The Toronto Blue Jays sliced Tampa Bay's lead atop the American League East division with a 6-2 win over the Rays on Tuesday in St Petersburg, Florida.

Consecutive losses have cut Tampa Bay's advantage over Boston in the East to 3-1/2 games.

Toronto starter Roy Halladay beat Tampa Bay for the first time this season after three previous defeats. He gave up only two runs in six innings.

Vernon Wells had two run-scoring singles and added a solo homer in the ninth. He has four homers and nine RBIs in his past three games.

In other American League games, it was: Red Sox 7, Yankees 3 White Sox 8, Orioles 3 Angels 5, Athletics 1 Indians 10, Tigers 4 Mariners 3, Twins 2 and Rangers 2, Royals 1.

In the National League, it was: Cubs 14, Pirates 9 Padres 9, Diamondbacks 2 Braves 10, Marlins 9 Brewers 12, Cardinals 0 Nationals 2, Dodgers 1 Reds 2, Astros 1 Phillies 8, Mets 7 (13 innings) and Rockies 7, Giants 2.

In New York, Boston moved a step closer to squashing the playoff hopes of arch rival New York with a comfortable victory.

The Yankees fell six games behind the Red Sox in the wildcard race.

Boston's 42-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield won in his return from a shoulder injury, allowing three runs in five innings in the opener of a three-game series.

In Baltimore, Chicago inflicted Baltimore's fifth straight loss and added to its lead in the AL Central.

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd pitched eight innings of four-hit ball, striking out four, to take his fourth straight decision.

Nick Swisher hit his 22nd homer of the season for the White Sox, who extended their lead over Minnesota atop the AL Central to 2 games and moved a season-high 20 games over .500. Chicago had a season high-tying seven doubles.

In Detroit, Cleveland notched its ninth straight win, leapfrogging Detroit to third place in the AL Central.

Indians' Cliff Lee got his AL-leading 19th win, conceding only two runs in 7 2/3 innings. He tied Brandon Webb of Arizona for the major league lead in wins. It's also a career-high Lee won 18 games in 2005. He has won five straight.

Ben Francisco hit two homers for Cleveland, whose form surge has apparently come too late to put itself in playoff contention.

The Tigers have dropped three straight.

In Philadelphia, Chris Coste's RBI single in the bottom of the 13th capped Philadelphia's comeback from a 7-0 deficit and allowed the Phillies to retake the lead in the NL East.

Fernando Tatis hit a three-run homer and the Mets staked Pedro Martinez to the seven-run lead. But the Phillies chipped away against Martinez and rallied against a New York bullpen that has blown 10 leads in the ninth inning.

Ryan Howard hit his league-leading 35th homer and Jimmy Rollins was 5-for-7 with a two-run shot for Philadelphia, which moved a half-game ahead of the Mets with its ninth win in 11 games.

Shane Victorino lined a triple down the right-field line to start Philadelphia's 13th against Scott Schoeneweis (2-3). After two intentional walks and a strikeout, Coste drove one well over the head of drawn-in Carlos Beltran in center.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily August 28, 2008)