Thursday’s games

American League

Indians 9, Rangers 4: At Cleveland, Jake Westbrook won for the fifth time in six starts and Cleveland moved closer in the wild-card race, beating Texas. Jhonny Peralta had three hits, including a two-run homer, as the Indians pulled within 2 1/2 games of idle Oakland. Coco Crisp and Travis Hafner each drove in two runs.

Angels 13, Red Sox 4: At Anaheim, Calif., Juan Rivera hit a pair of three-run homers, Bartolo Colon won his fifth straight decision, and Los Angeles beat Boston in the series opener between division leaders. Rivera homered on the second pitch from Mike Myers after Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield left the game in the fifth inning when he got hit in the right ankle on a comebacker by Casey Kotchman.

National League

Phillies 2-4, Nationals 1-5: At Philadelphia, Carlos Baerga’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning lifted Washington to a split of a day-night doubleheader with Philadelphia. In the opener, Vicente Padilla kept up his recent run of outstanding starts and Bobby Abreu delivered a key two-RBI double in Philadelphia’s 2-1 win.

Reds 4, Giants 2: At Cincinnati, Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 530th career home run and Felipe Lopez also connected as Cincinnati avoided a sweep with a win over San Francisco.

Marlins 2, Padres 0: At Miami, Josh Beckett pitched seven innings and had an RBI single as Florida shut out San Diego for the second straight game. Beckett (12-6) allowed four hits, two walks and struck out six in winning his fourth straight decision. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 26th save. The shutout tied Florida’s team record of 14.

Pirates 5, Mets 0: At New York, Pittsburgh rookie Zach Duke won his sixth straight decision, limiting New York to two hits in seven innings. Duke (6-0), a 22-year-old left-hander, allowed four baserunners, struck out five and walked one. Duke also had his first major league hit, a seventh-inning single.

Dodgers 7, Braves 4: At Atlanta, Jeff Weaver won his fourth straight decision and Milton Bradley hit a three-run homer for Los Angeles, which has won 5 of 7. Weaver (11-8) gave up 10 hits and four runs – three earned – in six innings.

Brewers 5, Astros 2: At Houston, Damian Miller’s two-run double with the bases loaded keyed Milwaukee’s four-run seventh inning against Roger Clemens. The Brewers won their third straight and fourth in five games. Clemens (11-5) gave up a season-high five earned runs and lost for the first time since July 17. He was 4-0 in five starts since then.

Diamondbacks 9, Cardinals 2: At St. Louis, Claudio Vargas worked six solid innings and Luis Gonzalez homered twice to help Arizona avoid a three-game sweep. Cardinals pitcher Jason Marquis (9-12) had an infield hit and an RBI double his first two at-bats, giving him six straight hits. He leads all pitchers with 25 hits and a .373 average.