In major league baseball, the New York Yankees came back from an early 3-1 deficit to beat their archrival Boston Red Sox, 8-4.
Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada homered off Boston losing pitcher David Wells during Friday's rally. The Yankees' win in the first of a three-game series at home, cut Boston's lead in the American League East division to three games.
New York still trails Cleveland by a half game in the race for the AL wild card playoff spot, after the Indians doubled the visiting Minnesota Twins, 4-2.
The Los Angeles Angels maintained their one-game lead over the Oakland Athletics atop the AL West with a 12-inning, 6-5 victory in Chicago over the White Sox, the Central division leaders.
Oakland edged the Rangers in Texas, 9-8.
Other AL winners were the Royals, Blue Jays and Mariners.
The Kansas City Royals handed the host Detroit Tigers their ninth straight loss with a 12-2 pasting. The Toronto Blue Jays downed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7-2, in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Seattle Mariners edged the visiting Baltimore Orioles, 3-2.
In the National League, Houston star pitcher Roger Clemens suffered his third straight loss, lasting just three innings in a 7-4 loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee.
Despite the loss, Houston remains a half game ahead of the Florida Marlins for the NL wild card playoff spot, as the Marlins were crushed by the Phillies, 12-5, in Philadelphia.
Here in Washington, the Nationals came back from a 6-2 deficit to beat the East division-leading Atlanta Braves, 8-6.
Other NL winners were the Cardinals, Pirates, Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres.
The St. Louis Cardinals got by the visiting New York Mets, 3-2. The Pittsburgh Pirates tripped up the Reds in Cincinnati, 8-4. The Arizona Diamondbacks thumped the Colorado Rockies, 7-1, in Denver. San Francisco rookie pitcher Matt Cain tossed a two-hitter in the Giants' 2-1 victory over the visiting Chicago Cubs. And the San Diego Padres downed the Dodgers in Los Angeles, 3-1.
Some information for this report provided by AP.