Minneapolis ? It’s been a long time since the Minnesota Twins got this much good news in one day.

After their landlord finalized an agreement to drop a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and keep the Twins off the contraction list for 2003 in exchange Minnesota took another series from its division rival and beat one of baseball’s best pitchers.

Cleveland's Ellis Burks, left, scores from second base on a single by Chris Magruder as Minnesota catcher A.J. Pierzynski drops the throw from Twins right fielder Dustan Mohr in the fifth inning. The Twins beat the Indians, 8-3, on Thursday in Minneapolis.

Torii Hunter hit a three-run homer in a five-run fifth inning to help the Twins beat Bartolo Colon and the Cleveland Indians 8-3 Thursday night.

“Anytime you can beat Mr. Colon, you’ve done something,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said.

The Twins have won five of six at home from the Indians since they were swept in a four-game series at Jacobs Field in April and went 5-14 against them last year. Minnesota leads Chicago by four games and Cleveland by 41/2 in the AL Central.

Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs for Minnesota, which fell behind 3-1 heading into the fifth.

“You keep battling and battling,” Jones said, “and you’re going to break ’em.”

Colon (7-4) had his shortest outing this season at 42/3 innings. He lost for the first time in seven starts since April 28 and his ERA grew to 2.69. He surrendered six runs, nine hits and a pair of walks while striking out five.

“I’m real down,” Colon said through his interpreter, bullpen coach Luis Isaac. “The team got me runs, and I let them down.”

Colon said he was in pain after his elbow hit his knee while following though on a second-inning pitch.

“I thought he’d go out and get them,” Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. “Instead, things fell apart. His velocity was down, he lost command of his pitches and control of the game.”

The league leader in complete games with four, Colon allowed only nine earned runs in his eight previous outings. His shortest outing before this one was 51/3 innings April 11 against the Twins.

But after breezing through the first two innings, he gave up an RBI single to Jones in a three-hit third and had thrown 58 pitches by the end of it.

Then came an arduous fifth inning he began with a 3-1 lead. The Twins sent nine to the plate against Colon before Chad Paronto entered to get the last out.

Red Sox 4, Tigers 3

Detroit Rolando Arrojo pitched seven shutout innings and Boston finished off a successful road trip with a victory over Detroit. The AL East-leading Red Sox went 8-2 on their swing to Toronto, New York and Detroit. Boston begins interleague play tonight against NL West-leading Arizona at Fenway Park. Nomar Garciaparra had three hits as the Red Sox sent Detroit to its third straight defeat and seventh loss in eight games. Arrojo (4-1) gave up four hits, struck out five and walked none in his second start of the season.

Athletics 10, Mariners 4

Oakland, Calif. Barry Zito overcame a first-pitch home run by Ichiro Suzuki and won his sixth straight decision as Oakland beat Seattle. Miguel Tejada homered and drove in four runs and Eric Chavez drove in three as Oakland split the four-game series. The Athletics have won 10 of their last 15 games. Zito (7-2), who hasn’t lost since April 30 at New York, allowed three runs on eight hits over 61/3 innings.

Blue Jays 5, Devil Rays 4

Toronto Pinch-hitter Eric Hinske hit an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning and Toronto beat Tampa Bay. Travis Harper (2-3), who relieved in the seventh after Tampa Bay starter Joe Kennedy was ejected, walked Chris Woodward and Vernon Wells to start the Toronto ninth. Joe Lawrence then put down a sacrifice bunt and when Harper elected to throw to third and was late, the bases were loaded with no outs. Hinske followed with his single off the wall in center field. Kelvim Escobar (2-2) pitched a perfect ninth for the win.

Rangers 9, Angels 8

Anaheim, Calif. Juan Gonzalez highlighted a seven-run third inning with a three-run homer as Texas halted Anaheim’s four-game winning streak. Gonzalez went 3-for-5, as did Mike Lamb, who also hit a solo homer, helping Texas end a six-game road losing streak.

Orioles-Yankees, ppd.

New York With heavy rain in the forecast, Thursday night’s game between Baltimore and New York was postponed. No makeup date was announced.