Cleveland — Jake Westbrook made his best pitch at precisely the right time.
Westbrook got a key double play with the bases loaded to protect a one-run lead, winning for fifth time in six starts as the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers, 9-4, Thursday to move closer in the AL wild-card race.
Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including a two-run homer, as the Indians pulled within 21â2 games of idle Oakland. Coco Crisp and Travis Hafner each drove in two runs.
"The double play was key - that and our offense coming up huge," said Westbrook (11-13).
The first four hitters in the Indians' lineup went a combined 11-for-19 with seven runs and seven RBIs as Cleveland won for the second time in six games at Jacobs Field after completing a 6-0 trip to Detroit and Kansas City.
Texas lost for the eighth time in nine games - all on the road.
Indians second baseman Ronnie Belliard left with a strained neck after running headlong into umpire Eric Cooper's left hip while chasing a groundball in the sixth. Belliard was taken to a hospital for precautionary X-rays, which were negative.
Cleveland's Jake Westbrook delivers against Texas. The Indians defeated the Rangers, 9-4, Thursday in Cleveland.
"Ronnie's a tough guy, but we didn't want to take any chances there," manager Eric Wedge said. "Hopefully, he'll be fine."
Justin Thompson pitched the eighth for Texas in his first major-league appearance since Aug. 15, 1999. An All-Star in 1997 with Detroit and now 32, he has spent the past six years in the minors trying to recover from four operations on his left arm.
Thompson gave up Peralta's two-run homer, his 19th.
"I had a lot of nerves going through my body," Thompson said. "Once I got on the mound, I felt calm and went after the hitters. I just didn't make a quality pitch to Peralta, but it felt great to be out there. It's been a long road, and here I am back doing what I love to do."
Westbrook allowed four runs and 10 hits over six innings to improve to 9-4 in 13 starts since June 14. He finished his outing by getting Mark DeRosa to ground into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded, preserving a 5-4 lead.
"I just thought, 'This is what you do, get ground balls,'" Westbrook said. "Here and there, I felt good. I battled, the defense was great, and our bullpen did what they always do."
Angels 13, Red Sox 4
Anaheim, Calif. - Juan Rivera hit a pair of three-run homers, Bartolo Colon won his fifth straight decision, and Los Angeles beat Boston in the series opener between AL division leaders.
Rivera homered on the second pitch from Mike Myers after Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield left the game in the fifth inning when he got hit in the right ankle on a comebacker by Casey Kotchman.
The Angels extended their AL West lead to 21â2 games over idle Oakland. Boston's lead over the idle New York Yankees dropped to four games in the East.
Colon (16-6) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings, struck out five and walked none. At one point, the right-hander retired 11 consecutive batters.
Wakefield (13-9) gave up six runs and seven hits in 41â3 innings, struck out five and walked four.
Rivera added his second three-run shot and 11th of the season with two outs in the eighth off Mike Remlinger, giving the Angels a 13-3 lead.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Angels broke open the game with six runs in the fifth inning, tying a season high. Kotchman and Darin Erstad each had two RBIs as the Angels stopped a two-game losing streak.
Twins 7, Mariners 3
Minneapolis - Matthew LeCroy hit his third home run in two games, leading Minnesota over Seattle for its fifth straight victory. Justin Morneau drove in two runs, including the go-ahead run in the third, and Shannon Stewart had his second four-hit game of the season in Minnesota's seventh win in eight games.
The Twins remain in fourth place in the wild-card race, but moved within 31â2 games of idle Oakland.
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