The Royals notched their sixth consecutive win and 10th in 11 games, with five of those victories coming against the stumbling Astros, who have dropped nine of 12 games since taking a 2 1/2-game lead in the American League West on September 10. Houston lost 18 of their last 23 home games and finished their home season 39-42.
The Royals clubbed four homers off Astros rookie right-hander Hunter Brown (11-13). Brown allowed six runs on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts over six innings.
Bulk pitcher Alex Marsh (3-8) picked up the win. He went 5 1/3 innings following opener Seven Cruz. Marsh allowed four runs, three earned, on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. James McArthur worked a scoreless ninth for his third save.
Blue Jays 9, Rays 5
George Springer's three-run inside-the-park homer in a five-run second inning headlined Toronto's win over Tampa Bay. The right fielder also had an assist and saved a run with a diving catch in the third inning for the Blue Jays, who hit four home runs.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. homered twice and Bo Bichette went deep, while reliever Trevor Richards (2-1) pitched a one-hit ball over two scoreless frames.
Isaac Paredes was 2-for-4 with his 30th homer, a walk and three RBIs. Harold Ramirez went 3-for-5 and scored as the Rays closed out their regular-season home schedule with a 53-28 record.
Orioles 5, Guardians 1
Kyle Gibson pitched into the eighth inning and Baltimore moved a step closer to the American League East title by beating hosts Cleveland.
Gibson (15-9) allowed one run on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Danny Coulombe and DL Hall combined to record the final six outs in Baltimore's final road game of the season.
The Orioles earned a split of the four-game series and moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. The win reduced Baltimore's magic number to win the division to three.
Marlins 6, Brewers 1
The red-hot Jon Berti homered twice and Josh Bell went deep and reached base four times as postseason-seeking Miami bashed visiting Milwaukee.
Bryan De La Cruz singled in two runs and Jazz Chisholm Jr. finished with two hits and two runs as the Marlins kept the pressure on the Chicago Cubs, whom they are chasing for the third wild-card spot in the National League.
The Brewers missed a chance to clinch the NL Central after entering with a magic number of one. William Contreras and Carlos Santana each had two of Milwaukee's eight hits, and Tyrone Taylor singled home the Brewers' only run.
Rangers 9, Mariners 8
Marcus Semien hit a pair of solo home runs and Texas hit six overall to close out a series sweep of Seattle in Arlington, Texas.
Texas built a five-run cushion with a four-run fourth inning, all on home runs. Adolis Garcia led off with a solo shot, Leody Taveras drove in Mitch Garver with a two-run blast and Semien hit the second of his homers to cap the inning. The Rangers maintained their lead the rest of the way, but not without Seattle pushing Texas throughout.
The Mariners, looking to avoid losing ground on the Rangers and pull ahead of Houston, totaled 13 hits.
