CLEVELAND—Ben Francisco drove in a career-high four runs and Cleveland snapped a 10-game losing streak Thursday with a 13-2 victory over Tampa Bay, the Rays’ fourth straight loss.

Cleveland last lost 10 in a row in 1979 and avoided its longest streak in 77 years by hitting four home runs to overcome a 2-0 deficit. The last time the Indians lost 11 straight was 1931, on the way to a team-record 12 consecutive losses.

Francisco and David Dellucci hit two-run homers in a five-run fifth against Andy Sonnanstine (10-4). Casey Blake hit a solo shot in a seven-run eighth off Gary Glover.

Aaron Laffey (5-5) earned Cleveland’s first win since recently traded CC Sabathia shut out Cincinnati on June 27. Laffey allowed two runs and four hits over six innings, winning for the first time in five starts since June 12.

Tampa Bay came in with baseball’s best record (55-35), but lost for the 10th straight time in Cleveland.



Royals 4, White Sox 1

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Mark Teahen’s inside-the-park home run capped a four-run rally in the eighth inning and powered Kansas City to a victory over Chicago, avoiding a three-game sweep.

Mike Aviles and Jose Guillen hit RBI doubles to give the Royals a 2-1 lead, after Mark Buehrle (6-8) had shut them out on four hits over the first seven innings.

Teahen, who also had an inside-the-parker earlier this year, then smashed Boone Logan’s pitch deep into center field. Guillen scored and as Teahen neared third base, shortstop Orlando Cabrera hesitated a moment before throwing the ball toward the plate.

So Teahen kept coming, sliding around A.J. Pierzynski’s sweeping tag.



Twins 7, Tigers 6, 11 innings

DETROIT—Justin Morneau hit an 11th-inning homer, tying a career-high with his fifth hit, and Minnesota overcame a four-run deficit.

The Twins, who stopped a three-game losing streak, trailed 6-4 in the ninth but tied the score against closer Todd Jones on two singles, an error and Joe Mauer’s sacrifice fly.

Morneau homered off Freddy Dolsi (1-3) with one out in the 11th. He also doubled twice.

Matt Guerrier (5-4) pitched two innings for the victory, the Twins’ 17th in 22 games.

Detroit, which had won three straight, was trying to move three games over .500 for the first time since its 24-36 start.



Athletics 3, Mariners 2, 11 innings

OAKLAND, Calif.—Jack Cust and Kurt Suzuki hit solo homers in the ninth inning, and Emil Brown hit another solo shot in the 11th for Oakland.

Brown’s first career game-winning home run gave Caesar Jimenez (0-1) his first career decision, after Huston Street (2-2) pitched two scoreless innings.

Cust led off the ninth with his 17th homer off Brandon Morrow. The Mariners’ new closer got two strikeouts, but Suzuki hit his first career pinch-hit homer to send the game to extra innings.

It was Morrow’s first career blown save and spoiled a stellar performance by R.A. Dickey, who gave up four hits over seven scoreless innings.



Blue Jays 6, Orioles 5

TORONTO—Adam Lind drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth and Toronto completed a three-game sweep.

Leading 5-4 in the ninth, Baltimore closer George Sherrill (2-4) struck out pinch-hitter Marco Scutaro but gave up a single to Rod Barajas and a double to Scott Rolen. Pinch-hitter Gregg Zaun was walked intentionally, and Lyle Overbay tied it with a sacrifice fly.

Lind followed with a single, giving Sherrill his sixth blown save and the Orioles their fifth straight loss.

Shawn Camp (2-1) worked one inning for the victory.



National League

Phillies 4, Cardinals 1

PHILADELPHIA—Ryan Howard homered twice and drove in three runs to help Philadelphia beat St. Louis.

Howard lined a two-run shot off Braden Looper (9-7) in the first and connected again in the sixth. He leads the National League with 27 homers, two more than teammate Chase Utley, and 83 RBIs.

Jamie Moyer (8-6), who won for the first time since June 12, gave up one run and seven hits in seven innings. J.C. Romero got two outs for his first save.

Looper allowed four runs and seven hits in six innings.



Mets 7, Giants 3

NEW YORK—Fernando Tatis homered, doubled twice and drove in four runs and New York won its sixth straight game.

The Mets’ winning streak is their longest since a seven-game string in August 2006.

David Wright doubled twice, and scored the go-ahead run in a four-run seventh.

The Giants ended their scoreless streak at 21 innings, but still lost their fourth in a row. They scored in the fourth when John Bowker doubled and later raced home on a wild pitch by starter John Maine.

Tatis hit his fourth homer, a two-run drive off Sergio Romo (0-1) in the seventh. The Mets added two more in the inning on a throwing error by third baseman Jose Castillo and a single by Jose Reyes.



Brewers 11, Rockies 1

MILWAUKEE—Dave Bush had a career-high 13 strikeouts for Milwaukee, and Corey Hart celebrated making the All-Star team with his 15th homer.

Bush (5-8) allowed one run and four hits over eight innings. He retired 23 of 24 batters after allowing a first-inning run.

Hart connected in the seventh to make it 8-1 and found out shortly after the game that he beat out four other players in Internet balloting for the final spot on the NL All-Star team.

Jorge De La Rosa (3-5) allowed seven runs in 3 2-3 innings for Colorado. He gave up nine hits and dropped to 0-4 on the road.



Reds 12, Cubs 7

CHICAGO—David Ross hit two of Cincinnati’s seven homers, a barrage that included Ken Griffey Jr.’s 605th.

Edwin Encarnacion, Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn and Joey Votto also homered for the Reds, who avoided a three-game sweep and tied their season high for homers—they had seven against the Cubs at Great American Ball Park on May 7.

Ross, a backup catcher, had one homer all season before hitting solo shots in the fifth and seventh.

Griffey hit a three-run drive, his 12th, off reliever Michael Wuertz as Cincinnati scored four in the fourth to take an 8-3 lead. He also had a run-scoring double and finished with four RBIs.

Ted Lilly (9-6) gave up six hits and four runs in 2 2-3 innings, his shortest outing of the season.



Interleague

Pirates 4, Yankees 2

PITTSBURGH—Nate McLouth hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh, and Paul Maholm allowed two runs over eight innings as Pittsburgh beat New York.

The last game of interleague play this season was the makeup of a June 26 rainout.

Maholm (6-5), who started that game and was trailing 3-0 when it was rained out, had a five-hit shutout going with two outs and none on in the seventh before the Yankees tied it on Bobby Abreu’s two-run single. McLouth hit his 18th homer off Jose Veras (2-1) to take the lead.

Maholm gave up seven hits and walked one in eight innings. Damaso Marte finished for his fourth save, helping end New York’s five-game winning streak.

Despite the Yankees’ loss, the AL topped the NL in interleague play for a fifth consecutive season, going 149-103.