AMERICAN LEAGUE Rookie's homer sinks Cleveland

Jake Westbrook allowed Justin Leone's first major league home run.
SEATTLE (AP) -- With their playoff hopes all but virtually gone, the Seattle Mariners are releasing some of their veterans to give some of their prospects a chance to play.
Justin Leone is making the most of the opportunity.
Leone hit his first major league homer -- a two-run shot -- to back eight strong innings by Joel Pineiro and help the Mariners end a nine-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.
"Leo got into one pretty good," manager Bob Melvin said. "He got it in the upper deck. That's the kind of things we're looking to see. He's a guy that's got some power."
Pineiro (5-10) allowed one run and four hits in eight innings for Seattle, which last won on July 1 against Texas.
Eddie Guardado pitched the ninth for his 16th save.
Gone
Leone, who hit 21 homers in 68 games at Triple-A Tacoma before being called up by the Mariners on July 1, hit his first in the majors off Jake Westbrook (6-5) in the seventh to give the Mariners a 2-1 lead.
The Mariners are last in the American League with 66 homers.
"It's nice to see anybody doing something," Melvin said. "What we've been going through and then making some changes today. You know, it hurts to lose John Olerud, not to have a John Olerud here."
Westbrook, who lost his third straight decision, hit Miguel Olivo with a pitch with two outs before Leone homered 437 feet off the facing of the second deck in left field at Safeco Field.
Leone will get a chance to play on a regular basis after the Mariners designated veteran first baseman Olerud for assignment before the game.
Leone wasn't sure he'd be with the Mariners after the All-Star break. He's not making any predictions about how he'll play the second half of the season.
"We'll just see how I can do," he said. "We'll just wait and see how it goes. If I produce, I'm sure I'll stick around and we'll go from there."
Pitchers
Pineiro, a 16-game winner last season, won for the first time since June 29. He lost twice on the Mariners' 0-9 road trip -- to St. Louis and the Chicago White Sox. He deliberately stayed away from baseball during the All-Star break.
"I thought I might feel weird out there," Pineiro said. "I didn't play catch for the whole three days. I just wanted to relax."
Westbrook, an injury replacement for Curt Schilling in Tuesday night's All-Star game in Houston, hasn't won since June 14. He's 0-3 in six starts since.
In eight innings, Westbrook gave up two runs on four hits, one walk, one hit batter and eight strikeouts.
With two outs, he hit Olivo in the shoulder with a 1-0 changeup in the seventh before giving up his homer to Leone on the first pitch.
"A two-run homer right there is big for them," Westbrook said. "I made a couple of bad pitches."
Manager Eric Wedge thought Westbrook deserved a better fate.
"He threw fantastic tonight," Wedge said. "He was in command the whole ballgame. One bad pitch cost us."
Jody Gerut ended an 0-for-19 slump with one out in the second, when he hit a 397-foot shot to center for his eighth homer.