Red Sox win 6th straight, drop Devil Rays

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Rey Sanchez drove in two runs as the Boston Red Sox won their sixth in a row, beating Tampa Bay 5-3 Monday night to hand the Devil Rays their team record-tying 11th straight loss.

Tampa Bay's slide matched the club mark set June 30-July 13, 1998, and also equaled the longest losing streak in the majors this year. Detroit opened the season with 11 consecutive losses.

Brian Daubach hit a solo homer as Boston completed a four-game sweep. The Red Sox increased their lead in the AL East to five games over idle New York, giving them their biggest lead since winning the division in 1995 by 7 1/2 games.

Daubach hit his fifth homer of the season off Tanyon Sturtze (0-4) in the seventh inning, giving Darren Oliver (4-1) a 5-1 lead.

Indians 9, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE -- Former Oriole Brady Anderson, making his return to Camden Yards, doubled and scored the tiebreaking run on Jolbert Cabrera's bad-hop single in the eighth inning for Cleveland.

Jim Thome, Russell Branyan and Matt Lawton homered for the Indians, who have won three straight following a six-game skid. Travis Fryman had three hits, and Anderson, released by the Orioles after 14 years, went 2-for-4.

With the score 4-all, Buddy Groom (1-1) got the first two outs in the eighth before Anderson doubled and Cabrera singled him in. Branyan hit Groom's next pitch for a two-run homer.

Ryan Drese (3-3), who lost his previous three starts, gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Twins 3, Tigers 1

MINNEAPOLIS -- Jacque Jones drove in three runs, and the Twins' bullpen picked up for injured starter Rick Reed and beat the Tigers.

Minnesota improved to 15-2 at home this year -- 6-1 against Detroit at the Metrodome. Tony Fiore, Mike Jackson and J.C. Romero held the Tigers scoreless for three innings.

Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in as many chances.

Reed (4-1) threw only 62 pitches in five innings, but left with a strained right forearm. Knuckleballer Steve Sparks (2-3) allowed three runs on 11 hits and three walks in his second complete game of the season.

Rangers 6, White Sox 5

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Gabe Kapler made up for two earlier errors with a key defensive play and a game-winning sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to give Texas the victory.

Kapler's short fly to left field was far enough to score Rafael Palmeiro, who led off the ninth by drawing a walk off Antonio Osuna (3-1). Palmeiro had gone to third on Rusty Greer's single, his third hit of the game.

Hideki Irabu (1-2), the sixth Texas pitcher, worked the ninth. Magglio Ordonez had a two-out single, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. Ordonez was thrown out by Kapler, who was in center field after making his errors in right earlier in the game.

Kapler's throwing error in the seventh allowed Chicago to go ahead 5-4. He also bobbled a hit in the third, when the White Sox took a 4-3 lead.

Elsewhere

RANGERS:Texas granted right-handed pitcher Dan Miceli his unconditional release. Miceli was designated for assignment April 29, but as a player with at least five years of major league service was able to refuse a minor league assignment.

Also Monday, Chan Ho Park threw 80 pitches in a simulated game and said he was ready to return to Texas' starting rotation for the first time since pitching in the season opener.

-- From wire reports