Indians overcome reigning champions

TheBaltimore Orioles' Brian Roberts is forced out at second as the Los Angeles Angels' Orlando Cabrera jumps out of the way after throwing to first to complete the double play during the seventh inning of the game in Anaheim, California, on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Travis Hafner homered and drove in four runs, Victor Martinez finished with three RBIs and the Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers 11-5 on Thursday.

The Indians won despite a rough outing by ace CC Sabathia (8-1), who allowed five runs and 10 hits in 7 1-3 innings. Sabathia, 5-0 at Jacobs Field, moved into a tie for the major league lead in wins.

Hafner hit a two-run drive in the first inning and Martinez's two-run homer capped a four-run fifth off Justin Verlander (5-2) as Cleveland improved to 4-0 against the defending American League champion Tigers.

Verlander gave up seven runs and eight hits over five-plus innings for Detroit. The right-hander hit three batters with pitches, walked three, uncorked two wild pitches and struck out six.

Tigers designated hitter Gary Sheffield was ejected in the top of the fifth by plate umpire Greg Gibson after arguing a called strike, then breaking his bat on a groundout and angrily throwing the piece of wood still in his hands.

Washington Nationals starter Micah Bowie pitches in the sixth inning of the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Washington on Thursday. PHOTO: AP

Blue Jays 2, White Sox 0

At Toronto, Roy Halladay picked up his 100th career victory in his return from the disabled list, and Frank Thomas hit a homer to help Toronto send Chicago to its fifth-straight loss.

The game lasted just one hour, 50 minutes, and was the second quickest in the majors this season, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Thomas' homer was his 495th, and 243rd as a designated hitter, tying him with Edgar Martinez for the most career home runs by a DH.

Orioles 6, Angels 2

At Anaheim, California, Nick Markakis drove in three runs and Brian Roberts had three hits as Baltimore beat the AL West-leading Los Angeles.

Brian Burres (3-2) allowed one run and three hits in five innings, struck out three and walked three in his first career start against the Angels.

Kelvim Escobar (6-3) gave up five runs on nine hits in eight innings, struck out three and walked four in losing for the second time in his last seven starts.

Roberts snapped a 1-1 tie in the fifth with a single that scored Kevin Millar.

The inning began with a walk to Millar. Ramon Hernandez followed with a double to left-center that had outfielders Reggie Willits and Gary Matthews Jr giving chase. Willits turned away at the last second, avoiding Matthews by inches as the ball went off Willits' glove.

Markakis followed Roberts' hit with a double to left-center that had Willits and Matthews on the run again. This time, Willits chased the ball to the wall as two runs scored, extending Baltimore's lead to 4-1.

Mariners 9, Rangers 5

At Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki extended his hitting streak to a career-high 24 games and Seattle beat Texas.

Suzuki went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Kenji Johjima, Adrian Beltre and Yuniesky Betancourt all had two hits for Seattle.

Gerald Laird hit a three-run homer and Frank Catalanotto had a two-run double for Texas, which lost for the eighth time in nine games to fall a season-low 16 games under .500. The Rangers lost a team-record 20 games last month.

Texas slugger Sammy Sosa struck out four times and remains stuck on 598 career homers.

Suzuki led off the bottom of the first with a base hit to center field.

Jose Guillen reached on a one-out single off Vicente Padilla (2-8), who then walked Raul Ibanez to load the bases. Richie Sexson followed with a two-run single and Johjima's base hit made it 3-0.

Beltre, Betancourt and Suzuki all had run-scoring singles in the third and Jose Vidro drove in a run with a groundout to extend the lead to 7-0.

Prince Fielder set a franchise record with his 13th homer this month, JJ Hardy drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Florida Marlins 4-3 in the National League on Thursday.

Corey Hart doubled with two outs in the eighth and Hardy followed with a single off Matt Lindstrom (0-2) for his team-leading 46th RBI.

The Marlins made a move to improve their bullpen by agreeing to send reliever Randy Messenger to San Francisco for struggling closer Armando Benitez.

Fielder got to Wes Obermueller in the fourth for a two-run homer to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.

Fielder moved into a tie with the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez for the major league lead with 19 homers. He also set a franchise record for homers in any month.

Mets 4, Giants 2

At New York, Orlando Hernandez gave up two quick hits and little else over seven impressive innings, and New York won for the fifth time in six games.

Jose Reyes energized the Mets with a leadoff walk, his major league-leading 29th steal and an RBI single.

Barry Bonds went 0-for-3 and stayed at 746 career home runs.

Hernandez (3-1) had his scoreless-inning streak stopped at a career-high 19 while sending the Giants to their fifth loss in six tries.

Nationals 11, Dodgers 4

At Washington, Ryan Zimmerman homered and drove in four runs, Dmitri Young had four hits and Washington broke out of its hitting slump.

The Nationals mustered a total of nine hits the previous two nights while being outscored a combined 15-0, but had 14 hits on Thursday.

Micah Bowie (2-2) made his third start of the season and gave up three runs in 5 1-3 innings.

In other National League action on Thursday it was:

* Astros 10, Reds 2

* Padres 4, Pirates 2, 11 innings

* Cardinals 7, Rockies 2