Tigers: Justyn-Henry Malloy’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly helped the Tigers rally from a 3-0 deficit to move closer to the postseason with a 4-3 win over the Rays on Thursday afternoon in Detroit. The Tigers, who have won five straight, are tied with the Royals for the second American League wild-card spots, two games ahead of the Twins. The Royals also won Thursday and the Twins hosted the Marlins later in a game that ended too late for this edition. The Tigers trailed 3-2 with one out in the eighth, but Riley Greene singled off Garrett Cleavinger (7-5) and Matt Vierling drew a walk. Colt Keith tied the game with an RBI single, bringing up Malloy — the last position player on the Tigers bench — to pinch hit for Kerry Carpenter. He lifted a fly ball to medium center and Vierling easily beat Jose Siri’s throw. Beau Brieske (4-4) got the win with two innings of relief. Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his 27th save. Rays starter and former Tigers pitcher Tyler Alexander allowed four hits and struck out six without walking a batter. ylor Walls singled with one out and scored on Brandon Lowe’s two-out base hit. Walls tripled with one out in the fifth and scored on Casey Mize’s wild pitch. The Tigers got on the board in the sixth when Hunter Bigge walked Vierling with two outs before Keith hit an RBI triple. Carpenter followed with a pinch- hit single to make it 3-2. Kevin Kelly pitched a perfect seventh, extending his scoreless streak to 23 1/3 innings over 25 outings.

Royals: Pinch hitter Adam Frazier’s one-out, line drive base hit to left field in the top of the ninth drove in two runs, breaking a 4-4 tie and guiding the Royals to a 7-4 victory against the host Nationals. It was the Royals’ third straight win following a seven-game losing streak and kept them tied with the Tigers for the AL’s second wild card. Salvador Perez’s second single of the game scored Frazier, chasing Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan (3-8). Hunter Renfroe hit his 14th HR of the season to open the scoring, a 424-feet shot that left the Park at 108.4 mph. Kris Bubic (1-1) earned the win with a scoreless eighth. Royals closer Lucas Erceg recorded his third consecutive save in the series — and 14th of the season — with a shut down ninth.

Brewers: Aaron Civale pitched six scoreless innings in his last start before the postseason and Joey Ortiz was a home run short of the cycle as the NL Central champion Brewers beat the Pirates 5-2. Civale (8-9) allowed three hits, struck out five and walked one. He is 6-1 with a 2.57 ERA in his last nine starts. Ortiz, a rookie third baseman, tripled in the third inning and came home on Brice Turang’s ground out to open the scoring. The Brewers have won five of their last seven games and went 46-35 on the road this season. They host an NL wild-card series opener beginning Tuesday. The Pirates lost for the ninth time in 13 games. Mitch Keller (11-12) lost his final start of the year, giving up three runs and six hits in five innings in the Pirates’ home finale. After the All-Star break, Keller went 1-7 that.