MLB: Athletics in pole

Oakland Athletics: Celebrate against Cleveland

The Oakland Athletics completed a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night to remain in pole position in the American League wild-card race.

The Athletics, who have won six straight games and eight of their last nine, won 12-7 to finish the season series against Cleveland with an 8-2 record.

That kept them in a one-game lead over Baltimore in the wild-card battle after the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3.

Baltimore are one game ahead of the slumping Tampa Bay Rays, who lost for the fifth time in six games with a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Elsewhere, San Francisco came from further behind to beat the Houston Astros, the Giants trailing 4-0 before scoring eight unanswered runs to complete a series sweep.

And Jeremy Guthrie pitched effectively into the eighth inning as the Kansas City Royals also complete a three-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 2-1 win.

The Chicago Cubs enjoyed a rollercoaster 12-11 win over the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cubs led 3-0 but then trailed 9-3 and were 11-9 down going into the ninth inning before driving in three runs for the dramatic win.

Another close contest in Minnesota saw the Twins beaten 5-4 by the Seattle Mariners, who had Trayvon Robinson drive in two runs, while Phillies star Jimmy Rollins was benched after a pair of base-running blunders in Philadelphia's 3-2 win over the New York Mets.

The Washington Nationals extended their lead in the National League East to five games with an 8-1 win over the St Louis Cardinals, while the Los Angeles Angels enjoyed a similarly comfortable 10-3 win over the Boston Red Sox.

In the day's final game, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0.