BALTIMORE: The Baltimore Orioles won their first AL East crown since 1997, using home runs by Steve Pearce and Jimmy Paredes to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 8-2 Tuesday night.

With their ninth win in 10 games, the Orioles clinched their second playoff appearance in three years following a run of 14 consecutive losing seasons. It was Baltimore’s ninth AL East title and only its second since 1983, when the Orioles last won the World Series.

The franchise has enjoyed a rebirth under the guidance of manager Buck Showalter, whose 1,254th victory thrust him past mentor Billy Martin into sole possession of 36th place on the career list.

Ubaldo Jimenez (5-9) survived a rocky start to limit the Blue Jays to two runs and two hits over five innings in his third start since July 5.

Pearce provided the Orioles with the lead for good with a three-run drive off Drew Hutchison (10-12) in the first inning. Pearce has 18 home runs this year, one more than he had in 290 games as a part-timer from 2007-13.

Nationals 3 Braves 0: In Atlanta, the Washington Nationals are again champions of the NL East, wrapping up their second division title in three years against the team that knocked them out of the top spot last season.

Tanner Roark pitched five-hit ball over seven innings, Ian Desmond’s two-run homer broke a scoreless tie and the Nationals celebrated another trip to the playoffs with a victory over Atlanta.

The clinching victory was especially sweet coming against the Braves, who finished 10 games ahead of the Nationals in 2013. The roles were reserved this season as Washington steadily pulled away down the stretch.

Cubs 7 Reds 0: In Chicago, Jake Arrieta took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before giving up Brandon Phillips’ one-out double, the only blemish for the Chicago Cubs pitcher in a win over Cincinnati.

Arrieta (9-5) struck out 13 and walked one in his first career complete game. He was five outs from the first no-hitter at Wrigley Field in 42 years when Phillips drove an 0-2 pitch to deep left-center, just beyond the desperate dive of center fielder Matt Szczur on the warning track.

It was the third time this season Arrieta has flirted with a no-hitter.

Chicago gave Arrieta plenty of run support against Reds ace Johnny Cueto (18-9). Chris Coghlan capped a five-run sixth inning with a three-run double, and Jorge Soler homered in the seventh.

Brewers 3 Cardinals 2, 12 innings: In St. Louis, Carlos Gomez walked, stole second and third and scored the go-ahead run on a bloop hit by rookie Hector Gomez in the 12th inning as Milwaukee ended NL Central-leading St. Louis’ three-game winning streak.

Brandon Kintzler (3-3) got the last out in the 11th, and Francisco Rodriguez closed for his 42nd save in 47 chances. The third-place Brewers have won five of six and are four games back of St. Louis, which has a 2 1/2-game lead on Pittsburgh with 11 to go.

Gerardo Parra homered and rookie Matt Clark’s sacrifice fly tied it against Trevor Rosenthal in the ninth. The Cardinals were blanked on four hits over the last 11 innings after jumping on Wily Peralta for two quick runs in the first.

Rockies 10 Dodgers 4: In Denver, Corey Dickerson homered, tripled and drove in four runs, Tyler Matzek pitched into the sixth inning by getting out of several tight spots, and Colorado snapped a seven-game skid with a win over the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Dodgers had Matzek (6-10) on the ropes, but couldn’t produce the timely hit. They stranded 10 runners to drop 1 1-2 games behind Washington for the best record in the National League.

Giants 2 Diamondbacks 1: In Phoenix, Jake Peavy had another strong outing, Buster Posey homered, and San Francisco gained a game in the NL West race with a victory over Arizona.

The Giants are three games behind first-place Los Angeles with 11 to play. San Francisco snapped a three-game losing streak and remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh for the NL’s top wild-card spot.

Peavy (6-4), acquired from Boston on July 26, allowed a run and five hits in 7 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking one. In his last five starts, he is 3-0 and has allowed a combined four runs.

White Sox 7 Royals 5: In Kansas City, Missouri, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis both gave up runs for the first time in nearly three months as Kansas City’s dominant bullpen was touched up in a loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Davis replaced Herrera (3-3) with two on in the seventh inning and walked Jose Abreu to load the bases for Conor Gillaspie, who cleared them with a triple to right-center that gave Chicago a 7-5 lead.

That ended Herrera’s scoreless streak at 30 2-3 innings, dating to June 24. Also snapped was Davis’ shutout streak of 31 2-3 innings, a club record for a reliever, with the first run charged to him since June 25.

Pirates 4 Red Sox 0: In Pittsburgh, Charlie Morton came off the disabled list to gain his first victory since July 2, and Pittsburgh beat Boston for its ninth win in 11 games.

Sidelined since Aug. 16 because of right hip inflammation and a sports hernia, Morton (6-12) allowed four hits in five innings, struck out six and walked two. He had been 0-3 with a 5.09 ERA in his eight previous starts.

Rays 6 Yankees 1: In St. Petersburg, Florida, Derek Jeter was hit on the arm by a Steve Geltz pitch in the eighth inning of a loss to Tampa Bay, the fifth time a New York Yankees batter has been hit by a Rays pitcher in the past week.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi came out of the dugout and was ejected after New York’s captain was hit.

New York’s David Phelps was ejected by plate umpire Rob Drake in the bottom half after throwing a tight pitch to Kevin Kiermaier. Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but little occurred except for a couple players being restrained by teammates or coaches.

Indians 4 Astros 2: In Houston, Corey Kluber struck out a career-high 14 in seven innings, and Cleveland halted its four-game losing streak by topping Houston.

Kluber (16-9) allowed one run and seven hits to earn his third straight win. His previous high for strikeouts was 13 against the Chicago White Sox on May 4.

Yan Gomes’ two-run homer off Darin Downs in the sixth increased Cleveland’s lead to 4-1.