James Shields dominated as the Rays cut the gap at the top of the American League East back down to a single game with a 3-0 victory.

Shields fanned 11 as he scattered just four hits in 7 1/3 shut-out innings. Carl Crawford led the Tampa Bay Rays' offence with two hits and an RBI.

The Yankees chose to sit Alex Rodriguez, though he did get an at-bat as a pinch hitter in the seventh. Looking for career home run number 600, he struck out.

The Boston Red Sox got a second successive walk-off win, as Darnell McDonald scored on a ninth-inning throwing error from Robbie Weinhardt to earn a 4-3 victory against the Detroit Tigers.

Whereas yesterday the Red Sox snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, today it was the turn of the Tigers to rally as two RBI from Miguel Cabrera in the ninth and one from Jhonny Peralta, all off closer Jonathan Papelbon, levelled things up at 3-3 before McDonald scored.

Brent Lillibridge's three-run triple in the fifth inning set the Chicago White Sox on their way to a 4-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Up until that point, neither Oakland starter Gio Gonzalez nor Gavin Floyd of the White Sox, who got the win with seven innings of one-run ball, had surrendered a hit or a walk.

Francisco Liriano struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, their eighth straight victory, staying within half a game of the AL Central-leading White Sox.

Los Angeles Angels starter Jared Weaver was also impressive, striking out seven in seven innings as his side beat AL West rivals the Texas Rangers 4-1.

The Philadelphia Phillies pulled to within 2 1/2 games of the National League West-leading Atlanta Braves with an extra-inning 6-4 win over the Washington Nationals.

Placido Polanco got the go-ahead run in the 11th, after the Phillies rallied to square it up at 4-4 in the seventh.

The Braves lost 2-1 against the Cincinnati Reds, who themselves remained half a game back on the St Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.

For the Cards, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday both homered in a 9-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, with starter Adam Wainwright improving his home record to 11-0 on the season.

At the top of the NL West, the San Diego Padres won 5-4 against the Florida Marlins, their first victory in three, to keep the San Francisco Giants 1 1/2 games back.

Matt Cain pitched 7 2/3 shut-out innings for the Giants, getting support from Edgar Renteria's two-run triple in a 2-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Adam LaRoche hit two of the Arizona Diamondbacks' four homers - both three-run shots - in a 14-1 dismantling of the New York Mets.

The Colorado Rockies dished out a fifth straight defeat to the Chicago Cubs, winning 6-5, while the Houston Astros did likewise to the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-2 victory, their fifth straight win.

Elsewhere, the Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 and the Cleveland Indians saw off the Toronto Blue Jays by the same scoreline.