Andy Dirks made himself a hero as the Detroit Tigers took over the leadership of the American League Central with a 5-4 win over Kansas.
Andy Dirks made himself a hero as the Detroit Tigers took over the leadership of the American League Central with a 5-4 win over the Kansas City Royals.
With the game tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the eighth and one out, Jhonny Peralta's ground ball looked destined for an inning-ending double play.
However, Dirks' slide at second took out Irving Falu, who could not relay the ball for the second out, allowing Don Kelly to cross home plate for the go-ahead run.
Alex Avila and Austin Jackson homered for the Tigers, who went clear of a Chicago White Six side that lost 6-4 to the Cleveland Indians.
The White Sox only had themselves to blame as they threw away a 3-1 first-inning lead thanks largely to the 12 walks surrendered by their pitchers.
In the AL East, the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 8-2 to keep their lead over the Baltimore Orioles at 1 1/2 games.
CC Sabathia struck out 10 in eight innings of two-run ball for the Yankees, while Chris Dickerson homered.
The Orioles kept pace in style, though, with a 12-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Chris Davis and Manny Machado each had two homers as the O's went yard seven times in total.
The Oakland Athletics scored five times in the first inning to beat the Texas Rangers 9-3, reducing their opponents lead at the top of the AL West to three games.
The Washington Nationals hit three home runs in the first two innings to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4.
Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Kurt Suzuki all went yard as the Nats moved within four games of the National League East title.
Bud Norris three 7 1/3 shut-out innings as the Houston Astros won their last home game as a National League side, beating the St Louis Cardinals 2-0.
The Cardinals' defeat allowed the Los Angeles Dodgers to close to within 3 1/2 games in the Wild Card race with an 8-2 win over the San Diego Padres.
Juan Rivera and Matt Kemp, who had four RBI, both homered.
Home runs from Norichika Aoki, Ryan Braun and Jonathan Lucroy helped the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-1, keeping pace with the Dodgers.
David Wright became the New York Mets' all-time leader in hits, claiming his 1,419th in their 6-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Tampa Bay Rays stretched their winning streak to seven games by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-2, the Atlanta Braves saw off the Miami Marlins 3-0 and the Colorado Rockies were 6-0 winners over the Chicago Cubs.
San Francisco were victors by the same scoreline ovr the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Matt Cain pitching seven innings with two hits and an RBI, while the LA Angels won 4-3 at Seattle.
