ARLINGTON, Texas — Nelson Cruz homered in his return to the Texas lineup, Marlon Byrd connected twice and speedster Julio Borbon had the first home run of his career as the Rangers clobbered the Minnesota Twins 11-1 Thursday.
Borbon went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and is hitting .536 (15 for 28) in seven starts since being recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City while Cruz was hurt. Michael Young and Hank Blalock each also had three hits for the Rangers, who snapped a two-game skid.
Cruz was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game after the All-Star slugger missed 15 games because of a sprained left ankle. His 26th homer leading off the sixth put the Rangers up 5-1.
Rookie Derek Holland (7-7) allowed one run in 5 1?3 innings to win his third straight start.
RED SOX 8, BLUE JAYS 1: At Toronto, J.D. Drew homered twice, Jon Lester pitched eight strong innings and Boston completed a three-game sweep. VictorMartinez connected for the second straight night for the Red Sox, who have hit two or more homers in six consecutive games, and nine of 10. The Red Sox have 33 homers in August, two shy of the team record set in 2006. Cecil.BrettDrew hit a leadoff homer in the second, a two-run drive to almost the same spot in the third and finished with four hits. The homers, Nos. 14 and 15, came off rookie Lester (10-7) allowed one run and three hits to win for the first time in five starts and improve to 3-1 with a 1.65 ERA in four outings against Toronto this season.
INDIANS 11, ANGELS 3: At Cleveland, JustinMasterson pitched into the seventh inning and rookie MattLaPorta had a career-high three RBIs as Cleveland battered Los Angeles starter JohnLackey. Masterson (4-4) did not allow an earned run in 61?3 innings to win for the first time since being acquired from Boston in the trade for VictorMartinez hours before the July 31 trade deadline. Lackey (8-6) was charged with six runs in 5 1-3 innings, his worst start since July 7, when he allowed six runs in 4 2-3 innings against Texas.LaPorta, making his first appearance since being recalled from Triple-A Columbus on Wednesday, doubled home two runs in the seven-run sixth inning, then added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.Jhonny Peralta had two singles and a double to lead seven Cleveland batters with at least two hits. The Indians scored 11 runs in a game for the second time this month.He allowed three hits and four walks while striking out three. He left in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out, but reliever Tony Sipp came on to end the threat.
ORIOLES 8, RAYS 7: At St. Petersburg, Fla., BrianRoberts hit his fourth career grand slam and NolanReimold added a three-run shot to lead Baltimore, which stopped a five-game losing streak. BenZobrist homered and had four RBIs for the Rays, who had their four-game winning streak snapped.
TIGERS 7, MARINERS 6: At Detroit, CleteThomas' two-out, RBI single capped Detroit's two-run rally in the ninth inning. The AL Central-leading Tigers trailed 6-2 before scoring three times in the sixth and two more in the ninth. BobbySeay (4-2) earned the win for pitching a scoreless inning. RussellBranyan,KenjiJohjima,JoseLopez and MikeSweeney each homered for Seattle.