KANSAS CITY, Missouri: Detroit pitcher David Price held Kansas City scoreless for the first eight innings to steer the Tigers to a 2-1 win at the Royals ballpark on Saturday, cutting the gap between the American League Central leaders to half a game.

Price fell just short of only his second career shutout, but led his team to an important victory.

The Tigers and Royals still trail surprise packet Houston for the overall AL lead after the Astros beat Seattle for a ninth straight win.

The New York Yankees earned some breathing room atop the AL East by winning at old rival Boston.

St. Louis has the best record in the majors after squeezing out a second-straight extra-inning win against Pittsburgh, while another tight National League encounter saw Washington shut out the New York Mets.

Detroit’s newly acquired ace Price (3-1) held the Royals until Lorenzo Cain homered with two outs in the ninth. Price, who issued no walks, still has only one career shutout.

The Tigers took the lead in the third on a throwing error and Ian Kinsler had an RBI single in the fifth.

Houston extended its winning streak to the longest by the club in nine years by defeating Seattle 11-4.

The Astros, who went 70-92 last year after three straight seasons of at least l06 losses, have their best winning string since a nine-game streak in 2006.

Houston hit five homers, including a three-run shot by Jose Altuve and a two-run drive by Evan Gattis.

The power hitting meant there was no real damage from starter Collin McHugh (4-0) giving up four homers. He has won his past 11 decisions dating to last August.

The Yankees won 4-2 at Boston, thanks chiefly to Brett Gardner, who drove in three runs.

Gardner doubled home a run in the third, and then gave the Yankees a 3-1 lead with a two-run single in the fifth.

New York starter Nathan Eovaldi (2-0) allowed two runs in 6 2-3 innings.

St. Louis’ Matt Carpenter hit a sacrifice fly in the 11th inning to deliver a 2-1 victory that again frustrated Pittsburgh.

Having beaten the Pirates 2-1 in 10 innings on Friday, they needed one further inning to win by the same score on Saturday and notch a fifth-straight win.

Pittsburgh left a season-worst 18 runners on base while the Cardinals stranded just four. St. Louis has won 15 of its past 18 against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.

Peter Bourjos doubled in the St. Louis 11th. He was caught trying to steal third, but Pete Kozma and Jon Jay singled and Carpenter hit a deep fly to left field that easily scored the winning run.

Washington’s Gio Gonzalez struck out nine in seven scoreless innings on one of his favorite mounds, guiding the Nationals to a 1-0 win at the Mets.

Gonzalez (2-2) rebounded nicely after he was hit hard Sunday in a loss at Miami. He entered the game 5-1 with a 1.88 ERA in eight starts at Citi Field. The Nationals have won on 16 of their past 18 visits to the Mets.

New York’s Jonathan Niese (2-2) was an unlucky loser, allowing only one run and one walk in seven innings.

Los Angeles’ red-hot rookie Joc Pederson hit a tying solo homer in the seventh and help the Dodgers beat Arizona 6-4.

Just two batters later, Howie Kendrick singled home the go-ahead run for Los Angeles, which is 14-0 when scoring at least four runs, but 1-8 when scoring three or fewer.

San Diego’s Brandon Morrow pitched six strong innings to lead the Padres to a 4-2 win against Colorado.

Morrow (2-0) wriggled out of a jam in the sixth, enticing a groundout with two runner on base.

Justin Upton drove in two runs for the Padres, who have steadied with a couple of wins after losing seven of eight.

Baltimore’s Miguel Gonzalez held Tampa Bay scoreless into the eighth inning as the Orioles won in a nominal ‘home’ game at the Rays ballpark.

Gonzalez (3-1) struck out six and walked one in 7 2-3 innings.

Steve Pearce hit a two-run double in the third inning to establish a 3-0 lead that proved more than enough.

It was the second game of a three-game series that was moved from Camden Yards to Tropicana Field due to rioting in Baltimore.

Cincinnati’s Jay Bruce powered two long triples to help the Reds defeat Atlanta 8-4.

San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Brandon Crawford homered as the Giants edged the Los Angeles Angels 5-4.

Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe and Torii Hunter homered in a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Miami’s Martin Prado homered and drove in four runs to power the Marlins past Philadelphia 7-0.

Toronto slugger Jose Bautista drove in four runs as the Blue Jays cruised past Cleveland 11-4.

Chicago’s Mike Fiers struck out 12 in six innings to overpower the Chicago Cubs and lead the Brewers to a 6-1 win.

Texas’ Shin-Soo Choo hit a tying three-run homer in the seventh inning and scored the winning run in the 10th to lift the Rangers to an 8-7 victory against Oakland.