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ARLINGTON, Texas—Sidney Ponson got his first victory in a year and the Texas Rangers finished off a successful homestand with Ron Washington still their manager, beating the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Thursday.

Ian Kinsler hit a leadoff homer in the first and Ramon Vazquez hit a tiebreaking drive in the sixth off Zack Greinke (3-1).

The Rangers took two-of-three from both Minnesota and Kansas City during the homestand, which began after a miserable road trip and a meeting of owner Tom Hicks, president Nolan Ryan and general manager Jon Daniels about the team’s direction. Texas (11-18) set a team record with 18 losses in April, and still has the worst record in the majors.



Indians 3, Mariners 2, 11 innings

CLEVELAND—Asdrubal Cabrera broke an 0-for-14 slump with a bases-loaded single in the 11th inning to give Cleveland a win over Seattle.

Jhonny Peralta drew a one-out walk off Mark Lowe (1-2). Travis Hafner, hitting sixth to start a game for the first time in more than three years, then doubled to left and Jamey Carroll was hit by a 1-2 pitch, loading the bases.

Sean Green came on and struck out Franklin Gutierrez on three pitches, the final offering way outside. But Cabrera, batting just .190, lined an 0-1 pitch to center and was promptly mobbed by teammates.



Tigers 8, Yankees 4

NEW YORK—Miguel Cabrera homered, tripled and drove in three runs, leading Detroit past the Yankees for the Tigers’ first three-game sweep in New York since 1966.

Reserve infielder Ramon Santiago made the most of his first start at shortstop this season, turning in a key defensive play and hitting a tiebreaking triple to back Nate Robertson (1-3).

Magglio Ordonez had three hits—including a two-run double off Ian Kennedy—and scored twice for the Tigers, who got a strong effort from their bullpen and won for the eighth time in 10 games.



Blue Jays 3, Red Sox 0

BOSTON—A.J. Burnett scattered three hits pitching into the eighth inning and Alex Rios homered for Toronto, which wrapped up a miserable road trip with a victory over Boston.

Toronto finished the nine-game trip at 2-7 and avoided a sweep after Boston had won the two previous games in the last at-bat. The Red Sox and Blue Jays combined for seven total runs in the series.

Burnett (3-2) continued his mastery of the Red Sox, improving to 4-0 against Boston while allowing just one run in sixteen innings over two starts at Fenway Park. Burnett struck out five and walked five in 7 2-3 innings.



National League

Brewers 4, Cubs 3

CHICAGO—Ryan Braun hit a two-run double off Kerry Wood during Milwaukee’s three-run ninth inning.

Wood blew his third save in seven chances and wasted a fine performance by Carlos Zambrano, who pitched 6 1-3 innings and helped himself with his 13th career homer—tying the team record held by Ferguson Jenkins.

With the Cubs ahead 3-1, Wood hit leadoff batter Craig Counsell in the ninth and pinch-hitter Gabe Kapler doubled over left fielder Alfonso Soriano—who just came off the disabled list Thursday after being sidelined with a strained right calf.



Phillies 3, Padres 2

PHILADELPHIA—Ryan Howard hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the eighth inning to lift Philadelphia to the win.

Tom Gordon (3-2) pitched a perfect eighth and Brad Lidge retired the side in the ninth for his seventh save in as many chances. Lidge hasn’t allowed an earned run in 12 innings this season.

The slumping Howard connected off Joe Thatcher (0-3) leading off the eighth, driving one into the right-field seats. The 2006 NL MVP also had an RBI double against starter Randy Wolf. Howard is batting just .184 with six homers and 14 RBIs.

The Phillies won on the 125th anniversary of the first game in franchise history. They lost to the Providence Grays, 4-3, on May 1, 1883.



Nationals 3, Pirates 2

WASHINGTON—Austin Kearns broke a tie with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Nationals ran their winning streak to a season-high four games.

After Cristian Guzman singled and Nick Johnson was hit by a pitch, Kearns drove an outside pitch to right off John Grabow (1-1) to score Guzman, who barely beat the throw from Xavier Nady.



Dodgers 5, Marlins 3

MIAMI—Matt Kemp drove in the tiebreaking run with a ninth-inning single and Los Angeles completed its second consecutive series sweep.

The Dodgers have won six straight, their longest winning streak since taking seven in a row to close the 2006 season. The Marlins have lost three in a row for the first time this year.

With the score 3-all, Rafael Furcal led off the ninth with a walk against Kevin Gregg (3-2), advanced on Juan Pierre’s sacrifice and scored on Kemp’s single.

Joe Beimel (3-0) threw one pitch, retiring Jeremy Hermida on a popup to end the eighth. Takashi Saito pitched a perfect ninth for his fourth save in six chances.

Cody Ross hit his first home run for the Marlins.