Ryan Dempster guides Boston Red Sox to victory over Toronto Blue Jays

Ryan Dempster remains unbeaten in his native Canada after helping the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Dempster gave up a home run to his fellow Canadian Brett Lawrie in his first at-bat of the first inning, but settled down to record his 10th victory north of the border - the first nine of them having come in Montreal.

Boston have now won seven of eight games, improving to 20-8 to extend their lead in the American League East.

AL West-leading Texas Rangers, who face Boston next, saw their record drop to 17-11 after they lost 3-1 to the Chicago White Sox thanks to a three-run home run from Tyler Flowers in the sixth inning.

The game between the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays was postponed in the middle of the fourth inning as April showers turned to snow.
Scoreless

With the Royals suddenly inactive, the Detroit Tigers closed the gap in the AL Central division as they overcame the Houston Astros 7-3 in extra innings.

Victor Martinez singled home Prince Fielder in the eighth inning to tie the game at 3-3, and that is how it stayed until the top of the 14th inning, when Don Kelly singled home Austin Jackson and Matt Tuiasosopo hit a two-run double into centre field. Jhonny Peralta then capped it with a sacrifice fly which scored Kelly.

Chris Tillman tossed eight scoreless innings to lead the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels in his native California.

In the National League, another stellar pitching display led the Washington Nationals to victory over the Atlanta Braves.

Dan Haren gave up a solo home run to Dan Uggla but that was all in a 3-1 Washington lead that cuts Atlanta's lead atop the NL East to 2 1/2 games.

Jake Westbrook's 100th career win saw the St Louis Cardinals edge clear at the top of the NL Central. The Cardinals bullpen preserved Westbrook's 'W' as they beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-5.

Home runs from Domonic Brown and Ryan Howard powered the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2 victory over the Miami Marlins, while San Diego scored four runs in the eighth to come from behind and beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 at Wrigley Field.