AL | Tigers slow Red Sox; Indians hammer Twins

BOSTON - Justin Verlander scattered six hits over 72/3 innings, and Brandon Inge and Magglio Ordonez homered to cool off Tim Wakefield and lead the Detroit Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox last night.

Verlander (4-1) allowed two runs and struck out seven before leaving the game when Kevin Youkilis hit a solo home run in the eighth. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year, Verlander has allowed four earned runs in four road starts this season.

The Tigers have won 12 of their last 15 games despite losing their previous two, including Monday's 7-1 loss to Boston in Daisuke Matsuzaka's first major-league complete game. They faced another strong pitcher in Wakefield (4-4), who was leading the AL in opponents' batting average, second in the league in ERA, and had not allowed a run in his two previous starts.

But Inge hit a solo homer in the third to snap Wakefield's shutout streak at 16 innings. After Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield singled, Ordonez homered over the Green Monster to make it 4-1.

Indians 15, Twins 7

CLEVELAND - Paul Byrd won for the first time in three starts in May and Cleveland had two six-run innings in accumulating season highs in hits and runs in a win over Minnesota.

Jhonny Peralta homered and had four RBIs, Grady Sizemore had four hits, including a two-run homer, and Josh Barfield had three hits and three RBIs for the Indians.

Cleveland had 17 hits and improved baseball's best home record to 12-3 in the opener of a seven-game homestand.

Blue Jays 2, Orioles 1

TORONTO - Jesse Litsch pitched into the ninth inning in his major-league debut and Troy Glaus singled in the go-ahead run in the sixth to help Toronto beat Baltimore.

Litsch walked Miguel Tejada with two outs in the ninth, and Toronto manager John Gibbons replaced him with Jeremy Accardo. Litsch got a loud ovation from the Rogers Centre crowd as he left the field and came out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Devil Rays 4, Rangers 3

KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The Devil Rays got everything they needed for a successful debut at Disney World.

Brendan Harris' bases-loaded single in the 10th inning, his fourth hit, drove in the winning run off Scott Feldman (1-2), who was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma earlier in the day.

Brian Stokes (2-5) pitched the 10th for the Devil Rays, who then loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the inning on two walks and Delmon Young's single.

Mariners 11, Angels 3

SEATTLE - Ichiro Suzuki had his sixth five-hit game and Felix Hernandez returned from a stint on the disabled list to pitch 32/3 innings and Seattle beat Los Angeles.

The 21-year-old Hernandez, who was dominant before a strained forearm idled him for 26 days, looked healthy but rusty in allowing three runs and walking three.

Last night's game between the New York Yankees and the White Sox in Chicago was postponed because of rain and will be made up today as part of a day-night doubleheader.