Indians Getting Closer to Twins

The surprising Cleveland Indians pulled to within two games of first-place Minnesota in the Central Division with an 8-2 victory over the Twins on Friday night at Cleveland.

The Indians have won five in a row and nine of 10, gaining six games on the Twins in nine days. Minnesota has lost seven of nine.

Scott Elarton (2-2) had his best start of the season, and the Indians roughed up Minnesota early in the first of 13 games remaining between the clubs.

The Indians scored five times in the first inning on Victor Martinez’s two-run double and Ben Broussard’s 455-foot, three-run homer.

Elarton went seven innings, yielding two runs, seven hits and a walk. He was backed up by fine defensive plays from Casey Blake and Jody Gerut.

Texas 5, Tampa Bay 3 -- At Arlington, Texas, Laynce Nix and Alfonso Soriano homered, and Kenny Rogers earned his 14th victory to lead the Rangers, who had lost six of their previous seven games.

Nix, who had three hits in 21 at-bats in his previous seven games, hit a two-run homer in the second inning. Soriano had a solo shot in the fifth. Rogers (14-5) yielded three runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Baltimore 4, Toronto 0 -- Sidney Ponson and three relievers combined on a five-hitter at Toronto, leading the Orioles to their 10th win in 11 games.

Ponson (8-12) is 5-0 in his last six starts after losing nine straight. He yielded five hits, struck out six and walked one in six-plus innings.

Signed to a three-year, $22.5-million contract in the off-season, Ponson was 3-12 with a 6.29 earned-run average on July 4 after losing his ninth straight start. His ERA is down to 5.47.

Chicago 8, Boston 7 -- Aaron Rowand hit two home runs, the second a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning, to lead the White Sox at Boston.

Rowand, who drove in four runs, helped Jose Contreras (10-5), making his third start for the White Sox since being acquired from the New York Yankees, record his first victory against the Red Sox. He was 0-4 in six appearances against them.

New York 11, Seattle 3 -- Ruben Sierra hit a grand slam and drove in five runs for the Yankees at Seattle. Bernie Williams had a three-run homer and Jorge Posada hit a solo shot for the Yankees, who lead the major leagues with 178 homers.

Despite playing without All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who sat out his first game of the season with flu, the Yankees improved to a season-high 33 games over .500 at 74-41.

Kansas City 10, Oakland 3 -- At Oakland, rookie Abraham Nunez hit a grand slam for his first home run of the season, spoiling Mark Mulder’s bid to become the first 16-game winner in the major leagues.

Nunez connected on a full-count with two out in the sixth to break a scoreless tie. Jonathan Buck, another rookie, also hit a grand slam for the Royals, who ended a 10-game losing streak to the A’s, which included the first six meetings this season.

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The Tampa Bay Devil Rays released first baseman Robert Fick and optioned right-hander Jeremi Gonzalez to triple-A Durham. Fick signed as a free agent in January but struggled throughout the season, batting .201 with six home runs and 26 RBIs.

Gonzalez was 0-5 with a 6.97 ERA.