Detroit Tigers sweep the Houston Astros with 9-0 rout

Detroit remain a half-game clear at the top of the American League Central after the Tigers rattled off another big win and a series sweep of the Houston Astros.

Following Saturday's 17-2 victory, Detroit won 9-0 behind seven scoreless innings from Justin Verlander and home runs from Prince Fielder, Brayan Pena, Andy Dirks and Omar Infante.

Kansas City continue to hunt the Tigers with the Royals edging out the Chicago White Sox 6-5 in 10 innings. Alex Gordon hit a walk-off single one inning after Billy Butler's two-run double tied it.

That completed the sweep for the Royals, and the brooms were also out in Texas, where the Rangers beat the Red Sox 4-3 to match Boston's 20-11 record as the best in baseball. Yu Darvish struck out 14 and Adrian Beltre hit a walk-off single in the ninth.

That puts Texas 2 1/2 games clear in the AL West, with Oakland keeping pace by beating the New York Yankees 5-4 with Josh Donaldson's eighth-inning homer, while the Red Sox retain a 1 1/2 game lead in the AL East thanks to that Yankees loss.

The Minnesota Twins avoided a sweep at the hands of Cleveland, snapping the Indians' winning streak at six with a 4-2 victory highlighted by Trevor Plouffe's two-run homer.
Frustrations

The Los Angeles Angels' struggles continued in an 8-4 loss to Baltimore as JJ Hardy and Manny Machado each hit two-run blasts for the Orioles, while the Toronto Blue Jays took out some of their frustrations in a 10-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

In the National League the San Francisco Giants completed a sweep of their arch-rivals Los Angeles.

Hunter Pence collected all four RBI as they went into a 4-0 lead, and Sergio Romo shut down the Dodgers in the ninth after they rallied to make it 4-3.

That gives the Giants a one game lead in the NL West ahead of the Colorado Rockies, who went down 8-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays.

The St Louis Cardinals took their winning streak to six, completing a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in style with a 10-1 victory, having scored six runs in the second inning to take control.

The Cincinnati Reds remain 2 1/2 games back from the Cardinals after completing a sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 7-4 win at Wrigley Field, while Atlanta Braves powered to a 9-4 victory over the New York Mets.

The win keeps Atlanta two games clear of Washington in the NL East, with the Nationals enjoying a 6-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, while Philadelphia Phillies slumped to a 14-2 loss at the hands of the Miami Marlins.

Edinson Volquez pitched 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball to earn his third straight victory as the San Diego Padres beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-1.