Lowell's Big Night; Maine Halts Mets' Skid

American League Cleveland 3 Detroit 12 - The Tigers teed off on C.C. Sabathia to the tune of 7 earned runs on 0 hits over 4 innings, closing the gap on the 1st-place Indians to a single game. Carlos Guillen, Gary Sheffield and Placido Polanco all homered off Sabathia, with Guillen driving in 4 runs and Sheffield three. Justin Verlander (10-3) took the win for the Tigers. Tampa Bay 4 Boston 15 - Boston completed its sweep of the Devil Rays, sending them to their 11th straight loss, the longest losing streak in the majors this season. The Sox were relentless, scoring 13 runs in the first 3 innings and banging out 21 hits for the whole game. Mike Lowell (right) was especially effective, whacking a home run and four singles in 6 at-bats, driving in 5 while scoring 3 times. Coco Crisp hit a grand slam in the 1st. Josh Beckett picked up his 12th win against just 2 losses in his final start before the All-Star game. Baltimore 6 Chi White Sox 11 - Tadahito Iguchi nearly hit for the cycle, with a double, triple and home run in 4 at-bats. Iguchi drove in 3 and scored 3 times. Other AL Scores Minnesota 6 NY Yankees 7 - H. Matsui, GW HR (10) Tampa Bay 4 Boston 15 LA Angels 5 Texas 2 - K. Escobar, W (10-3) Seattle 2 Oakland 3 National League Atlanta 8 LA Dodgers 6 - Chipper Jones became Atlanta's all-time home run leader, belting a pair of solo shots against the Dodgers Thursday night. Chipper hit one in the 6th inning, tying Dale Murphy's mark, and another in the 8th, breaking it. Jones has 15 homers this season and 372 lifetime. The 6th-inning shot broke a 6-6 tie and the 8th-inning dinger was icing on the cake. Atlanta's win was the Dodgers' loss, keeping LA a game back of San Diego in the NL West. NY Mets 6 Houston 2 - John Maine (right) improved to 10-4, striking out 9 over 7 2/3, while allowing 2 runs on six hits and 2 walks. Carlos Delgado went 4-4, as the Mets ended their 4-game skid. Chi Cubs 4 Washington 2 - The Cubs are determined to make the NL Central race interesting, winning for the 8th time in their last 10 games to close to within 4 1/2 of division leader Milwaukee. Milwaukee 3 Pittsburgh 6 - While the Cubs were winning the Brewers were losing their third straight to the lowly Pirates, after winning the first game of the 4-game series. The Pirates beat up on All-Star Ben Sheets, getting to him for 5 runs on 8 hits over 6 innings. Pittsburgh starter, Tom Gorzelanny, close to having an All-Star season himself, got the win, allowing only 3 earned off 4 hits and 2 walks. Adam LaRoche slammed a pair of homers, drove in 3 runs and scored 3. Other NL Scores Florida 3 San Diego 2 San Francisco 3 Cincinnati 6 Arizona 2 St. Louis 3