Baltimore ? The Baltimore Orioles knew there would come a time when they’d have to rely on their potent offense to carry an ineffective starting rotation and a bullpen on the brink of exhaustion.

That’s precisely what happened Sunday.

Baltimore matched its season high with 16 hits and hit three home runs, yet the outcome remained in doubt until the last out.

Miguel Tejada’s second homer of the game highlighted a four-run sixth inning, and the Orioles held on to defeat the Cleveland Indians, 12-11, to complete a three-game sweep.

“I think you saw it all today,” Baltimore manager Lee Mazzilli said. “Good pitching, bad pitching. Good base-running, bad base-running. Good hitting.”

Also, plenty of good hitting. Tejada, Melvin Mora and Javy Lopez had three hits apiece for the Orioles, who survived a 15-hit barrage by the Indians and a shaky start by Eric DuBose to complete their first sweep of the Indians since August 1993.

“Obviously, you walk away with a win, it’s good,” Mazzilli said. “But we have to find a different way to get it done.”

DuBose had a career-high eight strikeouts in five innings, but allowed six runs, giving Orioles starters a 6.67 earned-run average over the last 16 games.

“We can’t go the whole year like this,” Mazzilli said.

Cleveland's Jody Gerut is safe at home after Baltimore catcher Javy Lopez, not shown, dropped the ball during the fourth inning. The Indians fell to the Orioles, 12-11, Sunday in Baltimore.

After rallying for a 10-7 win Saturday, Baltimore again feasted on Cleveland’s shaky bullpen to prevail in a seesaw game in which there was scoring in every inning.

Tejada, who came in with two home runs, doubled that total with his sixth career two-homer game.

“It was a crazy game,” Tejada said. “They never stopped pushing, and we did the same thing.”

Lou Merloni homered for the Indians, who have dropped five in a row. Down 12-9 starting the ninth, Cleveland scored twice against Jorge Julio and had the bases loaded with two outs before the Orioles’ closer retired Victor Martinez on a popup to earn his fifth save.

“We’re not going to be perfect,” Indians manager Eric Wedge said. “We came back four, five, six times. We played all the way through the end, all the way through the last out.”

But Cleveland couldn’t overcome its dreadful bullpen, which came in 4-10 with a 6.84 ERA and proceeded to yield six runs over three innings.

Tigers 5, Rangers 3

Arlington, Texas — Alex Sanchez hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning, and Nate Robertson allowed three hits in seven-plus innings for Detroit. With the game tied at 3, Sanchez hit a two-out, solo homer off Kenny Rogers (4-2) to give the Tigers their first lead. Rondell White, who had two RBIs, added a run-scoring single off Jeff Nelson. Robertson (2-2) gave up three runs, struck out seven and walked two in 72/3 innings. Ugueth Urbina got three outs for his fourth save in four chances.

Blue Jays 5, White Sox 2

Toronto — Justin Miller tied a career high by pitching seven strong innings, Frank Catalanotto hit a two-run homer, and Toronto won its season-high fifth straight. Miller (1-0) also tied a career high with seven strikeouts, allowing two runs and seven hits.

Yankees 7, Mariners 6

Seattle — Hideki Matsui’s sacrifice fly in the eighth inning gave New York its second comeback win from a six-run deficit this week. Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez homered for the Yankees, who trailed 6-0 in the second.

Angels 8, Devil Rays 4

Anaheim, Calif. — Jeff DaVanon homered and drove in four runs, Jarrod Washburn won his fifth straight start, and injury-plagued Anaheim won its ninth straight game. Angels outfielder Jose Guillen homered in the fifth but sprained his right knee and ankle in the seventh.

Athletics 8, Twins 4

Oakland, Calif. — Mark Mulder pitched a season-high nine innings, and Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs for Oakland. Billy McMillon had two hits with an RBI double, and Erubiel Durazo drove in two runs for the A’s.