Yordano Ventura stars as Kansas City Royals win again

Ventura allowed six hits and struck out three as the Royals made it four MLB wins in succession at the expense of the Indians.

The right-handed pitcher, who walked none of the Indians bats he faced, won back-to-back starts for the first time.

Kansas City now boast a win-loss record of 33-32, just two games adrift of the American League Central-leading Detroit Tigers, who slumped to an 8-2 defeat to the Chicago White Sox.

The Philadelphia Phillies were 3-0 winners against the San Diego Padres thanks to Reid Brignac's big play in the ninth inning.

Brignac hit a three-run homer to help the Phillies to rare back-to-back wins, while Cole Hamels struck a season-high 11 in Philadelphia's shutout of the Padres.

In other results on Wednesday, the New York Mets slumped to a seventh defeat from eight games after losing 3-1 against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Minnesota Twins won consecutive games, downing AL East leaders the Toronto Blue Jays 7-2.

The Tampa Bay Rays snapped a 31-inning scoring drought as they trumped the St Louis Cardinals 6-3.

Tampa Bay had been shutout in their previous four games but they put an end to a club-record streak thanks to a four-run fourth inning at Tropicana Field.

The Baltimore Orioles shut out the Boston Red Sox, emerging 6-0 victors, while the Texas Rangers beat the Miami Marlins by the same scoreline.

Debutant Tyler Matzek allowed just two runs during his first seven innings as the Colorado Rockies accounted for the Atlanta Braves 8-2.

Elsewhere, Chris Carter homered twice to inspire the Houston Astros to a 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Cincinnati Reds shutout the Los Angeles Dodgers for a 5-0 victory and the Chicago Cubs were beaten 4-2 by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Meanwhile, the Oakland Athletics routed the Los Angeles Angels 7-1, the New York Yankees accounted for the Seattle Mariners 4-2 and the Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants 6-2.