Another game-ending hit for the Red Sox

David Ortiz had a different view of a familiar situation.

Two days after leading Boston to a walkoff victory, Big Papi was in the on-deck circle as Mark Loretta provided the game-ending hit for the Red Sox.

Loretta drove in two runs with a two-out double with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth Wednesday night to give the Red Sox a 6-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians. It was Boston's third last at-bat victory in five games.

The last two game-ending hits were by Ortiz, who has five of them this season. He hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to beat Cleveland 9-8 on Monday. On Wednesday, Ortiz was in the on-deck circle as Loretta also got his game-winner off reliever Fausto Carmona.

"I didn't think we'd be able to get to Ortiz. After two outs, I didn't think I'd get up," said Loretta, who hit a game-ending homer in April. "I think the fans realize now that anything's possible."

Cleveland, which led 3-0 after one inning, was ahead 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth. Carmona (1-6) couldn't deliver the Indians their first save since closer Bob Wickman was traded to Atlanta on July 20. He struck out the first two batters, then hit Doug Mirabelli and Alex Gonzalez with consecutive pitches. He walked Kevin Youkilis on a 3-2 pitch that wasn't close. Loretta then hit one off the Green Monster.

"He did a real good job against those first two hitters," Indians manager Eric Wedge said, adding he would stick with Carmona as the closer. "Then he just looked like he got in a hurry to get the third out instead of trying not to do too much. ... It just kind of dominoed from there."

Boston's last three victories came in its last at-bat. Ortiz had the other two -- a game-ending single to beat Los Angeles on Saturday and the three-run homer off Carmona on Monday. Ortiz struck out four times Wednesday, but he landed on top of Youkilis in the postgame celebration.

"Big Papi doesn't know what to do at these things," Loretta said.

In other AL games, it was: New York 7, Toronto 2; Detroit 8, Tampa Bay 3; Kansas City 7, Chicago 3; Texas 10, Minnesota 2; Seattle 2, Baltimore 1; and Oakland 3, Los Angeles 2.

Jonathan Papelbon (3-1) earned the victory with a perfect ninth for the Red Sox, who remained percentage points behind first-place New York in the AL East.

The Red Sox took a 4-3 lead in the sixth on solo homers by Manny Ramirez and Wily Mo Pena. Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer in the eighth to give the Indians the 5-4 lead.

Ramirez's homer was his 30th -- his ninth consecutive year with that many -- and the 465th of his career, tying him with Dave Winfield for 26th on the career list. Hafner's homer gave him 30 for the second straight year.

Yankees 7, Blue Jays 2

At New York, Chien-Ming Wang threw eight shutout innings to win his fifth straight start, and Alex Rodriguez got two key hits in a six-run sixth. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series.

Bobby Abreu singled and doubled for his first two hits with New York, and fellow newcomer Craig Wilson added two singles in his Yankees debut. Coming off a two-hitter against Tampa Bay last Friday for his first career shutout, Wang (13-4) allowed four hits against the team that leads the majors in average (.293) and slugging percentage (.480).

Ex-Yankee Ted Lilly (9-10) gave up five runs and 10 hits in 5 1-3 innings.

Tigers 8, Devil Rays 3

At St. Petersburg, Fla., Magglio Ordonez hit a go-ahead two-run double and Craig Monroe added a two-run homer in a four-run eighth as Detroit (72-35) surpassed last season's victory total.

Ordonez, who has nine RBIs in his last seven games, gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead with his double off reliever Jon Switzer (2-2). Monroe made it 6-3 with his 16th homer, off Ruddy Lugo.

Royals 7, White Sox 3

Mark Teahen hit a go-ahead, two-run homer and drove in three runs for the Royals.

With visiting Chicago leading 2-1 in the fifth, Teahen homered just inside the right-field foul pole.

Luke Hudson (4-3), making his fifth start of the season, allowed three runs and four hits in a career-high seven-plus innings.

Freddy Garcia (10-6) allowed four earned runs and 11 hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Rangers 10, Twins 2

At Minneapolis, Kip Wells had a successful first start for Texas, and Mark Teixeira homered twice.

Acquired in a deadline-day trade with Pittsburgh, Wells got his first win as an American Leaguer since 2001. He pitched into the sixth inning and was responsible for one run.

Boof Bonser (2-3), an emergency callup to fill in for rookie left-hander Francisco Liriano, lasted only four innings and left trailing 7-0. Liriano, 12-2 with a league-best 1.96 ERA, was scratched from the start because of inflammation in his forearm.

Mariners 2, Orioles 1

At Baltimore, Adrian Beltre hit a two-run homer in the first for Seattle, which has won four of five and eight of 11.

Felix Hernandez (10-9) and three relievers combined on the six-hitter.

Eric Bedard (12-7) allowed two runs, four hits and three walks in 5 1-3 innings. He won seven straight starts before getting a no-decision against the White Sox on Friday.

Athletics 3, Angels 2

At Anaheim, Calif., Mark Kotsay drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth inning and Oakland increased its over the Angels in the AL West to 1 1/2 games.

Kiko Calero (3-1) allowed one hit in 1 1-3 innings, and Huston Street threw two perfect innings for his 23rd save.

It was 15th one-run decision in 31 meetings between the teams since the start of last season.