Milton Wins Duel Against Sabathia

Eric Milton didn’t give up a hit until the sixth inning and thought he was outpitched.

The Minnesota left-hander got the victory, though, when Cristian Guzman scored on a throwing error by pitcher Danys Baez in the eighth inning and the Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, at Cleveland on Friday night.

Indian starter C.C. Sabathia struck out 11 in seven scoreless innings, giving up four hits and four walks.

“I think he pitched a better game than I did,” Milton said.

Minnesota closed within six games of Cleveland, whose magic number for clinching the American League Central remained at three.

Milton (15-7) combined with two relievers on a three-hitter and didn’t give up a hit for 52/3 innings until Wil Cordero grounded one into the hole at shortstop that Guzman backhanded but had no play on.

Seattle 5, Oakland 3--Ichiro Suzuki had infield singles in his first two at-bats at Seattle to tie Shoeless Joe Jackson’s rookie hits record as the Mariners ended the A’s seven-game winning streak.

With the two singles, Suzuki matched the record of 233 that Jackson set in 1911.

The Mariners announced during the game that regular shortstop Carlos Guillen has been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis and will be out for at least one week.

New York 7, Baltimore 0--Mike Mussina pitched a three-hitter for his third shutout and matched his season high with 13 strikeouts to lead the Yankees at New York.

Mussina (16-11) fanned seven of his first nine batters, striking out the side in the third inning, and walked none.

Detroit 4, Boston 1--Jeff Weaver (13-15) made the best of his bobblehead doll night, pitching eight scoreless innings to lead the Tigers at Detroit.

The Red Sox (76-76) have lost five of six and 20 of 25 to drop to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2.

Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 1--Felix Martinez and Steve Cox drove in two runs each during a six-run second inning and the Devil Rays won at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Kansas City 3, Chicago 2--Gregg Zaun hit a tiebreaking pinch homer off Alan Embree (1-2) and Chad Durbin ended his seven-game losing streak, leading the Royals at Kansas City, Mo.