Wilfredo Ledezma couldn't have done much better in place of JustinVerlander.
Ledezma allowed six hits and struck out five in 5* innings Sunday,and the Detroit Tigers took advantage of an error by losing pitcherC.C. Sabathia to beat the visiting Cleveland Indians 1-0 and completea three-game sweep.
Ledezma (2-1) was making his first major-league start since June4, 2005, in place of Verlander, whose turn in the rotation wasskipped to give his tired arm a rest. Verlander is scheduled to startFriday against the White Sox, whom the Tigers lead by nine games inthe Central.
"This year, I think I've got more experience and moreconcentration," said Ledezma, who made 10 starts last season beforebeing sent to Class AAA Toledo. "I'm always prepared for the firstpitch, throwing a strike."
Ledezma used a fastball that reached 95 mph and an array ofoffspeed pitches to keep the Indians off balance. Jason Grilli, JamieWalker, Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones followed Ledezma, with Jonesgetting the last three outs for his 31st save.
The Tigers, who finished off their 11th series sweep, lead themajor leagues with 13 shutouts and have the best record in the majorsat 75-36.
Craig Monroe drove in the only run of the game with a two-outsingle in the fifth against Sabathia (8-8), who yielded an unearnedrun and six hits in seven innings.
"We beat one of the best pitching performances I've seen againstus all year," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.
Brandon Inge reached when Sabathia couldn't handle his leadoffbunt, took second on a sacrifice by Brent Clevlen and moved to thirdon an infield out by Placido Polanco before scoring on the hit byMonroe.
Devil Rays 7, Red Sox 6: Greg Norton homered against losingpitcher Julian Tavarez (2-4) in the 10th inning to boost host TampaBay past Boston. The result dropped the Red Sox two games behind theNew York Yankees in the East and kept them a half-game behind theWhite Sox in the wild-card race.
The Red Sox opened a 6-2 lead after six innings behind DavidOrtiz's major-league-leading 40th home run, but the Devil Raysrallied to force extra innings on homers by Travis Lee and DionerNavarro in the eighth.
Yankees 6, Orioles 1: Jaret Wright (8-6) yielded one run and fivehits in six innings, and Jason Giambi went 3-for-3 with a homer andtwo RBI to pace visiting New York past Baltimore. The Yankees are 11-1-1 in their last 13 series.
Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon and Melky Cabrera also homered for theYankees, who are 10-2 in their last 12 games. The Orioles were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
Twins 11, Royals 5: Jason Bartlett went 5-for-5 with two runsscored and two RBI, and Minnesota had six players with at least threehits en route to completing a four-game sweep of host Kansas City.
Jason Tyner added four hits and Luis Castillo, Mike Redmond,Michael Cuddyer and Torii Hunter three each for the Twins, whopounded out a season-high 22 hits.
Angels 9, Rangers 1: Garret Anderson and Vladimir Guerrero hitthree-run homers, and Los Angeles opened an 8-0 lead after twoinnings and coasted past visiting Texas.
Losing pitcher Adam Eaton (1-2) was ejected by plate umpire RobDrake for throwing behind the Angels' Juan Rivera the pitch afterserving up Anderson's homer with two outs in the first inning.
Athletics 7, Mariners 6: Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer, andOakland ended a 5-1 road trip by edging Seattle. The A's have won thelast 12 games between the teams.
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