Yankees regain AL East lead

The New York Yankees took sole possession of top spot in the American League East with a win over Tampa Bay, while Oakland's win over Baltimore moved the A's within striking distance of Texas in the AL West.

In the AL Central, the Chicago White Sox remain a game ahead of Detroit after both teams recorded victories on Saturday.

The Yankees (82-63) moved a game clear of Baltimore (81-64) after a 5-3 win over the Rays (78-67), Curtis Granderson hitting his 39th home run of the season to help New York to a 4-0 lead though five innings.

Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria homered in the sixth and the visitors scored twice more in the seventh to make it a one-run game, but the Yankees sealed the win when Alex Rodriguez drove in Robinson Cano in the eighth inning.

Yankees pitcher Ivan Nova made an impressive return from the disabled list to get the win.

"It's not that I didn't try to be focused in the past, but a game like today, especially coming back from the DL, you have to do everything you can to win this game," Nova told reporters.

"I came from my house mentally prepared to do that."

The Rays beat the Yankees on Friday but have lost four of their last five games to divisional rivals and slipped three games behind in the wildcard race.

The Orioles led 2-0 in Oakland after Mark Reynolds drove in a run in the second and Nate McLouth homered in the top of the third, but the A's put up five runs in the bottom of the third on the way to a 5-2 win.

Oakland (84-61) are now two games behind AL West leaders Texas (86-59), who lost 8-6 to Seattle.

The LA Angels suffered a 3-2 loss to Kansas City, dropping them 2 1/2 games back in the wildcard race.