Baseball roundup

Nori Aoki hit a two-run triple as the Royals beat the Tigers, 5-2, yesterday in Kansas City and moved within 11/2 games of AL Central-leading Detroit. The Tigers finish with seven home games against Chicago and Minnesota, the two bottom teams in the division. Kansas City finishes at Cleveland and Chicago.

"I'm not comfortable," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "We can't take either of these teams lightly."

"I want fans to know it's never easy," Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter said. "The Twins and White Sox will put their 'A' teams out there. They want to be spoilers. You don't want to get too complacent or baseball will slap you right in the face."

A's 8, Phillies 6: Josh Donaldson hit a two-run homer in the 10th to help host Oakland remain atop the AL wild-card race, a half-game ahead of the Royals.

Astros 8, Mariners 3: Jake Marisnick had a three-run homer for host Houston. Seattle is 11/2 games behind Kansas City for the second AL wild card.

Indians 7, Twins 2: Corey Kluber (17-9) struck out 14 for the second straight game for visiting Cleveland, 31/2 games behind Kansas City for the second wild-card spot.

Pirates 1, Brewers 0: Russell Martin singled home a run in the seventh for host Pittsburgh as Milwaukee fell 41/2 games behind Pittsburgh and San Francisco, which are tied for the NL wild-card lead.

The Brewers managed only four hits off Vance Worley in eight innings, then ran themselves out of a chance to tie the score in the ninth.

The Brewers' Carlos Gomez singled to start the ninth. Trying to go from first to third on an infield chopper, he inexplicably stopped running before getting to third and was tagged out.

"If I continued to run, it would have been really easy to make it to third because everybody broke for that ball and nobody was on third," he said. "So I don't know why I stopped. It's a mistake that you learn from."

Dodgers 8, Cubs 5: Matt Kemp hit his 23rd homer and Yasiel Puig scored four times for visiting Los Angeles. The Dodgers have a 41/2-game lead over the Giants in the NL West.

Padres 8, Giants 2: Yasmani Grandal had three RBIs as host San Diego swept San Francisco. The Giants, losers of six of eight, start a three-game series at Dodger Stadium tonight.

Reds 7, Cardinals 2: Jay Bruce hit two of Cincinnati's four home runs. Host St. Louis clinched a playoff spot when Milwaukee lost to Pittsburgh, but the Cardinals' lead on the Pirates was cut to 21/2 games.-- AP