Blue Jays Remain Atop East With 9-6 Win Over Indians

Only three more games and the road-weary Toronto Blue Jays will finally be able to go home and get some rest.

They need it.

Carlos Delgado had four runs batted in and Shannon Stewart went four for five with two RBIs Thursday night as the Blue Jays, nearing the end of a grueling 13-day trip, avoided a sweep and stayed atop the American League East with a 9-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians at Cleveland.

Delgado, who will make his first All-Star appearance Tuesday, singled in two runs in the third and added a two-run double in the sixth.

The Blue Jays, who have been in first place since June 23, maintained their half-game lead over the New York Yankees.

“This has been a difficult trip for us,” said Toronto Manager Jim Fregosi, whose team is 4-6 with three interleague games against the Montreal Expos left before the break. “This was an important win for us tonight and an important win for [Chris] Carpenter.”

Carpenter (7-7), who pitched only 10 innings combined in his previous three starts, went 5 2/3 this time, giving up five runs and 11 hits.

Stewart had four singles, scored twice and delivered a key sacrifice fly in the seventh that put the Blue Jays ahead, 7-5. Jose Cruz Jr. homered in the ninth to make the score 9-6.

Cruz, who has 19 homers, needs one more before Monday to make the Blue Jays the first team in major league history to have four players with at least 20 homers at the All-Star break.

New York 13, Baltimore 9--Derek Jeter hit a three-run homer and Paul O’Neill followed with a solo shot to cap an eight-run second inning as the Yankees rallied from seven runs down at New York.

Bernie Williams and David Justice added consecutive homers in the fourth inning for the Yankees, who have won four of five.

Boston 8, Minnesota 7--Nomar Garciaparra hit two two-run homers and Paxton Crawford, in only his second major league start, outpitched the Twins’ Brad Radke at Minneapolis.

Crawford (1-1) gave up one run on six hits through seven innings to help the Red Sox complete a four-game sweep. Boston scored 44 runs in the series.

Radke (5-10) was making his first start since agreeing Monday to a four-year, $36-million contract, the richest deal in the Twins’ history.