For the first time all week, the Cleveland Indians held onto a lead. Ryan Garko and Travis Hafner made sure it was a pretty big one.
They each hit two-run homers and Fausto Carmona pitched into the seventh inning of Cleveland’s 11-1 win over Detroit on Thursday night that ended the Tigers’ three-game winning streak.
“It was all about Fausto shutting them down and giving us a chance to get a lead,” Garko said.
The Indians got two strong starts against Boston on Monday and Tuesday from Jake Westbrook and Paul Byrd, but lost both in the ninth. Then ace C.C. Sabathia was hit hard for nine runs by the surging Tigers on Wednesday
But Carmona put a stop to all that. He allowed only a run – on Miguel Cabrera’s sacrifice fly in the sixth – on seven hits. He hit Ramon Santiago and Gary Sheffield with pitches to start the inning. After Cabrera’s sacrifice fly, left fielder Jason Michaels threw out Sheffield at the plate when he didn’t slide and Edgar Renteria grounded out.
“When you run into guys like that, you need to have good pitching, and we didn’t have that,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander remained winless in four starts, falling to 0-3. He allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings, with four walks and one strikeout.
The Indians broke it open with a five-run sixth against Zach Miner. Sizemore led off with a pretty, looping double to the gap in left and scored on Jamey Carroll’s triple. Hafner followed with his home run and after Jhonny Peralta singled with one out, Michaels hit a two-run single.
“Our approach at the plate was better,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “We had good at-bats. Individually, they should feed off that.”
Wedge, frustrated with his team’s play, had held a meeting with the players before the game. For one night, at least, it appeared to pay off.
Mariners 8, Athletics 1
Carlos Silva followed Felix Hernandez’s complete game a day before with a gem of his own, leading Seattle to its sixth straight win over Oakland.
Raul Ibanez produced his second consecutive three-hit game and fourth of the year.
Silva (3-0) was helped by double plays in the third and fourth innings, but Emil Brown put Oakland on the board with an RBI triple in the fourth after Jack Cust’s two-out single. After the triple by Brown, Silva didn’t allow another hit and retired 10 of his last 12 batters.
Red Sox 7, Yankees 5
Manny Ramirez hit two more homers off an ineffective Mike Mussina, leading Josh Beckett and the Red Sox past the perturbed Yankees in a game that nearly got testy.
With Ramirez enjoying his latest outburst against his favorite foe, Yankees reliever Kyle Farnsworth threw a 97 mph fastball behind the slugger’s neck on the first pitch of the seventh inning, drawing cheers from the sellout crowd of 55,088 in the Bronx. Plate umpire Larry Vanover immediately warned both dugouts, and Ramirez eventually grounded out to second.
Ramirez hit his 494th home run in the first, passing Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for sole possession of 24th place on the career list, then added No. 495 an inning later. That gave Ramirez five homers this season – three in six days off Mussina (1-3).
Beckett (2-1) pitched a season-high eight innings and stopped New York’s three-game winning streak. He allowed Derek Jeter’s two-run single and Bobby Abreu’s RBI double in the fifth.
Orioles 6, White Sox 5, 10 innings
In Baltimore, Adam Jones singled in the game-winning run in the 10th inning, helping the Orioles rally from a 5-2 deficit in the eighth to split the two-game series.
Kevin Millar led off the 10th with a walk from Boone Logan (1-1) and advanced on a walk to Luke Scott. After Aubrey Huff hit a fly to left, Jones hit a liner inside the left-field line that scored Millar without a throw.
Nick Markakis homered for the Orioles, whose only lead in the series came when Millar crossed the plate.
Carlos Quentin hit two homers and Joe Crede also connected for Chicago. Half the runs yielded by the White Sox were unearned.
Rangers 4, Blue Jays 1
Vicente Padilla pitched seven strong innings, Ian Kinsler had three hits and Texas handed Toronto its fifth straight home defeat.
Rangers outfielder David Murphy went 3-for-4 with three doubles. He scored twice and drove in a run and Texas won its second straight following a five-game losing streak.
Padilla (2-1) allowed one run on seven hits. Roy Halladay (2-2) lost for the first time in three starts.
Rays 7, Twins 3
Jason Hammel had his second straight strong outing, Nathan Haynes’ single keyed a four-run rally and Tampa Bay beat Minnesota to split the two-game series.
In six innings, Hammel (1-1) allowed six hits and three runs while striking out five to help the Rays end a three-game losing streak.
Up 3-2, Tampa Bay batted around and scored four times in the fifth inning to chase Minnesota starter Boof Bonser, who hasn’t won in 12 home starts since June 10, 2007.
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