Gerrit Cole pitched seven strong innings to become Major League Baseball’s first 13-game winner as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat St. Louis 5-2 and drew within 4 1/2 games of the leading Cardinals in the National League Central division on Friday.

American League Central leader Kansas City also boasted a 4 1/2-game lead after shutting out Toronto 3-0, and Minnesota shored up second place to the Royals by dramatically overhauling Detroit 8-6.

Pittsburgh’s Cole (13-3) allowed two runs – both on Matt Carpenter’s third-inning home run. Neil Walker had a two-run homer among his three hits for the Pirates, who have won six of their past seven.

Kansas City’s Danny Duffy pitched six sharp innings to pick up his first victory in more than two months, and shut down a Blue Jays offense which leads the majors with 470 runs.

Eric Hosmer went 4 for 4, his first four-hit game of the season, and his eighth career game with at least four hits as the Royals won their sixth straight game.

Minnesota’s Brian Dozier hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to cap a seven-run rally and give the Twins a memorable comeback win.

The Twins scored seven times in the ninth off Tigers closer Joakim Soria (3-1) and Bruce Rondon after being limited to one run up to that point.

After missing out on an All-Star nomination earlier in the day, Dozier had two hits and four RBIs, and hit his second game-winning homer of the week.

Baltimore also left it late for victory as Jonathan Schoop hit a game-winning solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning for a 3-2 win against neighbor Washington.

Schoop drove a 2-2 pitch from Tanner Roark (4-4) over left field.

Alex Rodriguez hit a home run in the first inning to set up a 5-1 win for the New York Yankees at Boston, ending a five-game winning streak for the Red Sox.

Yankees starter Michael Pineda (9-5) gave up only a solo homer over 6 2/3 innings in his second start at Fenway Park since he was ejected last year for having pine tar on his neck.

Boston’s clay Buchholz (7-7), who had won his previous four starts to spur Boston’s recent turnaround, left with elbow tightness in the third inning, and New York scored three unearned runs after his departure thanks to two infield errors.

New York Mets starter Noah Syndergaard struck out a career-high 13 in eight overpowering innings to help beat Arizona 4-2.

Syndergaard (4-4) allowed only one run for the third consecutive start.

Lucas Duda and Michael Cuddyer snapped out of form slumps by both hitting homers for New York. Duda’s 408-foot shot drove in three runs and was only his second in six weeks after hitting 30 last season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers beat Milwaukee 3-2, and the Los Angeles Angels won, 7-3 at Seattle as Mike Trout and C.J. Cron both homered twice.

In the all-Chicago matchup, the White Sox beat the Cubs 1-0 with J.B. Shuck’s sacrifice fly in the eighth deciding the game.

Cleveland’s Danny Salazar allowed only one unearned run in 8 2/3 innings as the Indians beat Oakland 5-1, Prince Fielder and Adrian Beltre hit back-to-back home runs to help Texas edge San Diego 4-3, ending a five-game skid, and Colorado beat Atlanta 5-3.

Cincinnati’s Mike Leake struck out 10 in eight scoreless innings to steer the Reds past Miami 1-0, and San Francisco’s Hunter Pence hit a grand slam as part of an eight-run fourth inning in a 15-2 rout of Philadelphia.

Tampa Bay’s Erasmo Ramirez pitched six strong innings to get his sixth win in seven starts and steer the Rays past Houston 3-1. It was Ramirez’s eighth straight start giving up two runs or fewer.