AMERICAN LEAGUE

● Indians 10, Twins 4: In Cleveland, Jhonny Peralta homered twice and Kenny Lofton began his third go-round with Cleveland by getting three hits last night.

Peralta hit a three-run homer in the third off Boof Bonser (5-7) and added a two-run shot in the sixth when the Indians opened a 10-0 lead for Paul Byrd (9-4).

Cleveland improved to 6-0 this season against Minnesota, which dropped its fifth straight. The Twins have been outscored 30-5 in its last three games.

Lofton returned to the Indians in a trade with Texas for minor-league catcher Max Ramirez. He played left field for the first time in his career and finished 3 for 4 with an RBI in his first game for Cleveland since the 2001 playoffs.

Byrd allowed three earned runs and 10 hits in seven innings and got the Twins to hit into three double plays.

Bonser was charged with four runs and nine hits in 22/3 innings, his shortest outing in 21 starts this season.

● Red Sox 7, Devil Rays 1: In St. Petersburg, Fla., Tim Wakefield allowed one run over six innings and Kevin Youkilis hit a three-run homer to lead Boston. Wakefield (12-9) gave up six hits and three walks, striking out seven as he won for the fifth time in six starts. The knuckleballer improved to 17-2 against the Devil Rays, the most wins by a Tampa Bay opponent. He is 8-0 at Tropicana Field. Boston has won seven of eight.

● Orioles 4, Yankees 2: In Baltimore, rookie Jeremy Guthrie limited the New York Yankees to two runs in six innings, and the Orioles won their fifth straight, beating nemesis Andy Pettitte. Earlier, the Yankees defeated Baltimore 8-7 in the completion of a game suspended on June 28 by rain. Play resumed in the eighth inning with the Yankees up 8-6, and closer Mariano Rivera gave up a run in a harrowing ninth before earning his 16th save. New York third baseman Alex Rodriguez started the night needing one home run to reach 500 for his career. He grounded out in his only at-bat after the suspended game was resumed then went 0 for 2 with two walks and two routine fly balls.

● White Sox 4, Blue Jays 3: In Chicago, Jermaine Dye homered and Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning to lead the White Sox. Jon Garland, who has struggled with consistency in July, allowed three runs and 10 hits in 71/3 innings.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Phillies 8, Pirates 1 (7 inn.): In Philadelphia, Pat Burrell homered and had three RBI and Jamie Moyer allowed one run in seven innings in the Phillies’ rain-shortened win. The Phillies learned before the seven-inning victory that Chase Utley, their All-Star second baseman, could miss three to four weeks after undergoing surgery to have a pin placed in his broken right hand. Utley was hit by a pitch on Thursday. The game was called after a 61-minute delay following the seventh inning.

● Reds 5, Cubs 4: In Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion’s ninth-inning single drove in Norris Hopper from second base to give the surging Reds a win. Encarnacion also homered and Jeff Keppinger hit a two-run double as the Reds improved to 4-1 on their current homestand.

● Nationals 6, Mets 2: In New York, Washington’s Ryan Church and Austin Kearns homered to back the pitching of former Met Mike Bacsik. Bacsik (4-6) allowed eight hits over seven innings. The Nationals bunched four doubles for three runs against Jorge Sosa (7-6) in the second inning. He has lost five of seven starts since June 13. Dimitri Young and Church opened the second with consecutive doubles. One out later, Brian Schneider and Nook Logan had back-to-back doubles for a 3-0 lead.

● Padres 9, Astros 4: In Houston, Milton Bradley homered and Brian Giles had a season-high three RBI for San Diego, and Jake Peavy won for the first time since June 19. Peavy (10-5) allowed one run and four hits and struck out eight for the Padres, who won for the second time in eight games. He is 5-0 with a 0.98 ERA on the road this year and his 2.41 season ERA remains second in the NL. Woody Williams (5-12) went six innings and allowed four runs and eight hits as the Astros’ three-game winning streak ended.

● Dodgers, Rockies ppd.: In Denver, the game between the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers was postponed because of weather. It will be made up when the Dodgers return to Coors Field in September. The date is still to be determined.

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