Indians wrap up series against slumping Tigers

Jim Leyland doesn't want the Detroit Tigers to stare at the standings.

That's probably a good idea because the slumping Tigers are slipping behind Cleveland in the AL Central and losing ground in the wild-card race.

Pinch hitter Kenny Lofton's infield single off Joel Zumaya broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the 10th inning, and the visiting Indians went on to beat Detroit 3-1 Thursday.

Cleveland won the three-game series and leads the Tigers in the division by 2½ games, the biggest cushion since the Indians were ahead by 3 games on July 3.

"These types of series really test you," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I'm really pleased with the way our guys competed."

Cleveland's Jake Westbrook and Detroit's Nate Robertson kept the game scoreless through 8 innings.

Then, in a battle of the bullpens, the Indians did better -- barely.

Down 3-0 in the 10th, the Tigers still had a chance to win a series for the first time since mid-July. Marcus Thames hit an RBI double with two outs off Joe Borowski, putting a pair of runners in scoring position, but Ivan Rodriguez popped out to end the game.

The Indians and Tigers are scheduled to play only one more series, a three-game set Sept. 17-19 in Cleveland. With Seattle and New York playing well in the wild-card race, they might be competing for only one spot in the postseason.

"I don't really worry about that," Leyland said. "The issue is to win games.

"If you sit around and stare at the standings and don't do anything about it, you've got problems."

The Tigers clearly have problems.

Since they had the best record in the majors and a 2-game lead in the division on July 21, they are 10-22 and have lost five of their last six.

"We get the pitching one night, and we don't get the hitting. Then, we have the pitching and not the hitting," Curtis Granderson said. "We just have to put it together.

"Nate pitched well and all we had to do was score one run."

Westbrook and three relievers didn't let Detroit score until it was too late.

Seeming to turn his season around, Westbrook turned in another strong performance. He allowed 5 hits and 2 walks -- 1 intentional -- over 8 innings. He is 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA in August after starting the season 1-6.

Robertson gave up 4 hits and no walks in a season-high 8¿ innings.

"Robertson was as good as we've seen him and he's been good against us a few times. He took it to another level," Wedge said. "Jake was right there with him against that lineup and in their backyard."

Zumaya (1-2) left Sizemore stranded, but gave up a leadoff double to Victor Martinez and intentionally walked Travis Hafner in the 10th.

He had a shot at getting a key double play, but Ryan Garko beat the relay throw. After Jhonny Peralta drew a four-pitch walk, Franklin Gutierrez struck out.

Lofton batted for Jason Michaels and got the go-ahead hit. Chris Gomez followed with a 2-run single.

Twins 5, Orioles 2: Boof Bonser pitched 7 innings of 3-hit ball to earn his first win since June 10, and visiting Minnesota took advantage of shoddy fielding by Baltimore.

One night after permitting a major-league-record 39 runs in a doubleheader loss to Texas -- including an AL-record 30 in the first game -- the Orioles found a different way to lose.

Steve Trachsel (6-8) took a 3-hitter and a 1-0 lead into the eighth inning, but the Twins capitalized on 3 walks and 2 errors to score 4 runs.

Athletics 12, Devil Rays 2: Mike Piazza hit his 424th homer, had 4 hits and drove in a season-high 5 runs, powering visiting Oakland past Tampa Bay.

Piazza hit a 2-run shot -- his fifth of the year -- off Brian Stokes to extended the A's lead to 10-1 in the sixth. The designated hitter, who missed 68 games this season with a right shoulder injury, put Oakland ahead 1-0 on a run-scoring double in the first, had a fourth-inning RBI single and a run-scoring double in the eighth.

National League

Dodgers 5, Phillies 2: Chad Billingsley struck out seven in 7 innings to earn his first victory in a month, and visiting Los Angeles beat Philadelphia.

Billingsley (8-4) allowed 1 run and 4 hits, winning for the first time since he beat Houston on July 23. The 22-year-old right-hander was a hard-luck loser in that span. He lost consecutive games 1-0 and was 0-4 with a no-decision in 5 starts.

Juan Pierre drove in the go-ahead run with a bloop single in the seventh inning, and the Dodgers scored 3 insurance runs off struggling reliever Tom Gordon in the eighth to win for the sixth time in eight games.

Marlins 11, Cardinals 3: Josh Willingham homered twice with a career-best 6 RBI, including a grand slam in the third inning, helping Florida stop an eight-game losing streak with a win at St. Losic.

Albert Pujols was 0-for-3 with a popup, line out to center and groundout, ending his streak of homering in a career-best five consecutive games when he was lifted after the sixth. Pujols' RBI streak also ended at seven games.

Pirates 5, Rockies 1: Josh Phelps had 3 RBI and a career-high 4 hits, and Paul Maholm scattered 7 hits over 7 innings to lead visiting Pittsburgh over Colorado.

Phelps, who was acquired off waivers from the New York Yankees on June 22, went 4-for-5. Maholm (10-14) allowed a run, walked two and struck out five in winning for the fifth time in 7 starts.

The Pirates took three of four games from the struggling Rockies, losers of four of five.

Reds 9, Braves 7 (12): Adam Dunn hit a 2-run homer in the 12th inning to give Cincinnati its third straight win.

Mark Teixeira homered and Chipper Jones matched a career high with 5 RBI, but that wasn't enough to keep the Braves from their second three-game losing streak in eight days. Atlanta fell 3 games behind San Diego, the NL wild card leader.