Zito Sharp Again as A’s Beat Twins

Barry Zito yielded four hits over seven innings in another strong start at Oakland, leading the Athletics to a 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday night.

Frank Thomas hit the 460th home run of his career in the second inning, and Mark Kotsay and Dan Johnson also connected in the A’s second consecutive victory after they had lost 10 of their previous 11 games.

Oakland managed to stay in second place in the AL West, and Zito was formidable in the opener of a four-game series against the Twins.

Zito (5-3) was hit hard in his first two home starts this season but has yielded only two runs in 28 innings during his last four appearances at home, where he routinely dominated opponents early in his major league career.

In his 200th start, Zito got the 1,000th strikeout of his career in the sixth inning, fanning Lew Ford. In all, he struck out five and didn’t walk a batter in his third consecutive victory. Kiki Calero and Huston Street worked the last two innings.

Detroit 7, New York 6 -- Carlos Guillen singled in the winning run to cap a two-run, ninth-inning rally against Kyle Farnsworth, and the Tigers beat the short-handed Yankees to avoid a four-game sweep.

The Yankees were without All-Star closer Mariano Rivera, who injured his back while putting on his spikes before the game.

Detroit trailed, 6-5, going into the ninth, but rallied against former teammate Farnsworth (1-3). With one out, Marcus Thames walked and took second on Ivan Rodriguez’s single.

Magglio Ordonez followed with a game-tying single, giving him four runs batted in, and Guillen lined Detroit’s 13th hit of the game to right field as Rodriguez scored easily from second.

Yankee starter Chien-Ming Wang was given a 5-0 lead but lasted only four-plus innings. He gave up five runs and eight hits.

Cleveland 12, Chicago 8 -- Ronnie Belliard hit a three-run homer to help the Indians win their third in a row over the visiting White Sox.

Jermaine Dye homered twice and drove in five runs, and Jim Thome had three RBIs for Chicago, which led, 5-2, trailed, 7-5, and went ahead, 8-7.

But the White Sox couldn’t prevent the Indians from winning the final three games of the series after losing the opener, 11-0.

Belliard fouled off five straight 1-2 pitches before connecting against Brandon McCarthy to give the Indians a 10-8 lead in the seventh inning.

Tampa Bay 8, Baltimore 6 -- Carl Crawford tripled in two runs and scored twice at Baltimore, and the Devil Rays ended a six-game losing streak.

Tampa Bay starter Scott Kazmir yielded three runs and two hits in two innings. When play resumed after a 1-hour 32-minute rain delay, Manager Joe Maddon brought in Travis Harper (2-0), who gave up one run in three innings.