White Sox close in on division leader

Jody Gerut of the Indians slides safely past home as Mariners' catcher Ben Davis misses with the tag during the second inning at Jacobs Field, Wednesday. Gerut scored from first base on Milton Bradley's double to right. PHOTO: REUTERS

American League

Bartolo Colon scattered three hits over eight shutout innings, and Roberto Alomar homered for the first time since being traded as the Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 Wednesday to pull within a game of first place in the American League Central.

"[Colon] did his job," said catcher Sandy Alomar, who also had an RBI. "A guy that wins big games, a guy that wants the ball when the game's on the line, that's Bartolo."

Carlos Lee homered and drove in a pair of runs for the White Sox, who followed last week's road sweep of the division-leading Royals by taking two of three at home.

Tom Gordon gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Beltran in the ninth, cutting the lead to 4-3. But Damaso Marte got two outs for his ninth save.

The White Sox are a major league-best 15-5 since the All-Star break, and have made up six games on Kansas City. The teams won't meet again until September, when they'll play seven of their last 10 games against each other.

Colon left after eight innings with a bad back. He struck out seven, walked one and is 4-0 with a 1.14 ERA in his last four starts.

"He was unbelievable," Royals manager Tony Pena said. "He was untouchable for seven innings. My boys tried to do the best they can."

The White Sox gave Colon all the support he needed with back-to-back homers off Kris Wilson (5-2) in the third inning.

Blue Jays 7, Devil Rays 3

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Roy Halladay became the first 16-game winner in the majors, pitching his third complete game of the season as Toronto beat Tampa Bay.

Halladay gave up nine hits, struck out six and walked none. The right-hander lost his previous start 5-0 to Anaheim last Friday, snapping a personal 15-game winning streak that tied the team record set by Roger Clemens in 1998 and was one short of the AL mark.

Red Sox 4, Angels 2

In Boston, Pedro Martinez extended his unbeaten streak to nearly three months with his second complete game of the season as Boston beat Anaheim.

Martinez Fenway Park's second-biggest crowd of the season -- 35,040 -- to an outstanding performance in which he struck out 11 batters, walked one and allowed 10 hits.

The Angels rallied for an unearned run on Robb Quinlan's RBI single with two outs in the ninth. David Eckstein followed with a double and Darin Erstad was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Martinez struck out Tim Salmon looking with his 128th pitch to end it.

Since losing 5-0 to Minnesota on May 9, Martinez (8-2) is 5-0 in 12 starts. After escaping a jam with runners at second and third in the seventh, he struck out the side in the eighth and went on to the 40th complete game of his career, 20 with Boston.

Boston its third straight after losing four in a row. Aaron Sele (6-9) took the loss for Anaheim, which dropped to 2-10 in its last 12 with its fourth straight loss.

Indians 10, Mariners 6

In Cleveland, Travis Hafner homered and drove in a career-high four runs as Cleveland snapped Joel Pineiro's eight-game winning streak with a victory over Seattle.

The Indians ended a five-game losing streak by pounding Pineiro (13-6) for seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2-3 innings -- his shortest outing of the season. The 24-year-old right-hander lost for the first time in 10 starts since June 11 against Montreal. Jake Westbrook (5-6) won for the first time in four starts since July 12, allowing six runs and eight hits over 5 2-3 innings.

Rangers 5, Yankees 4

In New York, reliever Mariano Rivera threw away a bunt that set up pinch-hitter Hank Blalock's two-run single in the ninth inning and Texas rallied past New York.

Texas been 0-59 this season when trailing going into the ninth.

But Rivera (5-2), who has blown five saves in 26 attempts, walked pinch-hitter Rafael Palmeiro to start the inning. Donnie Sadler followed with a sacrifice bunt and Rivera's high throw sailed into foul territory, with the error putting runners at second and third.

Blalock for Todd Greene and followed with a single that scored pinch-runner Laynce Nix and Sadler.

Rivera blown three of his last five save tries. Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homer off David Wells in the eighth to get Texas within 4-3.

Ron Mahay (1-0) pitched two hitless innings and struck out three. Francisco Cordero worked the ninth for his sixth save.

Athletics 9, Tigers 3

In Detroit, Eric Chavez homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs as Oakland beat Detroit.

Tim Hudson pitched the Athletics to their 10th win in 13 games. Detroit has lost eight of its past nine games and dropped to 29-82, clinching its 10th straight losing season. Hudson (10-4) gave up three runs and seven hits in eight innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter, and helped himself with five assists and two putouts. Hudson improved to 8-2 lifetime against Detroit.

Wil Ledezma (3-6) lost his fourth successive start, giving up four runs on seven hits in five-plus innings.

Twins 7, Orioles 3

In Baltimore, Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer and Shannon Stewart had a solo shot in a five-run fourth inning that powered Minnesota past Baltimore.

Kyle Lohse (8-9) allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings for the Twins, who won the season series from the Orioles for the first time since 1995. Minnesota is 4-2 against Baltimore with one game left.

The Twins entered with only 13 homers in 19 games since the All-Star break, but the long ball provided the brunt of the damage against Pat Hentgen (4-5).

After Stewart led off the fourth with his 11th homer, singles by Luis Rivas, Doug Mientkiewicz and Corey Koskie put the Twins up 2-1. One out later, Hunter hit a three-run shot into the right-field seats. He also singled in a two-run ninth for his first multihit game since July 25.

National League

Adam Everett hit the first inside-the-park home run at Minute Maid Park, and Jeff Bagwell and Richard Hidalgo each homered and drove in three runs Wednesday as the Houston Astros trounced The New York Mets 11-1.

Wade Miller (8-10) allowed one run and six hits in six innings for the victory for Houston, which used a 15-hit attack to beat the Mets. Geoff Blum also homered, and Lance Berkman had four hits for the Astros, who rebounded from a 10-1 loss to the Mets the previous night.

Everett the scoring in the fifth when he hit a line drive to center field off reliever Pedro Feliciano that eluded a diving Jeff Duncan and rolled past the Mets outfielder.

"I thought (Duncan) caught it at first. Then when I saw that he missed it, I was thinking triple. I was excited and I just kept on running," Everett said.

Everett into home and beat the relay throw from shortstop Jose Reyes for the first inside-the-park homer in the stadium's four-year history.

Rookie Aaron Heilman (1-5) lost his third straight game, allowing six runs and seven hits in three innings.

Marlins 7, Cardinals 3

In St. Louis, rookie Dontrelle Willis pitched eight impressive innings and Ivan Rodriguez homered as Florida beat St. Louis.

Willis who beat Randy Johnson in his last outing, shrugged off a shaky start to tie the team record for wins by a rookie set by Brian Meadows in 1998.

Willis Bo Hart on four pitches to start the game and gave up a two-run double to Scott Rolen later in the first, but was virtually unhittable after that.

Eduardo Perez homered in the eighth off Willis, who allowed three runs and five hits. He struck out six and walked one as Florida moved 11 games above .500 for the first time since 1997 with its ninth victory in 11 games.

Braves 10, Brewers 2

In Milwaukee, Greg Maddux won his fifth straight game, and Marcus Giles and Andruw Jones each hit a pair of home runs as Atlanta beat Milwaukee.

Maddux allowed six hits in six innings, and struck out five and walked one before turning over a 10-0 lead to Jason Marquis in the bottom of the seventh.

Maddux unbeaten in his last seven starts and has held opponents to 14 earned runs in 46 innings in those starts.

He hasn't lost since June 30 to Florida, and hasn't allowed a run in 11 innings.

Diamondbacks 3, Expos 2

In Phoenix, Carlos Baerga's tie-breaking pinch-hit single in the eighth inning led Arizona past Montreal.

Baerga an opposite-field hit that dropped in front of left fielder Brad Wilkerson, and Alex Cintron scored from second base with the go-ahead run.

Cintron on a two-out single off Luis Ayala (7-3) and went to second on Raul Mondesi's base hit, setting up Baerga's winner. Mondesi overran second on Baerga's hit and ended the inning when he was tagged out by third baseman Jamey Carroll, but the damage had been done for Arizona.

Eddie Oropesa (3-2) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, and Matt Mantei pitched a perfect ninth for his 14th save in 16 chances.

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