The White Sox gave Detroit an opening to tie for the division lead when Gordon Beckham hit into a game-ending forceout with the potential tying run on second base Tuesday in a 4-3 loss to the last-place Cleveland Indians.

‘‘We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,’’ catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. ‘‘[Detroit is] not going to go away. They'll keep playing hard.’’

Hours later, Anibal Sanchez pitched a three-hitter for the Tigers in a 2-0 victory over Kansas City that left both Detroit and Chicago at 82-72 with eight games to go.

Chicago had been alone in first place since Sept. 3.

The White Sox have lost six of seven and have had trouble scoring without the long ball of late.

Three solo homers were all the offense Chicago mustered Tuesday.

Down, 4-0, the White Sox rallied when Pierzynski and Dayan Viciedo hit consecutive fifth-inning home runs off Corey Kluber (2-4) and then pulled within a run when Paul Konerko homered off Chris Perez leading off the ninth.

‘‘It’s just going to take some hits together that don’t go over the fence,’’ Beckham said. ‘‘If you string hits together, you usually score runs. It happens that a lot of ours go over the fence.’’

Perez walked a pair of batters with two outs, and Beckham grounded to shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who threw to second baseman Jason Kipnis for the force.

‘‘Every day there’s close games,’’ Konerko said. ‘‘Today was obviously not a step in the right direction. It was a tough game. We showed some heart to battle back.’’

Francisco Liriano (6-12) allowed all four runs and seven hits in 3⅔ innings. He is 1-2 with a 6.30 ERA in his past seven appearances.

Tigers 2, Royals 0 — Anibal Sanchez threw his first shutout in over a year, and host Detroit defeated Kansas City.

Sanchez (4-6) retired the first 11 hitters he faced and allowed only three hits. He struck out 10 and walked one.

Twins 5, Yankees 4 — Phil Hughes ran out of gas in the seventh inning and Boone Logan couldn’t hold the lead for him as New York missed a chance to go up 2½ games on Baltimore in a loss in Minneapolis.

Blue Jays 4, Orioles 0— Aaron Laffey and five relievers combined on a six-hitter as the visiting Toronto beat Baltimore for the second straight game.

Braves 4, Marlins 3 — Freddie Freeman hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to put the host Atlanta back in the playoffs with a victory over Miami.

Reds 4, Brewers 2 — Johnny Cueto pitched seven solid innings, and Cincinnati stayed in the chase for the NL’s top record by beating visiting Milwaukee.

Phillies 6, Nationals 3 — Darin Ruf homered for his first major league hit, Carlos Ruiz and Domonic Brown also went deep, and host Philadelphia beat playoff-bound Washington.

Athletics 3, Rangers 2 — George Kottaras hit a leadoff homer in the 10th inning and visiting Oakland moved within four games of the AL West lead by beating first-place Texas.

Cardinals 4, Astros 0 — Jaime Garcia pitched seven sharp innings and Jon Jay drove in two runs to help St. Louis improve its playoff chances with a win in Houston.

Pirates 10, Mets 6 — Pedro Alvarez hit his 30th homer and drove in four runs, leading Wandy Rodriguez and Pittsburgh to victory, ending host New York’s four-game winning streak.

Rockies 10, Cubs 5 — DJ LeMahieu had three hits and finished a home run short of the cycle, Wilin Rosario went deep, and host Colorado beat Chicago in a 6½-inning rain-shortened game.