who walked eight batters.

In the insignificant night game, Miami won 15-7 with 22 hits, including Kike Hernandez’s grand slam and J.T. Realmuto’s three-run triple.

Kansas City is back in the playoffs for the first time in a generation after beating the White Sox 3-1, to be certain of at least a wild card.

Jeremy Guthrie (13-11) pitched seven scoreless innings for the Royals, who boosted their chances of a division title, closing within a game of Detroit. Should the two teams finish level, they will play an extra game at Detroit on Monday to determine which team wins the division and which is thrust into the sudden-death wild-card game.

Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello allowed six runs in less than four innings as the Tigers were beaten 11-4 by Minnesota.

Detroit could have wrapped up the division with a victory and a Kansas City loss, but Porcello (15-13) endured another rough outing. He is 0-4 with a 6.20 ERA in September.

The Tigers are at real risk of dropping into the wild-card positions where the likely opponent is Oakland.

The Athletics beat Texas 6-2 to stay two games ahead of Seattle in the chase for the last AL playoff position.

Josh Reddick drove in three runs and Adrian Dunn had a two-run double for the A’s, while starter Scott Kazmir (15-9) won for the first time in seven starts, limiting the Rangers to one earned run in seven innings.

Having seen the A’s win, Seattle knew it had to beat the Angels to stay alive and did so, taking the game 4-3.

Kendrys Morales, Michael Saunders and Dustin Ackley homered against L.A. ace Jered Weaver (18-9) who was below his best in his return from illness.

If the Mariners do manage to win their last two and Oakland lose its last two, a one-game playoff will be held in Seattle on Monday.

In the NL Central, St. Louis maintained its one-game lead with a 7-6, 10-inning win at Arizona, with Jhonny Peralta coming up with the go-ahead single for the Cardinals.

Pittsburgh had kept the pressure up on St. Louis by winning earlier in the night, and the Cards responded, with Peralta driving in three runs.

The game came hours after the Diamondbacks fired Kirk Gibson as manager.

The Pirates won 3-1 at Cincinnati, with Travis Snider and Andrew McCutchen hitting consecutive run-scoring doubles in the eighth inning.

Josh Harrison was aboard after a two-out single against Pedro Villareal (0-2) when Snider followed with a scorching line drive to right that the fielder overran, allowing it to roll to the wall for a 2-1 Pittsburgh lead. McCutchen then doubled into the gap in left-center.

Toronto defeated Baltimore 4-2, to end the Orioles’ chances of claiming the best record in the AL.

Rookie Dalton Pompey had three extra-base hits and pitcher Drew Hutchison (11-13) struck out eight in five innings for the Blue Jays.

The result left Baltimore three games behind the Al-leading Angels with only two to play.

Among the other games with no bearing on the playoff spots, Philadelphia beat Atlanta 5-4, with closer Jonathan Papelbon making his first home appearance since he made a lewd gesture toward fans as he left the field earlier in the month.

Cleveland’s Corey Kluber struck out 11 in eight scoreless innings to guide the Indians to a 1-0 victory over Tampa Bay.

New York’s Derek Jeter took the night off after his emotional final home game and watched a young Yankees team win 3-2 at Boston.

Los Angeles’ Justin Turner hit a two-run infield single amid a six-run sixth inning that lifted the Dodgers past Colorado 7-4.

Houston rallied late to win 3-1 at New York, with Mets pitcher Jonathon Niese leaving the game with an elevated heart rate.

Chicago’s Chris Coghlan hit a lead-off homer and Javier Baez had his second career three-hit game as the Cubs defeated Milwaukee 6-4.

San Diego’s Ian Kennedy pitched seven innings for his third consecutive win, steering the Padres past San Francisco 4-1.