Yankees closing in on the Red Sox at the top

The New York Yankees cut the Boston Red Sox's lead at the top of the American League East to one game as home runs from Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez gave them a 2-1 win over the Detroit Tigers. Rodriguez went long in the bottom of the fourth inning to cancel out an early Clete Thomas effort for the Tigers, and Teixeira followed suit in the sixth with what proved to be the winning run.

The Yankees were helped by excellent pitching by Joba Chamberlain, who allowed just one run and three hits from six and a third innings on the mound. Rodriguez paid tribute to his teammate saying: "Joba did a lot of good things. You don't see guys throw 91 [mph] in the first and 97 in the seventh. He mixed in his curveball and his change-up much better today. If he does that, he's going to be tough to beat."

It was tough luck on Detroit's Edwin Jackson (7-5), who allowed two runs in seven innings as he pitched well. The Red Sox, meanwhile, found their offence stymied by the dominant Roy Halladay (11-3). The Toronto Blue Jays ace tossed a complete game, allowing one run on six hits in a 3-1 win. All three RBI for the victorious Blue Jays came from Rod Barajas. Gregg Zaun's home run highlighted a four RBI night for the catcher as the Baltimore Orioles dominated the Chicago White Sox with a dominant 10-2 win.

The Tampa Bay Rays left it late against the Kansas City Royals, needing an RBI single from Carlos Pena and Gabe Gross' bases-loaded walk in the eighth frame to complete a 4-3 win. Jack Hannahan's sacrifice fly in the eighth broke a 3-3 tie and set the Seattle Mariners on their way to a 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. The consistent Ichiro Suzuki was three for four and also made a game-saving catch in the ninth for the Mariners.

Ian Kinsler bookended the clash between the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins with home runs as the Rangers won 5-3. * PA Sport