The Boston Red Sox stunned the Cleveland Indians with another game-ending hit. And this time, David Ortiz didn't do anything but watch from the on-deck circle.
Mark Loretta doubled with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth on Wednesday night in Boston and the Red Sox took advantage of a meltdown by reliever Fausto Carmona to beat the Indians 6-5. It was Boston's third last at-bat victory in five games.
"I didn't think we'd be able to get to Ortiz. After two outs, I didn't think I'd get up," said Loretta, who also hit a game-ending homer on Patriots Day. "I think the fans realize now that anything's possible."
Cleveland led 3-0 after one inning and 5-4 after eight, but Carmona couldn't deliver the Indians their first save since closer Bob Wickman was traded to Atlanta on July 20. He struck out the first two batters of the ninth before hitting Doug Mirabelli and Alex Gonzalez on consecutive pitches, then walking Kevin Youkilis on a 3-2 pitch that wasn't close.
With Ortiz, the reigning AL player of the month standing by, Loretta looped one off the Green Monster to end it.
"He did a real good job against those first two hitters," Indians manager Eric Wedge said, adding he would stick with Carmona as the closer. "Then he just looked like he got in a hurry to get the third out instead of trying not to do too much . . . It just kind of dominoed from there."
RANGERS 10, TWINS 2: At Minneapolis, Kip Wells made a successful first start for Texas, Mark Teixeira homered twice and the Rangers beat Minnesota to give the Twins their first losing homestand this season. Acquired in a deadline-day trade with Pittsburgh, Wells got his first win as an American Leaguer since 2001.
MARINERS 2, ORIOLES 1: At Baltimore, Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer, and Seattle ended Erik Bedard's seven-game winning streak. Beltre homered in the first inning, and Felix Hernandez and the Seattle bullpen made the margin stand up.
ATHLETICS 3, ANGELS 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Mark Kotsay drove in the go-ahead run with an eighth-inning single, and Oakland increased its lead over Los Angeles to 1 1/2 games in the AL West. Scot Shields (6-7) relieved Kelvim Escobar after seven innings, and gave up Kotsay's hit with runners on first and third.
YANKEES 7, BLUE JAYS 2: At New York, Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight more shutout innings to win his fifth straight start for the Yankees. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the AL East-leading Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series.
TIGERS 8, DEVIL RAYS 3: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead two-run double and Craig Monroe added a two-run homer in a four-run eighth inning for the Tigers. Dmitri Young also had a two-run homer for Detroit.
ROYALS 7, WHITE SOX 3: At Kansas City, Mark Teahen hit a go-ahead, two-run homer and drove in three runs to lead the Royals to a victory over the Chicago White Sox.
National League
GIANTS 8, NATIONALS 6: At San Francisco, Moises Alou homered, hit a two-run double and also singled in a run, Jason Schmidt struck out 10, and the San Francisco Giants ended their longest losing streak in 10 years. Shea Hillenbrand, acquired from Toronto on July 21, hit his first home run for the Giants.
DODGERS 5, REDS 3: At Cincinnati, Brad Penny pitched six sharp innings and drove in a run to help the Dodgers win their fifth straight game. Penny (11-5) snapped his three-game losing streak and won for the first time since July 5 against Arizona.
METS 6, MARLINS 5: At Miami, the Mets took advantage of four errors by the Marlins, and closer Billy Wagner escaped a ninth-inning jam by striking out the side to close out the win. Florida's four errors, which matched the Marlins' season high, led to three unearned runs and a 6-0 deficit by the third inning.
BRAVES 3, PIRATES 2: At Pittsburgh, Edgar Renteria hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and Horacio Ramirez pitched 6 2/3 innings for the Braves. Matt Diaz hit his first home run since May 16 to support Ramirez.
ROCKIES 8, BREWERS 2: At Denver, Byung-Hyun Kim (7-6) allowed one run and seven hits in a career-high eight innings and Todd Helton homered and drove in three runs. Colorado scored four runs in the first against Tomo Ohka (3-2), who gave up six runs and eight hits in six-plus innings.
ASTROS 7, PADRES 1: At San Diego, Craig Biggio homered twice and Brandon Backe threw 7 2/3 strong innings for the Astros. Biggio's second homer of the night, his 13th, came off Jon Adkins with one out in the ninth.