ST. LOUIS (AP) — Mike Moustakas hit a three-run homer and Keston Hiura drove in a pair of runs as the Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 in a game shortened to 7 1/2 innings by rain. The contest was called after a delay of 66 minutes. Milwaukee broke a six-game losing streak against the Cardinals, who fell a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Orioles tied a major league record by allowing their 258th home run this season but hit four of their own in an 8-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals. Anthony Santander and Renato Núñez hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning for Baltimore, which won its first series since July 25-27 at the Los Angeles Angels. Jonathan Villar opened the scoring with a two-run shot, while Hanser Alberto put the game away with a three-run blast in the sixth.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Chiefs coach Andy Reid continues to take an old-school approach to using starters during the preseason, rather than protecting his guys from the potential for injury _ the trend that has been developing league-wide. So, he generally plays the No. 1 units into the second quarter of their second tuneup and the starters into the second half of their penultimate exhibition game. The value, Reid says, outweighs the risks.

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State quarterback Skylar Thompson went through the wringer his first two seasons. He never felt confident of himself under longtime coach Bill Snyder. With the arrival of new coach Chris Klieman, the junior signal-caller has taken over the leadership of a team that has bowl expectations. The season opener is Aug. 31 at home against Nicholls State.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — About the only thing the football programs at Kansas and Kansas State have had in common much of the past three decades is the stretch of Interstate 70 that connects them. Those differences are reflected in their new head coaches. The Jayhawks tasked Les Miles with building a winner. He has a national title at LSU on his resume. The Wildcats opted to replace Hall of Fame coach Bill Snyder with North Dakota State’s wildly successful Chris Klieman.

National Headlines

UNDATED (AP) — The Los Angeles Wildcats and New York Guardians will be among the teams taking the field when the XFL returns in February. The league revealed the names Wednesday for its eight teams, which will also include the DC Defenders, Dallas Renegades, Houston Roughnecks, St. Louis BattleHawks, Seattle Dragons and Tampa Bay Vipers. The league announced in 2017 that it was coming back after it went one season in 2001 before shutting down.

UNDATED (AP) _ The Chicago Cubs are back atop the NL Central, moving a half-game ahead of St. Louis by downing the San Francisco Giants, 12-11. Kris Bryant hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the eighth inning to send the Cubs to their fourth straight win. The Cardinals suffered a 5-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers as Mike Moustakas homered and Keston Hiura drove in a pair of runs in the rain-shortened game.

UNDATED (AP) _ The Atlanta Braves have maintained their six-game lead over Washington in the NL East. Adeiny Hechavarría and Ronald Acuña Jr. each belted two-run homers to back Julio Teheran, seven innings in the Braves’ 5-0 shutout of Miami. Patrick Corbin worked eight scoreless innings and Asdrubel Cabrera’s three-run homer capped a six-run third as the Nationals blasted the Pirates, 11-1 in Pittsburgh.

UNDATED (AP) _ The Minnesota Twins continue to lead the AL Central by three games over Cleveland after both teams lost. Lucas Giolito scattered three hits in his third complete game of the year to pitch the Chicago White Sox past the Twins, 4-0. J.D. Davis delivered an RBI single to cap the New York Mets’ two-run 10th in a 4-3 victory against the Indians.

HOUSTON (AP) _ Houston ace Justin Verlander went the distance on a two-hitter and came away with a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers, leaving the Astros with a seven lead over Oakland in the AL West. Verlander retired his first 14 batters and finished with 11 strikeouts and no walks, but he also gave up home runs to Ronny Rodriguez and John Hicks, the last of which broke a 1-1 stalemate in the ninth. Robinson Chirinos provided four of Houston’s six hits, including his 14th round-tripper of the season.

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) _ Khris Davis and Marcus Semien belted two-run homers off JA Happ and Stephen Piscotty added a solo blast as the Oakland Athletics knocked off the New York Yankees, 6-4. Mike Fiers improved to 12-3 by limiting the Yankees to two runs over 5 1/3 innings, helping the A’s win for the sixth time in seven games. The Athletics have a half-game lead over Tampa Bay for the second AL wild card, and the Yankees dropped their third in a row to cut their lead in the AL East to nine games over the Rays.

Wednesday Scores

INTERLEAGUE
Final N-Y Mets 4 Cleveland 3 (10 Innings)
Final Philadelphia 5 Boston 2
Final L-A Dodgers 2 Toronto 1 (10 Innings)

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Tampa Bay 7 Seattle 6
Final Chi White Sox 4 Minnesota 0
Final Baltimore 8 Kansas City 1
Final Detroit 2 Houston 1
Final Texas 8 L-A Angels 7
Final Oakland 6 N-Y Yankees 4

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Cincinnati 4 San Diego 2
Final Colorado 7 Arizona 2
Final Washington 11 Pittsburgh 1
Final Atlanta 5 Miami 0
Final Milwaukee 5 St. Louis 3 (8 Innings)
Final Chi Cubs 12 San Francisco 11