AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mesa’s Streak Ends, but Indians Still Win

Sandy Alomar hit an 11th-inning home run Friday night at Cleveland as the Indians recorded another dramatic victory, beating the Detroit Tigers, 6-5.

The Indians have built baseball’s best record (74-35) largely by dominating the late innings of games. They’ve won 22 games in their last at-bat this year, including seven on game-ending home runs, and are 9-0 in extra innings.

“Fans are expecting it, too,” Alomar said. “They don’t say, ‘Get on base.’ They say, ‘Hit it out.’ ”

Alomar’s 11th-inning homer came after Cleveland relief ace Jose Mesa blew a save for the first time all season, stopping his record streak at 38 when Chad Curtis hit a two-out, solo home run in the ninth.

Albert Belle celebrated his 29th birthday by homering twice to become the first Cleveland player to hit 30 home runs in four consecutive seasons.

Kansas City 9, Texas 4--Rookie Joe Vitiello’s three-run homer helped Mark Gubicza beat the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Gubicza (9-11), who hadn’t beaten Texas at home in nine years, matched his highest victory total since 1991 and ended a personal four-game losing streak against the Rangers.

The right-hander, 8-11 lifetime against Texas, had lost five in a row at home to the Rangers and hadn’t beaten them in Kansas City since May 31, 1986.

Milwaukee 6, Minnesota 3--John Jaha hit a three-run homer and rookie Scott Karl won for the fourth time in his last five starts for the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Chicago 8, Toronto 7--Rookie Ray Durham hit his first major league grand slam and Lance Johnson added a two-run homer in a seven-run sixth inning at Toronto.

Oakland 6, Boston 1--Scott Brosius homered twice and Rickey Henderson added a two-run shot at Oakland as the Athletics ended the Red Sox’s six-game winning streak. Boston’s Jose Canseco hit a solo home run in the ninth, his fifth homer in five nights.