Adrian Houser pitched five effective innings and Tyrone Taylor drove in two runs as the Milwaukee Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the American League West-leading Texas Rangers with Sunday's 6-2 win.
Milwaukee chased three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer in the fourth inning to maintain a three-game advantage on second-place Chicago in the National League Central. The Cubs kept pace with Sunday's 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Houser allowed just one run on six hits and struck out seven to help the Brewers deal the slumping Rangers a fourth consecutive loss. Taylor finished 2 for 3 with three runs scored and Christian Yelich had a pair of hits, including an RBI double, as Milwaukee took advantage of an uncharacteristically wild outing from Scherzer.
Scherzer walked four batters and hit another while being charged with three runs in just 3 2/3 innings. The star hurler entered Sunday's matchup having allowed just four runs in 20 innings in winning each of his first three starts since being traded to Texas by the New York Mets on July 30.
The 39-year-old did record his 3,343rd career strikeout in the third inning to pass Hall of Famer Phil Niekro for 11th place on MLB's all-time list.
Corey Seager went 2 for 4 and accounted for the Rangers' lone run off Houser with a solo homer in the third inning.
Surging Mariners hold off Astros to sweep three-game series
The AL West is quickly becoming a three-team race thanks to the recent tear of the Seattle Mariners, who won for the 14th time in 17 games by holding on for a 7-6 victory over the division-rival Houston Astros on Sunday.
Seattle built a 6-0 lead after 2 1/2 innings en route to a sweep of the three-game series and sixth straight win overall. The surge has moved the Mariners within three games of the first-place Texas Rangers in the AL West and a half-game back of Houston for the league's second wild card.
Dominic Canzone and Dylan Moore each went 4 for 5 with an RBI to lead Seattle's 15-hit attack, while Eugenio Suarez had a two-run homer as the Mariners pounded Astros starter Hunter Brown for six runs in 2 2/3 innings.
The Astros rallied with five runs in the bottom of the third, but were held scoreless by the Seattle bullpen over the final three innings to lose for the fifth time in seven games.
Gabe Speier protected the one-run lead in the ninth to record his first career major league save.
Yordan Alvarez and Mauricio Dubon each knocked in two runs during Houston's big third inning, while Alex Bregman finished 2 for 4 with an RBI triple.
Red Sox extend Yankees' skid to eight games, finish series sweep
Justin Turner's ninth-inning double drove in the deciding run as the Boston Red Sox earned a 6-5 victory over the New York Yankees that sent the Bronx Bombers to their longest losing streak in 28 years.
The Yankees have now dropped eight games in a row for the first time since Aug. 19-26, 1995 despite rallying from a three-run deficit and nearly going ahead in the eighth inning.
New York appeared to take a 6-5 lead when Isiah Kiner-Falefa was called safe at home while attempting to score on Anthony Volpe's single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. The ruling was overturned after the Red Sox challenged the play, however, to keep the game tied entering the ninth.
Pablo Reyes led off the ninth with a single off Clay Holmes and stole second before crossing the plate on Turner's opposite-field double, the veteran's fourth RBI of the game.
Kenley Jansen then worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth to earn his 29th save and close out Boston's eighth win in nine meetings with New York this season.
Turner also had a three-run homer in the seventh that snapped a 2-2 tie, while Rafael Devers delivered a solo shot for Boston and finished 3 for 4 with three runs scored.
The Yankees homered three times on the day, including Volpe's three-run blast off reliever John Schreiber in the bottom of the seventh that tied the game at 5-5. Gleyber Torres and Kyle Higashioka had solo shots in defeat.