Boston Red Sox extend lead in American League East

Yankees lose to Cubs to fall two-and-a-half games behind.

Boston Red Sox stretched their American League East lead to two and a half games over New York Yankees after seeing off National League Central pace-setters Milwaukee Brewers 10-4 in interleague action.

The Red Sox have now won 12 of their last 13 outings, with starter John Lackey recovering from four runs in his first three innings to retire all but one of the last 17 Brewers batters.

The Yankees, meanwhile, went down 3-1 to Chicago Cubs.

Starlin Castro had two runs on two hits, while Doug Davis picked up a first starting win in over a year after 7 1/3 innings.

National League East front-runners Philadelphia Phillies were beaten 4-2 by Seattle Mariners as rookie pitcher Michael Pineda turned in five hitless innings for the win.

Texas Rangers were 6-2 winners at Atlanta Braves, with Nelson Cruz driving in three runs and Josh Hamilton homering for two more.

Atlanta pitcher Randall Delgado lasted into the fifth inning on debut but was pulled after conceding four in the frame.

Chris Nelson hit his first major league homer as Colorado Rockies soared to a 13-6 victory over Central pace-setters Detroit Tigers.

The damage was done in the a six-run second inning but Charlie Blackmon was consistent throughout with four hits.

Sean Rodriguez drove in four runs for Tampa Bay Rays as they defeated Florida Marlins, Toronto Blue Jays beat Cincinnati Reds 3-2 and Washington Nationals won 8-4 against Baltimore Orioles.

Cleveland Indians rode Carlos Santana's three hits and Josh Tomlin's consistency on the mound to a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals edged a tight match against St Louis 5-4 and Joe Mauer drove a run in his first at-bat after 58 games on the disabled list as Minnesota Twins defeated San Diego Padres 6-5.

Arizona D-Backs scored a 4-1 victory at Chicago White Sox, New York Mets were 4-3 winners over Los Angeles Angels, with Joel Pineiro celebrating his 100th win, and Oakland Athletics beat San Francisco Giants 4-2

Carlos Lee had two runs and an RBI from three hits as Houston Astros beat Los Angeles Dodges 7-3.

* Press Association