Indians hammer White Sox for 13th win in last 18 games

The White Sox remained one-half game behind Minnesota for the AL wild card.
CHICAGO (AP) -- Cliff Lee gave up one run in six innings and Grady Sizemore and Victor Martinez homered off Mark Buehrle to lead the Cleveland Indians over the Chicago White Sox 9-1 Thursday night.
The White Sox have lost six of eight and remained one-half game behind Minnesota for the AL wild card. Chicago dropped 51/2 games behind Detroit in the AL Central.
Cleveland, which has won 13 of 18, generated five runs with two-out hits, including a pair by rookie Ryan Garko, who was 3-for-3 with two walks. Andy Marte singled, double and tripled for the Indians, who had 17 hits.
Lee throws 5-hitter
Lee (12-10), who retired the first 10 batters, gave up five hits. He walked Tadahito Iguchi and Jermaine Dye in the fourth for his first runners before retiring Jim Thome on a flyout and Paul Konerko on a popup.
Rob Mackowiak got Chicago's first hit with a leadoff single in the fifth. Lee lost his shutout bid the following inning when Iguchi doubled and Dye singled to cut the Indians' lead to 7-1. But a potential rally attempt was stopped by Dye's baserunning blunder -- he took off from second on Mackowiak's one-out fly ball to center and easily was doubled off.
Buehrle (12-12) gave up five runs -- four earned -- and 10 hits in four-innings plus. The All-Star lefty dropped to 3-6 in the second half and is 0-3 in five starts against the Indians this season.
Opposite-field homer
Sizemore, the Indians' talented center fielder and leadoff hitter, got his AL-leading 81st extra-base hit with an opposite-field homer to left -- his 23rd -- to make it 2-0 in the third.
Jason Michaels followed with a double and Garko delivered his second straight two-out RBI single to make it 3-0.
Cleveland scored in the first when Buehrle brushed Sizemore's jersey with a pitch, and Michaels singled. After Martinez grounded into a double play that sent Sizemore to third, Garko singled.
Martinez led off the fifth with his 14th homer to put Cleveland up four and after Garko singled for third straight hit, Buehrle was replaced by rookie knuckleballer Charlie Haeger.
Haeger got Casey Blake to ground to shortstop, but Juan Uribe threw the ball past second for an error, putting runners at second and third. With two outs, Aaron Boone hit a two-run single, and Marte followed with a triple off the center-field fence to make it 7-0.
Blake hit a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the eighth for an 8-1 lead.
Notes
Buehrle, one of the fastest working pitchers in the majors, threw 85 pitches in his short outing. ... The Indians were 5-14 against the White Sox last season. They are 8-5 this year. ... Indians DH Travis Hafner missed his sixth straight game after being hit on the hand with a pitch by the Ranger' C.J. Wilson last Friday.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.