Detroit comes out swinging

Indians 6, White Sox 2 - Kelly Shoppach hit a two-run homer and added a solo shot, leading Cleveland to over host Chicago for its 11th win in 16 games.

The Indians won despite grounding into six double plays, tying an American League record.

Rangers 11, Angels 6 - Omar Vizquel drove in three runs with four hits, including one of Texas’s five homers, and Josh Hamilton hit an early three-run shot as the second-place Rangers won on the road against AL West-leading Los Angeles.

Hank Blalock, Michael Young, and Taylor Teagarden also connected for the Rangers, who trimmed the Angels’ lead to 3 1/2 games by chasing starter Joe Saunders in the second inning and battering three relievers for 15 hits.

Marlins 3, Phillies 2 - Ricky Nolasco pitched seven sharp innings, Nick Johnson and Cody Ross hit solo homers, and Florida beat Philadelphia on the road.

Fresh off getting swept by last-place Washington, the Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak and moved within six games of Philadelphia, which has lost six of nine.

Cardinals 6, Pirates 4 - Ryan Ludwick’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning scored the go-ahead run and St. Louis withstood a shaky beginning by Chris Carpenter to beat host Pittsburgh, grabbing first place in the NL Central and extending the Pirates’ losing streak to six games.

Carpenter (11-3) fell behind 4-2 in the third - as many runs as he allowed in his previous four starts combined - before finishing with five shutout innings to improve to 6-0 in his last seven starts.

Rockies 6,Cubs 3 - Colorado took advantage of the late scratch of Chicago starter Carlos Zambrano for a victory at home, knocking the Cubs into second place in the NL Central.

Zambrano was scratched because of a recurrence of a lower back injury. The Rockies jumped on fill-in Sean Marshall for three runs in two innings.

Orioles 7, Blue Jays 5 - Nolan Reimold had two RBIs to help rookie righthander Jason Berken win for the first time since May 26 as Baltimore won in Toronto.

Astros 6, Brewers 3 - Jason Michaels homered twice and Bud Norris struck out seven in six effective innings as host Houston beat Milwaukee.

Athletics 9, Royals 4 - Vin Mazzaro, a 22-year-old rookie righthander, ended a personal eight-game losing streak and Cliff Pennington had his first career three-hit game as Oakland beat host Kansas City.

Nationals 7, Diamondbacks 6 - Josh Willingham hit a two-run single in the seventh inning as host Washington beat Arizona for its sixth straight win.

Padres 6, Mets 2 - Rookie Everth Cabrera hit a grand slam in the ninth inning off closer Francisco Rodriguez to give the Padres a home victory over New York.

Cabrera, who struck out three times, connected on a 3-and-2 pitch from Rodriguez (2-3) into the right-field stands to give the Padres their 11th win over New York in 14 games.

Reds 10, Giants 5 - Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips drew a tie-breaking bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning and took advantage of a meltdown by San Francisco’s bullpen to record a road win.