LOS ANGELES -- Clayton Kershaw pitched his first no-hitter Wednesday night, striking out a career-high 15 and allowing his only baserunner on a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez in the Los Angeles Dodgers' 8-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
Kershaw's gem gave the Dodgers the only two no-hitters in the majors this season. Josh Beckett tossed one May 25 in Philadelphia.
Kershaw (7-2) retired his first 18 batters before Corey Dickerson led off the seventh with a slow bouncer to Ramirez, whose throw on the run went wide past first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for a two-base error -- ending any chance for a perfect game.
That was the only runner allowed by Kershaw, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner (see full recap).
Royals win 10th straight
DETROIT -- The Kansas City Royals won their 10th straight game, extending the team's best streak in 20 years when Jeremy Guthrie pitched impressively into the seventh inning to beat the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Wednesday.
The AL Central-leading Royals have not won this many games in a row since a run of 14 in a row in 1994. They extended their division lead over the Tigers to 1 1/2 games.
Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and a walk while striking out nine. Drew Smyly (3-6) nearly matched him, but the Detroit left-hander was victimized by Alex Gordon's RBI single in the first and a solo homer by Omar Infante in the fifth.
MLB
J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances (see full recap).
Nationals rally past Astros
WASHINGTON -- Anthony Rendon homered to spark a three-run seventh inning, and pinch-hitter Nate McLouth came through with a tiebreaking sacrifice fly as the Washington Nationals rallied past the Houston Astros 6-5 Wednesday night for a two-game sweep.
Washington extended its NL East lead to 1 1/2 games over Atlanta and Miami. The Nationals open a four-game series against the Braves on Thursday night in Washington.
Rendon led off the seventh against Josh Zeid with his 10th home run, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Jayson Werth walked and went to third on Adam LaRoche's single. Kyle Farnsworth (0-1) came on to face Ryan Zimmerman, who grounded into a fielder's choice, beating the relay to first as Werth scored to tie it.
Ian Desmond then doubled Zimmerman to third. After Danny Espinosa was intentionally walked, McLouth's long fly to left field scored Zimmerman with the go-ahead run (see full recap).
Colon, Mets top Cardinals
ST. LOUIS -- Bartolo Colon worked eight dominant innings in 91-degree heat and keyed the go-ahead rally with his first career extra-base hit, helping the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 Wednesday to avoid a three-game sweep.
Eric Young and David Wright had an RBI apiece in a two-run sixth that put the Mets up by a run, and Young added an RBI double off Seth Maness in the seventh -- a run aided by Colon's second sacrifice of the game.
Matt Carpenter hit his third career leadoff homer for the Cardinals.
Colon (7-5) surprised Lance Lynn (7-5) with a double to open the sixth. He scored his second career run, and first since 2002, when Young doubled.
Dana Eveland got the last out for his second career save (see full recap).