Mench Homers, but Rangers Lose

For the seventh consecutive game, Kevin Mench homered for Texas, but Cleveland beat the Rangers, 7-6, on Friday night for the host Indians’ third consecutive victory.

Mench was 0 for 3 before hitting an 0-2 pitch from Guillermo Mota just over the left-field wall to open the eighth inning after Cleveland had scored twice in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead.

Don Mattingly, Dale Long and Ken Griffey Jr. share the major league record with homers in eight consecutive games.

Victor Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk off Ron Mahay to break a 4-4 tie in the seventh and Eduardo Perez followed with a run batted in on a fielder’s choice to put Cleveland ahead by two. Rick Bauer (1-1) put the first two runners on before Mahay came on with one out and walked Travis Hafner and Martinez to force in a run.

Detroit 9, Minnesota 0 -- Chris Shelton hit his 10th homer in April to match the Tigers’ record and Nate Robertson pitched seven scoreless innings.

Shelton homered in the third inning to match Cecil Fielder’s mark set in 1996. After hitting nine homers in his first 13 games, Shelton had gone nine without one. Brad Radke (2-3) lost for the first time in 13 career starts in Detroit. He gave up six runs and nine hits in 2 1/3 innings to drop to 7-1 lifetime in road games against the Tigers.

Toronto 7, New York 2 -- Shea Hillenbrand hit two home runs -- a three-run homer in the sixth and added a solo shot in the ninth -- for the Blue Jays in New York.

Toronto’s Roy Halladay (3-1) gave up seven hits but no runs over 5 1/3 innings and worked his way out of trouble several times, leaving six runners stranded.

Oakland 5, Kansas City 3 -- Mark Ellis homered and drove in four runs, leading Oakland to its 11th consecutive victory in Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium. The Royals have not won a home series against Oakland since July 1999. The club record for consecutive home losses to one team is 12 against Baltimore from 1969 to ‘70, the Royals’ first two seasons.

Baltimore 5, Seattle 2 -- Daniel Cabrera gave up two runs and four hits through seven innings, and Corey Patterson and Miguel Tejada homered at home for the Orioles.

Tejada went two for four with a walk and two runs scored. He has hit in 13 consecutive games, and his 41 hits in April are a club record. He is 27 for 51 (.529) with five homers and 13 RBIs during his hitting streak.

Tampa Bay 5, Boston 2 -- The Devil Rays’ Casey Fossum gave up three hits and no runs while pitching into the seventh inning and Ty Wigginton supported him with a two-run double at home.

The Devil Rays lost the shutout bid in the eighth when Shawn Camp gave up an RBI double to Trot Nixon and a run-scoring single to pinch-hitter J.T. Snow. The Red Sox have been outscored 27-6 in losing three straight.