Chicago White Sox beat the American League Central Division strugglers Kansas City Royals and are one win behind leaders Detroit.
Scott Podsednik hit a dramatic match-winning RBI single for the White Sox.
Both teams found the scoring relatively easy, with Royals' Mike Jacobs stepping off the bench to tie the scores at 7-7 in the eighth.
That left the stage clear for Podsednik's intervention in the bottom of the eighth to seal the win off John Bale.
Brett Tomko returned to haunt the New York Yankees, pitching five innings for no runs only a month after being released by them.
Tomko's efforts helped his new club, Oakland Athletics, to a 3-0 win with a three-run fourth inning the turning point.
AL West leaders LA Angels took an 8-5 win against AL East's bottom club, Baltimore Orioles, for their 71st win of the season.
Vladimir Guerrero, who homered twice and also weighed in with five RBIs, and Kendry Morales, with a two-run homer, starred for the Angels, who gave Orioles rookie David Hernandez a tough time on the mound.
Minnesota Twins were undone by some loose pitching from Francisco Liriano as Texas Rangers collected an 8-5 win, their 67th of the campaign.
Liriano gave up seven runs in two luckless innings before being withdrawn. Marlon Byrd (three runs) and David Murphy (two runs) led the assault, with pitcher Tommy Hunter finding his form to close out the win.
In the National League, Ryan Church was the star of a six-run third inning as the Atlanta Braves cruised past NL West strugglers Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4.
Church hit a three-run double in the decisive third, while rookie pitcher Tommy Hanson struck out seven.
In New York, San Francisco Giants hammered the Mets to level their four-match series 2-2 with a massive 10-1 win.
Aaron Redmond enjoyed himself, with a homer and four hits, while Randy Winn added three hits of his own.
Gary Sheffield gave the Mets a crumb of consolation with a solitary RBI single.
Chicago Cubs saw victory slip away in the bottom of the ninth as San Diego Padres snatched an unlikely win.
With the game scoreless until the eighth inning, the Cubs snuck into a 1-0 lead only for San Diego to hit back with a Chase Headley double and Kyle Banks' three-run homer to make it 4-1 to the Padres.
Central strugglers Pittsburgh recorded a 9-5 home win over Milwaukee Brewers.
The result meant a long overdue victory for the hosts, who had won just once in their previous 13 outings.
Andy LaRoche, Garrett Jones and Ronny Cedeno all hit homers for the victors.
St Louis Cardinals edged LA Dodgers 3-2, with Rick Ankiel and Albert Pujols providing the runs and closer Ryan Franklin finishing the job.
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