Garcia Wins His White Sox Debut

Freddy Garcia received plenty of run support from his new team, winning his debut with the Chicago White Sox, 9-6, over the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night at Minneapolis.

Paul Konerko, Jose Valentin and Joe Crede backed Garcia with home runs, and the White Sox moved one game ahead of the Twins in the Central Division -- two in the loss column.

Acquired Sunday in a trade with the Seattle Mariners to solidify Chicago’s rotation for the playoff race, Garcia (5-7) gave up seven hits and five runs -- four earned -- in six innings while striking out a season-high nine.

The White Sox have won four in a row and six of their last seven against rival Minnesota. The Twins have been outscored, 61-19, in those six defeats.

Tampa Bay 6, Toronto 2 -- Rey Sanchez hit his first conventional home run in more than two years to help the Devil Rays win at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Sanchez’s second homer of the season -- a three-run shot -- came during a five-run fourth inning that gave the Devil Rays a 5-0 lead.

It was Sanchez’s 15th career homer in his 4,684th at-bat, and the first homer he hit into the stands since April 30, 2002, at Boston.

Detroit 12, Cleveland 5 -- At Detroit, the Tigers overcame a three-run deficit and won their sixth in a row. It’s their longest winning streak since they won six straight in May 2002.

The Tigers improved to 37-39. Last season, when they set a league record with 119 losses, they didn’t get their 37th win until Sept. 4.

Ivan Rodriguez had three hits in four at-bats for the Tigers, raising his major league-leading average to .381.

Baltimore 13, Kansas City 4 -- Chad Mottola, called up from triple-A Ottawa earlier in the day, hit his first major league home run since 1996, and Miguel Tejada and David Newhan also homered for the Orioles at Kansas City, Mo.

Mottola hit a towering, three-run homer to make it 8-0 in the second inning against Brian Anderson (1-8).

Texas 9, Seattle 6 -- Kenny Rogers became the first 11-game winner in the majors, and Hank Blalock hit his 21st home run, a two-run shot, leading the Rangers at Seattle. Rogers (11-2) won his seventh consecutive decision.