Indians Slowed by the Red Sox

It took the World Series champions to slow down the surging Cleveland Indians, and it took them until the final out to do it.

Manny Ramirez homered and drove in four runs against his former team, and the Boston Red Sox held off a late Cleveland comeback for a 10-9 victory Monday night at Cleveland, ending the Indians’ nine-game winning streak.

“Well, we won, barely,” Red Sox Manager Terry Francona said. “I think that’s what you call hanging on for dear life. That’s a pretty good team over there. They don’t stop playing.”

Ramirez and Jason Varitek each hit a three-run homer, with Varitek’s shot coming during a six-run fifth inning that sent Indian starter C.C. Sabathia walking off the field in disgust after one of the worst starts of his career.

“I messed up a nine-game win streak,” Sabathia said. “That is unacceptable.”

Cleveland made it close with consecutive home runs in the eighth, but Johnny Damon connected in the ninth to provide a key insurance run for the Red Sox, who have won seven of eight.

All that offense made a winner of David Wells (6-4), who won his fourth straight decision despite a rough outing.

The Indians’ winning streak was their longest since 2002 and had moved the club to seven games over .500. The Red Sox are on a run of their own, improving to a season-high nine games over .500.

Travis Hafner hit a two-run shot, his 10th, off Alan Embree in the eighth. Keith Foulke took over and gave up a home run to Victor Martinez, making it 9-8.

Damon’s home run made it 10-8. Foulke allowed an RBI double to Jhonny Peralta in the bottom half, then retired Grady Sizemore and Coco Crisp for his 14th save in 16 chances.

Damon called off Ramirez and tracked down Crisp’s slicing fly near the warning track in left-center for the final out.

Ramirez, who left Cleveland as a free agent after the 2000 season, hit his 15th homer to the porch in left for a 3-1 lead in the fourth. He was simultaneously booed by the hometown crowd and cheered by visiting Red Sox fans as he rounded the bases.

Ramirez is eight for 14 with four home runs and seven RBIs against Sabathia (5-4), who stood with his hands on his hips as Ramirez trotted home.

Sabathia gave up a career-high nine earned runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his previous start.

“He started out strong but it was similar to his last outing where one bad inning dominoed on him,” Indian Manager Eric Wedge said.

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Tampa Bay 5, New York 4 -- Casey Fossum took a shutout into the eighth inning at New York to win as a starter for the first time since last August, and the Devil Rays ended the Yankees’ winning streak at six.

Hideki Matsui hit a three-run home run off Lance Carter in the eighth as the Yankees rallied from a five-run deficit to make it close.

Fossum (3-5) had been 0-7 in 12 starts since beating Cincinnati for Arizona on Aug. 28.

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Toronto 11, Baltimore 2 -- Ted Lilly and Justin Speier combined on a three-hitter, and Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill each hit first-inning home runs for the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Wells hit a three-run homer off Bruce Chen (6-5) in his first at-bat since returning to the team after sitting out three games to be with his wife, who gave birth to a baby boy last weekend.

One batter later, Hill hit his first major league home run. Hill, a rookie, went four for four to establish a career high for hits and raise his average to .382.

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Chicago 11, Kansas City 8 -- Paul Konerko, Frank Thomas and Jermaine Dye each homered, and A.J. Pierzynski had a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning at Chicago to lead the White Sox to their fifth straight victory.

Konerko hit a three-run homer in the first, Thomas had a solo shot in the third and Dye led off the fifth with a home run. The Royals tied it 8-8 on consecutive home runs by John Buck and Ruben Gotay in the sixth.

Neal Cotts (2-0) struck out three and gave up one hit in 2 1/3 innings, extending his scoreless streak to nine straight outings.

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Oakland 6, Seattle 2 -- Bobby Kielty and Mark Kotsay homered in a four-run eighth inning, leading the Athletics at Seattle.

Dan Haren pitched eight strong innings and Nick Swisher homered and drove in two runs for the suddenly resurgent A’s, who won for the seventh time in 10 games.