Wednesday provided more excitement around the Majors as the Nationals edged the Dodgers in a scintillating 14-inning showdown, while the Cards, Tribe, Mariners and Royals grabbed big wins, too.

Felix Hernandez has had his trouble winning games in Septembers past, but the Mariners reversed that trend Wednesday as back-to-back homers by Kyle Seager and Corey Hart in the seventh inning helped lift Seattle to a 2-1 victory over the A’s at O.co Coliseum.

The Nationals never made any serious threat against Clayton Kershaw in their 4-1 loss on Tuesday until Bryce Harper homered in the seventh, the first homer and RBI recorded by a left-handed batter against the Dodgers’ ace this season.

A Mariners rotation that has relied heavily on its “Big Three” this season got another strong boost from rookie addition James Paxton on Tuesday as Seattle topped Oakland, 6-5, at O.co Coliseum.

An oft-overlooked Giants offense has become the most explosive lineup in baseball in recent days, and it has been the catalyst for a revival of a franchise that was in a fast fade in the postseason battle in mid-August.

In his second big league game, Cory Spangenberg ripped a walk-off home run on the first pitch he saw as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning Tuesday night as the Padres edged the D-backs, 2-1, at Petco Park.

Salvador Perez — again. Perez drilled an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the first-place Royals a 2-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.

The Dodgers beat the Nationals in a battle of division leaders, 4-1, on Tuesday with Clayton Kershaw becoming the first 17-game winner in the Major Leagues and Juan Uribe homering in his third game back from the disabled list.

Shortly before breaking the Reds’ club record for steals by a rookie on Tuesday, center fielder Billy Hamilton was involved in a collision with an umpire that left both shaken up.

The O’s scored five runs in the first two innings and held off a late Reds comeback for a 5-4 win on Tuesday at a rain-soaked Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

It was a wild night of action on Tuesday, as the leading AL Central contenders, the Tigers and Royals, staged late rallies to win, while the Mariners and Dodgers also notched important victories.

Tom Lawless, in his first game as interim manager, was treated to a smashing debut. The Astros came out of the dugout swinging, pouncing on Angels starter C.J. Wilson and riding a strong performance from Brad Peacock for an 8-3 win on Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park.

Among the things John Holdzkom brought to the Pirates with his Tuesday promotion from Indianapolis was a great story, just waiting to be written. And the 26-year-old right-hander began to write it immediately, striking out the side when he made his big league debut in the eighth inning of the Bucs’ 6-4 loss to the Cardinals.

Adam Wainwright drove home nearly as many runs (three) as he allowed (four) on Tuesday night, a good-enough method to engender some positive personal momentum, which he did in the Cardinals’ 6-4 win over the Pirates in front of 43,693 at Busch Stadium.

J.D. Martinez hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth inning Tuesday night, giving the Tigers a 4-2 win over the Indians at Progressive Field. With the victory, Detroit remains a half-game back of the Royals in the American League Central and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Mariners in the race for the second AL Wild Card.

Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro left Tuesday’s game with a sprained left ankle suffered in an awkward slide at home plate in the first inning, and initial tests ruled out any fracture.

Led by an offensive surge from Buster Posey, the Giants have regained their conviction that they should win each game, which was evident Tuesday night as they dissolved a six-run deficit to defeat the Rockies, 12-7.