A rare chance to pitch with a lead gave R.A. Dickey the opportunity to be more than just a knuckleballer.

Russell Martin had three hits and two RBIs, Dickey pitched 6⅔ innings for his first home win since July 10, and the Blue Jays beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-2, Tuesday night in Toronto.

Toronto remained tied with Boston for first place in the AL East. The Red Sox beat Tampa Bay, 2-1.

Dickey had received eight total runs of support in his previous five starts, losing three. Teammates gave him six runs to work with Tuesday, which he appreciated.

‘‘Always great pitching with the lead,’’ Dickey said. ‘‘You can take some little risks that you might not normally take. Threw a lot of good changeups tonight, good sinkers down in the zone. I actually had good conventional stuff tonight and that helped me through some innings when I didn’t have a great knuckleball.’’

Dickey (9-13) came in 2-8 with a 5.57 ERA in 13 home starts but held the last-place Angels in check, giving up two runs and six hits.

Manager John Gibbons said Dickey was ‘‘fantastic’’ after giving up a two-run homer to Angels rookie Nick Buss in the second.

Martin had a run-scoring single in the first, drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the third, singled and scored in the fifth, and doubled over the head of center fielder Mike Trout in the seventh. Martin is 12 for 27 with nine RBIs in his past five games.

Orioles 8, Nationals 1 — Kevin Gausman scattered six hits over six shutout innings, Adam Jones went 4 for 5, and host Baltimore breezed to victory. Chris Davis hit his 30th home run for the Orioles, reaching the plateau for the fourth time in five seasons. Baltimore is 34-24 against the Nationals in a rivalry that began in 2006.

Royals 1, Marlins 0 — Yordano Ventura escaped two threats while pitching six innings, and the visiting Royals extended their winning streak to nine games.Ventura (9-9), who reached 101 miles per hour on the scoreboard radar gun, gave up six hits and one walk while striking out six. Royals starters have an ERA of 1.69 during the winning streak, Kansas City’s longest since June 2014.

Three relievers closed out the win and extended the bullpen’s streak of 32 consecutive shutout innings since Aug. 10.

Pirates 7, Astros 1 — Ivan Nova took a shutout into the ninth inning and finished with a six-hitter while Gregory Polanco hit two home runs to lead host Pittsburgh.

Nova (10-6) struck out six and walked one while improving to 3-0 in four starts since being acquired from the Yankees in an Aug. 1 trade.

Mets 7, Cardinals 4 — Wilmer Flores and Justin Ruggiano homered as New York beat the Cardinals in St. Louis. The offense helped Robert Gsellman get the decision in his major league debut. Gsellman, pressed into action after starter Jonathon Niese left because of an injury in the first inning, pitched 3⅔ innings without allowing an earned run.

Tigers 8, Twins 3 — Cameron Maybin drove in three runs, including a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, to spark visiting Detroit.

Reds 3, Rangers 0 — Dan Straily extended his surge since the All-Star break by pitching six innings and ­Joey Votto drove in a pair of runs to lead host Cincinnati. Straily (10-6) hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his eight starts since the break, going 6-0.

White Sox 9, Phillies 1 — Jose Abreu homered for a third straight game, Carlos Rodon threw 6⅔ scoreless innings, and host Chicago handed slumping Philadelphia its fifth loss in seven games.

Brewers 6, Rockies 4 — Hernan Perez hit a two-run triple in the seventh inning to lift host Milwaukee to a comeback win.