Around the Horn | Friday’s MLB games

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Indians 6, Twins 5

CLEVELAND

Jim Thome gave Cleveland fans one more memory, and so did Carlos Santana, whose pinch-hit homer leading off the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Indians over the Minnesota Twins. Thome went 3 for 4 with three RBIs, including a two-run homer, the 604th of his career, on a night he was honored in pregame ceremonies. Santana, batting for Lou Marson, drove the first pitch from Matt Capps (4-7) over the wall in right center for his 26th homer. Chris Perez (4-7) pitched one perfect inning as Cleveland pulled out a dramatic win for Thome, who has said he will wait until the offseason to announce whether or not he wants to return for a 22nd season in 2012.

Rangers 5, Mariners 3

ARLINGTON, TEXAS

Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre hit long home runs and Craig Gentry had an inside-the-park homer for AL West-leading Texas in a victory that cut the Rangers’ magic number to one.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 1

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA.

Brandon Morrow pitched seven scoreless innings and Toronto further dampened Tampa Bay’s playoff hopes, beating David Price and the Rays. The Rays have lost four of five and dropped 2 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race.

Tigers 4, Orioles 3, 11 innings

DETROIT

Victor Martinez’s run-scoring double in the 11th inning sent Detroit past Baltimore. Brandon Inge drew a leadoff walk from Willie Eyre (2-2) and Miguel Cabrera, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning, hit a one-out single.

Royals 11, White Sox 1

CHICAGO

Bruce Chen allowed two hits in eight innings and the Kansas Royals backed him with four home runs in a romp over Chicago. Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar and Jeff Francoeur connected for the Royals.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pirates 4, Reds 3

PITTSBURGH

Ryan Ludwick’s single in the bottom of the ninth drove in the winning run and Pittsburgh came back from a blown save in the top of the inning. Ludwick’s fly ball to deep center field off Nick Masset fell for a single and scored pinch-runner Chase d’Arnaud from second after pinch-hitter Jason Jaramillo had doubled off Bill Bray (5-3) to left with one out. Garrett Jones homered for the first time in more than a month for Pittsburgh (70-87), which reached 70 wins for the first time since 2004. The Pirates had been a strike away from that elusive 70th victory, but closer Joel Hanrahan (1-4) hit Todd Frazier in the hand with a 98 mph fastball, the eighth pitch of a dramatic at-bat with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the ninth.

Braves 7, Nationals 4

WASHINGTON

Dan Uggla and the Braves knocked around Stephen Strasburg a bit in a three-run first inning, and Atlanta helped its bid for a playoff berth by beating Washington.

Brewers 4, Marlins 1

MILWAUKEE

Ryan Braun hit a three-run, go-ahead homer in the eighth and Milwaukee won its first division title since 1982. Prince Fielder also homered for Milwaukee, which clinched the NL Central.

Astros 11, Rockies 2

HOUSTON

Carlos Lee drove in four runs for the second straight game and Brett Myers won his fourth consecutive decision for Houston. The Astros took a 5-1 lead off rookie Drew Pomeranz (1-1).

Cubs 5, Cardinals 1

ST. LOUIS

Alfonso Soriano dealt the St. Louis’ wild-card hopes another serious blow with his first home run of the month, a tiebreaking three-run shot in the eighth inning to lead the Cubs.

Associated Press