AL: Red Sox rallies turning routine

CLEVELAND - Edgar Renteria's RBI double in the ninth inning off Bob Wickman helped rally the Boston Red Sox to a 5-4 victory Wednesday night and a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Indians.

Trailing 4-2 in the eighth, the Red Sox, who patented the historic comeback last season, staged their 20th come-from-behind win of the season and completed their first sweep at Jacobs Field since May 1999.

Boston has won four straight and nine of 10, and the defending World Series champions are 11 games over .500 for the first time this season.

Renteria and John Olerud hit solo homers for Boston.

Keith Foulke pitched two scoreless innings for the Red Sox, who managed just two runs and six hits in seven innings off Cleveland starter Cliff Lee.

Jay Payton, batting leadoff for the first time this season, doubled to open the ninth off Wickman and went to third when center fielder Grady Sizemore bobbled the ball on the warning track for an error.

Renteria, whose 11th-inning single in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series for Florida still haunts Cleveland fans, followed with his shot to the gap in left-center.

WHITE SOX 5, ROYALS 1: Mark Buehrle won his career-high eighth straight decision, and Carl Everett backed him with a three-run homer to lead host Chicago to its seventh straight victory.

Buehrle allowed five hits, his scoreless streak ending at 251/3 innings when the Royals scored an unearned run in the eighth. He walked one and struck out six in eight innings.

Everett had two hits, and two of Paul Konerko's three hits were doubles.

J.P. Howell allowed five runs and seven hits in his third major league start for the Royals, who were swept in the three-game series.

BLUE JAYS 3, ORIOLES 2: Pete Walker allowed two runs on five hits in 51/3 innings for his first win as a starter since 2002.

Visiting Baltimore's Rafael Palmeiro hit his 561st career homer, two from tying Reggie Jackson for ninth on the all-time list. Palmeiro is also 17 hits shy of 3000.

Palmeiro gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the fourth with his 10th homer of the season.

But Shea Hillenbrand hit an RBI grounder in the fifth, and Russ Adams scored on Cabrera's run-scoring balk to make it 3-2.

TIGERS 8, TWINS 1: Nate Robertson pitched visiting Detroit's second complete game in a row and Omar Infante had a home run and three RBIs to lead the Tigers.

The Tigers roughed up Twins starter Joe Mays, scoring six runs on eight hits in just four innings, snapping Mays' eight-game winning streak against the Tigers. Detroit broke the game open with a three-run fourth that began with a solo homer by Infante. Nook Logan singled and scored on a double by Brandon Inge, who scored three batters later when a sharp grounder from Rondell White hit off third baseman Michael Cuddyer's glove and dribbled into left field for a 6-1 lead.

ANGELS 6, RANGERS 0: Jarrod Washburn combined with two relievers on a six-hitter and host Los Angeles dealt Kenny Rogers his first loss in 10 decisions to complete a three-game sweep of their closest AL West rivals.

Juan Rivera and Bengie Molina homered for the Angels, and Rogers allowed six runs, 10 hits and three walks in 31/3 innings. It was his shortest start since July 10, 2004, when he lasted only 12/3 innings at Boston in a 14-6 loss that snapped another streak of eight straight winning decisions.

The Angels, who scored 11 first-inning runs during the series, took a 4-0 lead before Rogers could record his third out. They got five consecutive two-out hits, including Molina's RBI single and Rivera's three-run homer to left-center on an 0-2 pitch.

[Last modified June 23, 2005, 07:51:03]