Jake Westbrook won for the fifth time in six starts and Cleveland moved closer in the American League wild-card race, beating Texas 9-4 on Thursday.
Along with Jhonny Peralta two-run blast, Coco Crisp and Travis Hafner each drove in two runs for the Indians.
"The double play was key -- that and our offense coming up huge," said Westbrook.
PHOTO: AFP
Cleveland won for the second time in six games at Jacobs Field after completing a 6-0 trip to Detroit and Kansas City. Texas lost for the eighth time in nine games -- all on the road.
Westbrook (11-13) allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings. He finished his outing by getting Mark DeRosa to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, preserving a 5-4 lead.
"I just thought, `This is what you do, get ground balls,'" Westbrook said. "Here and there, I felt good. I battled, the defense was great and our bullpen did what they always do."
PHOTO: AP
Twins 7, Mariners 3
At Minneapolis, Matthew LeCroy hit his third homer in two games, leading Minnesota past Seattle for its fifth straight victory.
Justin Morneau had two RBIs, including the go-ahead run in the third, and Shannon Stewart had his second four-hit game of the season in Minnesota's seventh win in eight games.
LeCroy gave Minnesota a 3-0 lead in the first when he hit a pitch from Ryan Franklin well over the center-field fence for a two-run homer.
Joe Mays (6-8) struggled early before settling down to get his first win since July 3. Franklin (6-13) lost his second straight start since his 10-day suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Angels 13, Red Sox 4
At Anaheim, California, Juan Rivera hit two three-run homers and Los Angeles' Bartolo Colon won his fifth straight decision in the series opener between American League division leaders.
Rivera homered on the second pitch from Mike Myers after Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield left the game in the fifth inning after he was hit in the right ankle on a comebacker by Casey Kotchman.
The Angels, who stopped a two-game losing streak, extended their AL West lead to 2 1/2 games over Oakland. Boston's lead over New York dropped to four games in the East.
Colon (16-6) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked none.
Wakefield (13-9) gave up six runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings, struck out five and walked four.
Damian Miller's two-run bases-loaded double off Roger Clemens sparked a four-run seventh inning rally to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 5-2 win over the Houston Astros in National League play Thursday in Houston.
Miller's shot drove in the go-ahead run as the Brewers rallied from a 2-0 deficit to win their third straight game, the fourth in their last five.
The Astros loss put them a half-game behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the race for the NL Wild Card, as the Phillies split a doubleheader with Washington.
Jason Lane homered in the second and singled in the third to give the Astros a 2-0 lead, but Rickie Weeks homered in the sixth to end Clemens scoreless streak at 28 innings and make it 2-1.
Bill Hall's RBI single and a sacrifice fly from Prince Fielder accounted for Milwaukee's other runs in the seventh.
Tomo Ohka (8-7) went six innings for the win, allowing two runs on eight hits with three strikeouts and no walks.
Rick Helling tossed two hitless innings of relief and Derrick Turnbow pitched the ninth for his 27th save.
Clemens (11-5) allowed five runs on five hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two, to take the loss.
In Philadelphia, the Phillies won the opener of their doubleheader with the Washington Nationals 2-1 and dropped the late game 5-4.
Bobby Abreu drove in two runs in the first game. Vincente Padilla (6-11) pitched six innings, allowing one run on six hits, walking two and striking out four for the win. Billy Wagner pitched one inning for his 29th save.
Tony Armas (7-6) pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking six and striking out three to take the loss.
Phillies 2, Nationals 1, Game 1
Nationals 5, Phillies 4, Game 2
Vicente Padilla allowed one run over six innings and Bobby Abreu had a two-run double to lead Philadelphia to a 2-1 victory over Washington in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The win was the Phillies' 10th in their last 14 games and moved them into the lead for the National League wild-card playoff berth.
Padilla (6-11) gave up six hits. Ryan Madson and Ugueth Urbina each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Billy Wagner worked the ninth for his 29th save.
Tony Armas Jr. (7-6) gave up five hits and walked six in five-plus innings.
In the nightcap, Carlos Baerga hit a go-ahead single in the eighth as the Nationals beat the Phillies 5-4.
Luis Ayala (8-6) pitched two innings, allowing one hit, walking one and striking out two for the win. Chad Cordero pitched 1 2/3 innings for his 39th save and Jose Vidro had three hits and drove in two runs for the Nationals.
Ugueth Urbina (3-1) piched one inning, allowing two runs on three hits to take the loss. Chase Utley homered for the Phillies.
Reds 4, Giants 2
In Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 530th career home run and Felipe Lopez also connected as Cincinnati avoided a sweep with a 4-2 win over San Francisco.
Ramon Ortiz pitched a season-high 7 2-3 innings in helping prevent the Giants' first four-game sweep in Cincinnati since May 1983.
Griffey followed Rich Aurilia's first-inning walk with his 29th homer of the season, a two-run shot to center. Lopez hit his first homer in 86 at-bats since July 22, a two-run drive that put the Reds ahead 4-1 in the fourth.
Marlins 2, padres 0
In Miami, Josh Beckett pitched seven solid innings as the Florida Marlins beat the San Diego Padres 2-0.
Beckett (12-6) allowed four hits, walking two and striking out six. Todd Jones pitched one inning for his 26th save and Juan Encarnacion had two hits for the Marlins.
Jake Peavy (10-6) pitched six innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking three and striking out nine to take the loss.
Tuffy Rhodes departed Japan yesterday, leaving a question mark over his future with the Central League's Yomiuri Giants and Japanese baseball.
Rhodes, who is in the final year of a two-year contract with the Giants, was removed from the Giants' roster last week because of an injured right shoulder.
The 36-year-old Rhodes was hitting .240 with 27 homers and 70 RBIs this season for the Giants, who have struggled and are in second last place in the Central League standings with a 46-60 record, 17 games behind the first place Hanshin Tigers.
Despite leading the Giants in home runs, Rhodes has appeared frustrated this season with his team's lackluster performance.
In April, he was fined by the team after an outburst following a loss to the Yakult Swallows.
"I hate the Giants," the Nikkansports newspaper quoted the former major leaguer as saying at the time. "Everybody is lousy, I hate this."
Phone calls to Rhodes on Friday before he left Japan went unanswered.
Rhodes, a 10-year veteran of Japanese baseball, signed with the Giants in 2004 after eight successful seasons with the now-defunct Kintetsu Buffaloes.
He hit 45 homers last season for the Giants and had 55 homers in 2001, tying Sadaharu Oh's single-season record for the most home runs.
Before coming to Japan, Rhodes played for the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros. He leads all foreign players in the history of Japanese baseball with 360 homers.
Palmeiro scratched
Rafael Palmeiro was scratched from the Baltimore Orioles' lineup Wednesday because of a sprained right ankle, a day after he had two hits in his second appearance since coming back from a 10-day steroid suspension.
Palmeiro said he injured the ankle on his sixth-inning infield single during Tuesday's 4-3 win over Oakland. He felt a twinge underneath the bone while pushing off out of the batter's box and running to first.
"That's what I get for not playing two weeks, I guess," he said. "I was ready to come back out today. I'm anxious to be playing every day ... I don't think it's anything serious."
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