Detroit ? Frank Thomas’ heroics at the plate were made possible by Chicago’s relievers on the mound.

Thomas homered leading off the 13th inning Wednesday night, and the Chicago White Sox beat Detroit, 4-3.

The Tigers had the winning run on third base in the eighth, ninth and 11th innings and loaded the bases with one out in the 13th, but the White Sox bullpen kept Detroit at bay.

“It’s crazy,” Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said.

The White Sox are atop the A.L. Central with a 52-24 record, the best in the major leagues. Chicago is also 22-8 in one-run games.

Shingo Takatsu (1-2) pitched 22â3 innings for the win. He worked out of the jam in the 13th, striking out Brandon Inge and getting Placido Polanco to hit a grounder to second to end it.

“You can’t underestimate how big our bullpen has been,” said Paul Konerko, who also homered for Chicago.

Chris Shelton, who had a career-high four hits, connected for Detroit.

“He’s a professional guy. A sure Hall of Famer,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said of Thomas. “He sat on a 2-0 changeup and hit it out of the park.”

Takatsu came in with runners on first and second with two out in the 11th. He got Inge on a force out at second to send the lead runner, Shelton, to third. Takatsu then got Polanco to ground out to second.

With runners on first and second and two outs in the ninth, Chicago shortstop Juan Uribe made a backhanded grab of Polanco’s one-hopper and barely got him at first.

In the eighth, the Tigers loaded the bases with none out against reliever Cliff Politte, but failed to score.

Polanco and Carlos Guillen opened the inning with singles, and Dmitri Young followed with a walk. Politte then struck out Ivan Rodriguez and got Craig Monroe to bounce into a double play to end the inning.

Chicago's Frank Thomas, left, is congratulated by Paul Konerko after his go-ahead home run in the 13th inning against Detroit. The White Sox beat the Tigers, 4-3, Wednesday in Detroit.

Chicago starter Brandon McCarthy allowed two runs and six hits in 61â3 innings. He didn’t walk a batter.

Red Sox 5, Indians 2

Boston – Doug Mirabelli and Mark Bellhorn hit consecutive homers in a four-run sixth inning that backed Tim Wakefield, and Boston beat Cleveland.

Wakefield’s scoreless streak of 19 innings ended in the fifth when Casey Blake tied the game 1-1 with his 10th homer. Victor Martinez’s ninth homer gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead in the sixth.

Aaron Boone went 0-for-3 against Wakefield with a groundout and two flyouts. Boone faced the knuckleballer for the first time since his 11th-inning homer capped the New York Yankees’ comeback in Game 7 of the 2003 AL championship series.

Wakefield (7-6) allowed two runs and five hits in seven innings, improving to 3-0 in his last four starts after struggling to start the season.

Blue Jays 12, D-Rays 3

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Toronto’s Josh Towers didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning and won for the first time since May 17.

Towers (6-7) allowed just one runner through six innings, hitting Nick Green with a pitch in the third, then gave up Aubrey Huff’s ground single to left with one out in the seventh.

Rookie Russ Adams homered and drove in a career-high five runs.

Rangers 7, Angels 6

Arlington, Texas – Alfonso Soriano’s two-out RBI single in the 11th inning lifted the Rangers over Los Angeles.

The Rangers carried a 6-4 lead into the ninth, and closer Francisco Cordero got the first two outs, but Dallas McPherson hit a homer on an 0-2 pitch to tie the game.

Athletics 6, Mariners 2

Oakland, Calif. – Joe Blanton won his fourth straight start, and Nick Swisher homered for the fourth time in four games, leading the Oakland to its season-best sixth straight win.

Bobby Kielty hit a two-run double and a fourth-inning single, and Marco Scutaro had an RBI double for the A’s, who won their 10th in 11 to improve to 20-8 in their last 28 games.

Yankees at Orioles, ppd.

Baltimore – The injury-laden Baltimore Orioles were given a chance to regroup Wednesday night when their game against the New York Yankees was postponed by rain.

The game never got under way and was called after a delay of more than two hours. No makeup date was immediately set.