The White Sox ended the Rays’ eight-game winning streak with a 3-1 win on Friday night and shaved their deficit to the Tigers in the AL Central to one game.

The Rays saw their winning streak end at eight with Friday’s 3-1 loss to the White Sox in Chicago. Jeremy Hellickson allowed three runs (two earned) over 5 2/3 innings and Ben Zobrist homered.

Angels center fielder Mike Trout led off Friday’s game against Rangers starter Ryan Dempster with a home run, giving him 29 on the year and setting a franchise record for runs in a season, with 125.

Desperately needing a win, the Angels came together, with Jered Weaver winning his 20th, Mark Trumbo notching three run-scoring hits and the defense making multiple big plays in a win over the Rangers. But they stayed two games back of the A’s with five to play.

Ryan Dempster allowed a leadoff homer to the Angels and never really recovered, as the Rangers missed a chance to clinch a playoff spot, with their magic number staying at one.

Mike Matheny can relax just a bit in his scoreboard watching. The St. Louis manager needs to worry a little less about the out-of-town results, as the Cardinals put themselves in the driver’s seat in the race for the second National League Wild Card with a 12-2 thumping of the Washington Nationals before 39,166 at Busch Stadium on Friday.

Friday’s start couldn’t have gone much worse for Edwin Jackson, and the final score of the Nationals’ 12-2 loss to the Cardinals tells the story of their forgettable night at Busch Stadium.

In a 1-0 win over the Pirates on Friday night at PNC Park, Homer Bailey became the first Reds pitcher to no-hit an opponent since Tom Browning threw a perfect game against the Dodgers on Sept. 16, 1988, at Riverfront Stadium.

Thanks to a big night from Ryan Doumit and an impressive 7 1/3 innings from Scott Diamond, Minnesota did a favor for American League Central rival Chicago with a 4-2 win over Detroit at Target Field.

Don’t look away from the American League Central race just yet. With five games left and the Tigers’ lead down to a single game after Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Twins, the nervous weekend Detroit fans were anticipating is on.

Closer Jose Valverde said before batting practice on Friday afternoon that his body was a bit sore but that he should be fine to pitch. He looked better after missing Thursday’s game with illness.

The good news is that Max Scherzer’s shoulder felt better Friday. The bad news, or the non-news, is that this doesn’t make a timetable for a return any clearer.

Chris Tillman allowed just one hit and an unearned run over eight dazzling innings as the Orioles stormed to a series-opening 9-1 win over the Red Sox on Friday night at Camden Yards.

The Giants are to be commended, complimented and generally congratulated on their decision not to open their postseason roster to outfielder Melky Cabrera.

Some other iconic figures in Braves history recently expressed their thoughts about Chipper Jones’ career and contributions to baseball.

Next week’s Wild Card games and the sprint to get there is proving to be a crazy race that might come down to the final six games.

Before Thursday night’s key game against the Padres at Petco Park, general manager Ned Colletti sat down with MLB.com for an exclusive interview.