The New York Yankees completed a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics with a 5-0 home victory.

The win lifts the Yankees 2.5 games clear of the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East.

Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia allowed just one hit over eight innings and Curtis Granderson homered twice. The Boston Red Sox won 6-4 at the Baltimore Orioles in the division's other game.

A solo shot from Gerald Laird finally settled an epic contest between the Detroit Tigers and AL Central leaders the Minnesota Twins in the fourth extra inning as the Tigers edged the match 10-9 at Target Field, while the Cleveland Indians saw off the Seattle Mariners 6-3 in a meeting between the bottom sides in the AL Central and West.

National League East leaders the Atlanta Braves failed to secure a sixth-straight win as they came up short at home to the New York Mets, losing 4-2 as David Wright homered for the visitors.

The Philadelphia Phillies moved within two games of the Braves thanks to a 12-11 success at the Colorado Rockies. In an explosive seventh inning, Ryan Howard and Jayson Werth hit back-to-back homers with Chase Utley then adding a grand slam to put the Phillies in control.