The AL East leaders, who also won 11 in a row in June, became the first team to post a pair of winning streaks of at least 11 since Cleveland in 1954.
Toronto finished off a three-game sweep and hosts the second-place New York Yankees in a three-game set beginning Friday night. David Price starts the opener for the Blue Jays.
Buehrle (13-5) won his fourth straight decision and improved to 8-1 in 14 starts since May 29. He allowed two runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings. Roberto Osuna worked the ninth for his 12th save.
Goins hit a three-run homer during a four-run second against Jesse Chavez (6- 12).
Giants 3, Nationals 1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco answered right back after Yunel Escobar hit the game’s first pitch for a home run, Ryan Vogelsong settled in to win for the first time in more than seven weeks, and the Giants beat Washington.
Matt Duffy and Buster Posey hit RBI singles in the bottom of the first against Stephen Strasburg (6-6) for the defending champions to kick off a key four-game series in a rematch of last fall’s NL division series won in four games by the Giants.
Vogelsong (8-8) allowed one run on three hits, struck out eight and walked four over five innings for his first victory in five starts since June 24 as San Francisco won for just the second time in seven games.
Reds 10, Dodgers 3
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Billy Hamilton had a careerhigh four hits, including a solo homer, to help the Cincinnati Reds defeat former teammate Mat Latos and NL West-leading Los Angeles for just its third victory in nine games.
Hamilton went 4 for 4 with four runs scored and two RBIs for the Reds, who piled up 15 hits while never trailing against a team coming off consecutive shutout victories.
Pirates 10, Cardinals 5
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Pedro Alvarez homered in a sevenrun first inning and Pittsburgh broke an eight-game losing streak at Busch Stadium, beating St. Louis.
The Pirates moved within six games of the first-place Cardinals in the NL Central with their 12th victory in 18 games.
St. Louis, which won the first two in the series, has won the last seven sets between the teams at Busch Stadium.
Alvarez had three hits as the Pirates held on. The Cardinals closed their seven-run deficit to 7-5 in the seventh.
Cubs 9, Brewers 2
CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Schwarber hit two homers and drove in four runs, Jon Lester won his fourth straight decision and the Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers for their seventh victory in a row.
Schwarber, Dexter Fowler and Anthony Rizzo each homered in the fifth inning as Chicago won for the 13th time in 14 games. The Cubs’ winning streak is their longest since 2011.
The Cubs, holding the lead for the second NL wildcard spot, completed their first undefeated homestand of at least seven games since 2008.
Lester (8-8) struck out 10 in six innings. He gave up two runs and seven hits.
Angels 7, Royals 6
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — C.J. Cron and Kole Calhoun each drove in a pair of runs in the ninth inning, rallying Los Angeles past Kansas City and its stout bullpen for a victory and an end to its seven-game skid against the Royals.
Kansas City had built a 5-1 advantage heading to the eighth, but All-Star reliever Wade Davis coughed up two runs in his first appearance since Aug. 6, when a stiff back put him on the shelf.
Greg Holland (3-1) entered in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single, a walk and threw a wild pitch. Cron followed with a pinch-hit double to tie the game, and after Johnny Giavotella singled, Calhoun added his go-ahead double into the right-field corner.
Mets 12, Rockies 3
NEW YORK (AP) — Curtis Granderson and Kelly Johnson each homered and drove in three runs, powering the New York Mets to a rout of the Colorado Rockies that completed a four-game sweep Thursday.
Noah Syndergaard (7-6) recovered nicely from a rocky start — he allowed firstinning homers by DJ LeMahieu and Nolan Arenado — for his latest win at Citi Field, where the Mets have won 10 straight against Colorado. With their seventh consecutive home win and 11th in 13 games overall, the NL East leaders (63-52) moved 11 games over .500 for the first time since June 27, 2010.
Rangers 6, Twins 5
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Mitch Moreland drove in four runs on a career-high four hits, including a tworun homer to help the Texas Rangers avoid a sweep at Minnesota and rally past the Twins.
Elvis Andrus hit the goahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning against Casey Fien (2-5) after Adrian Beltre and Moreland started the frame with singles.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less