Jair Jurrjens allowed one hit in his second major league start and the Detroit Tigers got consecutive homers from Magglio Ordonez and Carlos Guillen to edge the Cleveland Indians 2-1 Tuesday night in the opener of a key three-game series in Detroit.
Jurrjens outpitched Fausto Carmona and carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning until Jhonny Peralta homered with one out for Cleveland's only hit of the game.
Joel Zumaya, just off the disabled list, and two other relievers helped the Tigers hang on to pull within a half-game of the AL Central-leading Indians.
For the first time in franchise history, Cleveland's lone hit was a home run. The last time the Indians managed only one hit was April 15 in a 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. Carmona, who beat Jurrjens in his big league debut last Wednesday, was the hard-luck loser this time. Carmona (14-8) retired his first 12 batters before Ordonez and Guillen homered to start the fifth.
Jurrjens (1-1) walked four and struck out one in 6 2-3 innings. When manager Jim Leyland came out of the dugout to replace him, cheering fans stayed on their feet to scream even louder as Zumaya jogged to the mound for his first appearance since May 1.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
RED SOX 8, DEVIL RAYS 6: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Coco Crisp and Julio Lugo had two-run doubles during a five-run fourth to help the AL East-leading Red Sox past lowly Tampa Bay. David Ortiz, who hit a rare triple, and Manny Ramirez had first-inning RBIs as the Red Sox improved to 23-16 since the All-Star break.
ORIOLES 6, RANGERS 2: At Baltimore, Erik Bedard struck out 11 over seven innings to win his ninth straight decision, and the Orioles got home runs from Miguel Tejada and Aubrey Huff in the victory. Bedard (13-4) increased his AL-leading strikeout total to 218, matching Mike Mussina's club record in 1997.
ATHLETICS 6, BLUE JAYS 4: At Toronto, Dan Haren matched his career high in wins, Dan Johnson drove in two runs and the Athletics overcame three home runs to beat the Blue Jays. Haren (14-4) allowed all three homers but still snapped a three-start winless streak.
MARINERS 7, TWINS 2: At Minneapolis, Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson hit consecutive home runs, Jarrod Washburn won for the first time in seven starts and the Mariners won their fifth straight. Jose Vidro finished 3-for-5 and the wild card-leading Mariners pounded out 18 hits. Every starter except Kenji Johjima had a hit by the sixth. Johjima singled in the seventh.
WHITE SOX 5, ROYALS 2: At Chicago, Jim Thome hit his 493rd career homer and Javier Vazquez won his third straight decision, leading the White Sox past Kansas City and out of the AL Central cellar. Danny Richar and Paul Konerko also homered for the White Sox.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 7, PADRES 6: At New York, Carlos Beltran had five RBIs and Luis Castillo singled home the winning run off Trevor Hoffman in the ninth inning, helping the New York Mets rally past the San Diego Padres in a back-and-forth game between playoff contenders.
PHILLIES 5, DODGERS 4: At Philadelphia, Aaron Rowand hit a go-ahead homer and Kyle Kendrick remained unbeaten at home, as the Phillies won the opener of a 10-game homestand that includes visits by San Diego and the NL East-leading Mets.
REDS 8, BRAVES 7: At Cincinnati, Brandon Phillips hit a solo homer and a tiebreaking single in the sixth inning to lift the Reds in a game that featured three blown leads. Phillips' solo homer in the fifth helped the Reds come from two runs down to tie the game at 7. He broke the tie an inning later with a run-scoring single off Peter Moylan (4-3), who hit two batters during the Reds' go-ahead rally.
CARDINALS 5, MARLINS 2: At St. Louis, Albert Pujols homered for the fourth straight game and the Cardinals scored four times in the eighth inning to beat the slumping Marlins. Yadier Molina knocked in the tying run in the eighth.
NATIONALS 11, ASTROS 6: At Houston, Ryan Zimmerman hit a two-run homer and had four RBIs and the Nationals ended Wandy Rodriguez's recent dominance at Minute Maid Park. Nook Logan had a career-high five hits, including three RBI singles.
ROCKIES 9, PIRATES 2: At Denver, Ian Stewart hit a third-inning grand slam in his ninth career at-bat, one of a season-high four home runs for the Rockies. Matt Holliday, Troy Tulowitzki and Brad Hawpe also went deep for Colorado, which closed to within 2 1/2 games of NL wild-card leaders San Diego and Philadelphia.
BREWERS 7, DIAMONDBACKS 4: At Phoenix, Gabe Gross hit a grand slam to cap a five-run seventh inning, and the Brewers remained tied with the Chicago Cubs for first place in the NL Central. J.J. Hardy was 3-for-4 with a run-scoring single.
CUBS 5, GIANTS 1: At San Francisco, Cliff Floyd came back from the bereavement list to hit a go-ahead two-run single in the ninth inning, when the Cubs rallied against Tim Lincecum. Lincecum (7-4) was three outs from his first career complete game when the Cubs finally got to the rookie right-hander.