Indians rule AL Central; Mets mash Cubs

American League Cleveland 5 Minnesota 2 - The Indians finally put together a pair of wins - the first time since July 19 & 20 at Texas that they've won two straight - and took over first place in the AL Central. After a 5-0 win over Texas on Thursday, the Indians put their ace, C.C. Sabathia, (right) on the mound, and he responded with six solid innings, allowing just two earned runs against Twins' starter Johan Santana (11-9). Sabathia (14-6) became the first pitcher in the American league to get to 14 wins, tying the Cubs' Carlos Zambrano for the most in the majors. The Indians have been dogging Detroit for nearly a month, most recently going through a frustrating 3-8 stretch while the Tigers were desperately trying to fumble away first place, losing 11 of 15 since ending a 4-game win streak on August 19. Kansas City 1 NY Yankees 7 - The Yankees, on the verge of completing what may be the softest part of their entire 2007 schedule, have taken 10 of 15 over Tampa Bay, Baltimore, KC and the White Sox, and with two games left in their series with the Royals, seem to have made some headway. With Boston losing last night, the Yanks are 7 back in the AL East and now trail Detroit by 2 1/2 in the wild card race. Seattle is also involved, 1/2-game behind the Tigers. After Sunday, it gets a lot more interesting in the Yankees' quest for a playoff spot, with August filled with games against Toronto, Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland and the LA Angels. The month culminates with a 3-game series in the Bronx with Boston on August 28, 29 and 30. The upcoming stretch may well determine the post-season fate of the Bronx Bombers. Boston 4 Seattle 7 - The Mariners continue to confound their critics, remaining a contender in both the AL West and wild card races. With a lineup consisting of no-name players beyond Ichiro and Adrian Beltre, Seattle manages to get timely hitting and pitching, like on Friday, when #9 hitter, Yuniesky Betancourt delivered a 3-run homer in the 4th and broke a 4-all tie in the 6th with a key ground-out RBI. The Mariners are 2 1/2 behind the Angels and just 1/2-game behind Detroit in the wild card. Other AL Scores Chi White Sox 7 Detroit 4 Texas 4 Toronto 6 Baltimore 3 Tampa Bay 1 LA Angels 4 Oakland 8 National League Cincinnati 13 Pittsburgh 4 - Adam Dunn (right) socked his 29th homer and Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 26th, as all 8 position players for the Reds had at least 2 hits. NY Mets 6 Chi Cubs 2 - The Mets are determined to make a mess of any other team's hopes of making the playoffs. On Friday, they knocked the Cubs out of first place, and, by virtue of losses by Philly and Atlanta, improved their NL East lead to 5 games. Orlando Hernandez gave the Mets 6 2/3 innings of solid mound work, allowing 2 earned runs, and the bullpen blanked the Cubs the rest of the way, preventing Carlos Zambrano from becoming the first 15-game winner in the majors. Arizona 1 LA Dodgers 0 - The Diamondbacks upped their lead to 1 1/2 games, behind the 3-hit, 8-inning performance of Doug Davis (8-10), who outdueled LA starter Chad Billingsley (7-2). Jose Valverde delivered a perfect ninth, fanning 2 of the 3 batters he faced, for his 32nd save. The Dodgers fell to third place, 2 back, as the Padres beat San Fran. Colorado stayed in the race with a win at Florida. The Rockies are 3 1/2 off the pace. Other NL Scores St. Louis 2 Washington 3 Houston 8 Florida 2 Colorado 9 Atlanta 2 Philadelphia 1 Milwaukee 2 San Francisco 3 San Diego 4, 10 innings