There was further tightening of division and wild card races last night. The big winner in the AL was the Oakland Athletics, who took another game from Texas last night, winning an 11-10 slugfest. Every batter in the game reached base once, with Gary Matthews, Jr. the only player not to get a hit. Neither starter lasted long, and neither bullpen did a good job. The A's ended up with four more hit and one more run. With the Yankees, Orioles and Twins all losing, Oakland finds themselves just 1 1/2 games out of the wild card lead.

The Phillies were the only NL East team to win last night. Chase Utley was 0 for 5 when he came to the plate in the plate in the 11th. His 13th home run of the year proved to be lucky as it gave the Phillies the victory. They move into third place four games behind Washington and Atlanta. The poor play of the Nationals and Braves lately has caused the division to bunch up again. Five and one half games separate the top from the bottom in the NL East.

The Dodgers and Diamondbacks continue to gain ground in the NL West. With the Phillies win over San Diego and Los Angeles and Arizona notched victories to each gain a game on the division leader. The Dodgers pounded out 15 hits in route to a 6-5 defeat of the Mets. The Diamondbacks used the same score to win against the Braves. Claduio Vargas turned in seven strong innings while Tim Hudson was hittable and a bit wild. Brian Bruney gave up four runs in the 8th to the Braves to make it close, but Alex Cintron hit the game winner in the 10th, rewarding Lance Cormier with a win for his 1 2/3 scoreless innings of relief.