Ramirez Turns On Power

Beaten by a flurry of home runs in their last game, Manny Ramirez and the Cleveland Indians came back to put on a power display of their own.

Ramirez hit three of Cleveland’s five home runs, and the Indians rebounded from a tough loss to beat the Athletics, 12-4, Wednesday at Oakland.

Oakland remained in a tie with Boston for the AL wild-card berth as the Red Sox lost.

“He can flat-out hit,” Oakland’s Jason Giambi said of Ramirez. “When he wants to, he can be the show all by himself.”

Ramirez, who has 36 homers and a major league-leading 130 runs batted in, had the second three-homer game of his career. He hit solo shots off Mike Oquist (9-9) in the third and Doug Jones in seventh, then hit a two-run homer off Jimmy Haynes in the eighth.

“I just went out there, was patient and got my hands extended,” Ramirez said. “I just got some good pitches to hit.”

Omar Vizquel homered and doubled to drive in four runs, matching a season-high, and Jim Thome homered for the second time in as many games.

Cleveland, which lost, 11-10, Tuesday night in the opener of the two-game series, was 10-2 against Oakland this year.

Bartolo Colon (14-4) pretty much kept the A’s in check, giving up three runs, four hits and five walks in seven innings. He is 7-1 in nine second-half starts.

Texas 7, New York 3--Esteban Loaiza overcame a shaky start to win his seventh consecutive decision as the Rangers salvaged the finale of a three-game series with the Yankees at Arlington, Texas.

Rafael Palmeiro hit his ninth home run in nine games, a solo shot in the sixth inning, as the Rangers overcame a 3-0 deficit.

Loaiza (7-1), who hasn’t lost since the all-star break, gave up all three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked two.

“I feel a lot of confidence in myself,” Loaiza said. “I’m starting to throw the ball where I’m supposed to.”

Hideki Irabu (10-5) gave up six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings.

Chicago 6, Tampa Bay 1--Ray Durham went four for five with three doubles and three RBIs to lead the White Sox at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Magglio Ordonez hit a two-run single in the eighth inning for Chicago, giving him a team-high 99 RBIs. Chicago won for the 10th time in 14 games.

Tampa Bay’s Wade Boggs, who made only his third start in 12 games, went three for three with a walk, and with 3,008 hits, he moved past Al Kaline into 20th place on the career list.

Keith Foulke (2-3) pitched three hitless innings for the win, completing a seven-hitter. Ryan Rupe (7-7) took the loss.

Kansas City 8, Baltimore 6--Joe Randa had four RBIs and Johnny Damon legged out his first inside-the-park homer at Kansas City, Mo., as the Royals beat the Orioles to end a five-game losing streak.

Jeff Suppan (8-7) gave up four runs, eight hits and four walks in 7 1/3 innings. Jeff Montgomery got the final out for his 300th save, retiring Albert Belle on a grounder with two on for his eighth save in 14 chances this season.

Seattle 3, Detroit 2--Ken Griffey Jr. hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and John Halama pitched eight strong innings to give the Mariners a victory at Seattle.

Halama (10-5) gave up two runs and eight hits to snap a personal three-game losing streak. Jose Mesa earned his 29th save.

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Three-Homer Games

Manny Ramirez became the 11th player to hit three home runs in a game this season:

April 21: Jeff Bagwell, Houston at Chicago Cubs

April 28: Larry Walker, Colorado at St. Louis

May 10: Nomar Garciaparra, Boston vs. Seattle

May 18: Edgar Martinez, Seattle vs. Minnesota

May 19: Jeffrey Hammonds, Cincinnati at Colorado

June 6: Vinny Castilla, Colorado vs. Milwaukee

June 9: Jeff Bagwell, Houston at Chicago White Sox

June 11: Miguel Tejada, Oakland vs. Dodgers

July 24: Trot Nixon, Boston at Detroit

July 25: Albert Belle, Baltimore vs. Angels

Aug. 6: Carlos Delgado, Toronto vs. Texas

Aug. 25: Manny Ramirez, Cleveland at Oakland