CHICAGO: Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Friday to widen the gap between the two teams in the provisional wild-card berths in the National League’s, although other results meant the Cubs had the consolation of clinching a playoff spot.

The Pirates moved 4-1/2 games ahead of Chicago and closed within 3 games of National League Central leader St. Louis with eight games to play in the regular season.

In the key games affecting the American League playoff race, Toronto beat Tampa Bay to move four games clear atop the East division, Texas beat nearest rival Houston to open a 4-1/2 game gap in the West, while Cleveland kept up its slim late-season challenge with victory over Kansas City.

Pittsburgh Gerrit Cole (18-8) and Chicago’s Jon Lester (10-12) each lasted seven innings, and Pirates closer Mark Melancon held off a rally attempt in the ninth for his major league-leading 51st save in 53 chances.

Despite the loss, the Cubs still secured their first playoff berth in seven years when San Francisco lost against Oakland and fell too far back to challenge for the wild card.

Cleveland’s Carlos Carrasco came close to pitching the first no-hitter for the Indians in 34 years, but still steered the visitors to a 6-0 win at Kansas City.

The Royals, who have already secured the AL Central title, didn’t come close to a hit until Alex Rios lined a single with one out in the seventh.

Carrasco (14-11), who struck out a career-high 15 batters, came close to a no-hitter for the second time this season. On July 1, he was within one strike of a no-hitter against Tampa Bay when he gave up a single with two outs in the ninth.

The Indians moved within three games of the second AL wild-card spot currently held by Houston..

The Astros’ advantage in that wild-card race was trimmed, and their hopes of catching AL West leader Texas suffered a major setback in a 6-2 home defeat by the Rangers.

Shin-Soo Choo homered and drove in three runs as Texas beat Houston for the eighth straight time.

The Rangers improved to 16-7 this month while Houston lost its third in a row and fell to 7-15 in September. The Astros’ lead for the second AL wild-card spot was whittled to half a game over the Los Angeles Angels, with Minnesota and Cleveland also in the frame.

Toronto moved a step closer to sealing its first playoff appearance in 22 years by beating Tampa Bay 5-3, with R.A. Dickey pitching seven innings to earn his 100th career win.

Dickey (11-11) settled down after a shaky first. He retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced, including the last 11 straight.

Josh Donaldson hit his 40th home run of the season for the Blue Jays, who opened a four-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. Toronto has not made it to the postseason since winning back-to-back World Series in 1992 and 1993.

The Yankees lost ground with a 5-2 loss at home against the Chicago White Sox, with C.C. Sabathia giving up two costly homers in the seventh inning.

Mike Olt hit a tiebreaking shot off Sabathia that soared into the second deck in left field. One out later, No. 9 batter Gordon Beckham homered off Sabathia (5-10).

New York grounded into four double plays, which helped Chicago’s prized rookie Carlos Rodon (9-6) overcome five walks and two hit batters in winning his third consecutive start.

Milwaukee’s Khris Davis homered off Trevor Rosenthal leading off the ninth inning to give the Brewers a 4-3 win against St. Louis, putting a dent in the Cardinals’ NL Central title claims.

The loss cut the Cardinals’ divisional lead to three games over Pittsburgh with eight games remaining.

Rosenthal (2-3) was St. Louis’ eighth reliever after starter Carlos Martinez lasted just seven pitches before leaving with tightness in his pitching shoulder.

Davis’ homer was just the second allowed by the St. Louis closer this season, with his 1-1 fastball disappearing into the right-field bullpen.

Los Angeles’ Albert Pujols and C.J. Cron hit two-run homers to power the Angels to an 8-4 win against Seattle, moving within half a game of the second AL wild card berth.

Mike Trout went 3 for 5 with an RBI double as the Angels won their third straight. After a poor August when they went 10-19, Los Angeles has vaulted back into playoff contention with a 14-8 September.

Their crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, lost 7-4 at Colorado to delay a near-certain coronation as NL West title winners.

Corey Dickerson hit one of Colorado’s three solo homers in the fourth inning.

The Dodgers are eight games clear of San Francisco with nine to play.

The New York Mets moved a step closer to ending a nine-year playoff absence as they beat Cincinnati 12-5, with Lucas Duda hitting a pair of three-run homers for the visitors.

Detroit’s Rajai Davis hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help the Tigers beat playoff-chasing Minnesota 6-4.

Boston pitcher Rich Hill, who was pitching in an independent league this year before working his way back to the majors at age 35, kept up his startling comeback by pitching a shutout in the Red Sox 7-0 win against Baltimore.

Arizona’s A.J. Pollock hit his first career grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs in his first two at-bats as the Diamondbacks beat San Diego 6-3.

Oakland had the satisfaction of eliminating neighbor and rival San Francisco from playoff contention, beating the Giants 5-4.

Philadelphia rookie Aaron Altherr had four hits, including an inside-the-park grand slam, to give the Phillies an 8-2 win against Washington.

Miami’s Jose Fernandez became the first pitcher in the modern era to win his first 17 career home decisions, overcoming a rough start, to help the Marlins beat Atlanta 12-11.