Twins Are Falling and Can’t Get Up

For months, Minnesota managed to somehow stay at or near the top of the AL Central.

But the Twins may be out of tricks.

Minnesota lost its sixth in a row Wednesday night as Kenny Lofton of the Indians hit a three-run home run at Cleveland to power an 8-2 victory and a season-high 3 1/2-game lead in the division.

“It’s like we hit a wall and are stuck to it,” Joe Mays (12-11) said. “It’s like they put tar on it and we can’t break away. We can’t go over it. We can’t get around it, and we can’t dig under it.”

Cleveland’s defense bailed out Chuck Finley (5-5) for five innings, Lofton had four hits and Jim Thome added his AL-leading 40th home run.

Minnesota has lost 23 of 30 and is 9-24 since the All-Star break.

“What we have to do is keep our chins up,” said Mays, who has lost his last four starts. “We’re in the hole right now. We’re not pitching well. We’re not playing well and we’re not playing defense. We have to get back to the way we were playing in the first half. I know we can do it, but we have to get going.”

Lofton, who had two singles and a double, is batting .412 with 15 runs and seven runs batted in in his last 13 games.

“Kenny makes us go,” Indian Manager Charlie Manuel said. “When he gets going, it makes us our offense different.”

Finley was making his second start since returning from his second stint on the disabled list because of neck and shoulder spasms. The left-hander gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings, but got his first win since May 12 thanks to some stellar defense.

Cleveland made three great defensive plays behind Finley, and catcher Einar Diaz threw out two runners trying to steal.

Shortstop Omar Vizquel and second baseman Roberto Alomar turned a spectacular double play in the first to snuff out a bases-loaded threat.

With one out, Torii Hunter hit a grounder up the middle that Vizquel ran down, and in one motion scooped the ball with his glove to Alomar, who stepped on second and threw to first.

The pair turned another double play in the third before Vizquel made a diving backhanded stop in the hole and threw out John Barnes.

“Those guys are human vacuums out there,” Finley said. “They’re fun to watch.”

Finley got out of trouble in the fifth when left fielder Marty Cordova made a diving catch near the line with two on, and Finley got out of the inning by striking out David Ortiz.

“I knew that was my last batter,” Finley said of his nine-pitch battle with Ortiz. “He just kept fouling them off and I just felt like ‘OK, that’s enough.’ ”

Thome’s two-run shot barely cleared the 19-foot wall in left, but it put the Indians up, 5-0, against Mays, who was lifted after throwing 88 pitches in three innings. Alomar tripled leading off, and one out later, Thome matched his career-high by hitting No. 40 on a 3-2 pitch.

Toronto 5, Oakland 2--Kelvim Escobar gave up three hits over 7 2/3 innings and Alex Gonzalez went three for four with a two-run home run at Toronto.

Dan Plesac pitched an inning and Paul Quantrill entered in the ninth with a runner on first and two out. He gave up Miguel Tejada’s run-scoring double and Eric Chavez’s RBI single. Billy Koch got the final out for his 27th save.

Barry Zito (8-8) gave up five runs--three earned--and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Seattle 6, Boston 2--Edgar Martinez hit a three-run home run for the second consecutive night and Freddy Garcia gave up three hits in eight innings at Boston, helping the Mariners clinch another road series.

With wins in the first two games of the three-games series, the Mariners have won 16 of their 20 series away from home. They split the other four.

Martinez’s 19th home run and Bret Boone’s 27th in a four-run third inning gave Seattle a 5-1 lead against Frank Castillo (7-7).

Baltimore 5, Kansas City 4--Cal Ripken hit his second pivotal home run in two games, a tiebreaking shot in the sixth inning at Baltimore.

Jose Mercedes (7-13) gave up four runs and four hits in six innings to defeat the Royals for the second time in eight days. Willis Roberts worked the ninth for his fourth save.

Chicago 6, Texas 5--Magglio Ordonez homered in the seventh off Pat Mahomes to break a 5-5 tie. Jose Canseco and Ray Durham also hit solo shots at Chicago.

Kip Wells (7-9) pitched one inning of perfect relief for the victory, and Keith Foulke worked the ninth for his 30th save.