Agencies/New York

St Louis beat the Brewers for the second successive night to remain on top of the National League Central, two games clear of Pittsburgh and three in front of Cincinnati.

Travis Wood threw seven strong innings and the Chicago Cubs scored three times in the eighth inning, vaulting past the Braves 3-1 to delay Atlanta’s inevitable National League East championship.

Atlanta was five outs away from winning its first division title since 2005, thanks to another strong start from Kris Medlen.

AJ Burnett steadied Pittsburgh after their most difficult loss of the season as the Pirates edged the Cincinnati Reds 4-2. Burnett pitched seven strong innings a night after Pittsburgh blew a 5-2 lead in the ninth and lost to the Reds in 10 innings in the opener of a three-game series between the National League Central contenders.

Burnett helped keep the Pirates two games behind St Louis, while they moved one game ahead of the Reds.

Clayton Kershaw tossed a three-hitter, and the Los Angeles Dodgers got a pair of two-run homers from Yasiel Puig and AJ Ellis in a 4-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.

The Dodgers (89-66), who have won the National League West, have captured six of the last seven against the Padres (72-82).

David Wright and Daniel Murphy each homered as the visiting New York Mets edged Philadelphia 5-4 when the game was called because of rain in the seventh inning.

Wright homered for the second straight game for New York, which won for the sixth time in its last nine contests.

Matt Davidson hit a three-run home run that helped the Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 in a game between two teams out of playoff contention.

Now that they’ve clinched their first American League East title since 2007, the Boston Red Sox are going about the business of trying to wrap up the best overall record in the league.

But one night after their celebration, they ran into a stingy Mark Buehrle, who helped the last-place Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-2 road win over the Red Sox and previously undefeated Clay Buchholz.

The Detroit Tigers made an unlikely comeback, scoring six runs in the ninth inning to tie the game before beating the Chicago White Sox in the bottom of the 12th.

Omar Infante’s infield single with one out scored Don Kelly from third base to give the Tigers a 7-6 victory. They need only two more wins to clinch the American League Central title.

The Los Angeles Angels survived a late rally by the Seattle Mariners, who scored three runs in the final two innings but still came up short, losing by one run for the third game in a row.