Sheffield still fumes after Friday’s brawl

Gary Sheffield was still angry a day after he was involved in a brawl with the Cleveland Indians.

The Detroit Tigers’ designated hitter was hit by a pitch from Fausto Carmona in the seventh inning Friday night, an incident that led to a bench-clearing brawl.

Sheffield and Carmona were ejected, as was Indians catcher Victor Martinez and Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco.

Sheffield said Friday night he wouldn’t forget the actions of several Indians players during the brawl. He was still unhappy before Saturday’s game and directed most of his comments at Martinez, who was pointing at the Tigers’ veteran while being dragged away from the fight.

“He hasn’t done anything in this game,” Sheffield said. “He’s had a couple of (good) years. When you have a catcher chirping like he’s something special … like he’s done something. He hasn’t done anything.”

Sheffield was in the lineup Saturday while Martinez didn’t start. Indians manager Eric Wedge said the day off for Martinez was planned before the series and he will catch today.

Martinez, who said Friday that Sheffield should keep his mouth shut and play the game, was unavailable for comment Saturday.

American League highlights

Rays 7, Twins 2: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Carlos Pena hit a two-run double and Scott Kazmir rebounded from the worst start of his career to pitch six scoreless innings, helping the East-leading Rays wrap up at least a wild-card spot with a victory over Minnesota. The Rays extended their lead in the division to 2 1/2 games over Boston.

Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 3: At Toronto, Roy Halladay worked six innings to earn his 19th win, Scott Rolen homered and the Blue Jays kept their faint playoff hopes alive. Toronto pulled within 7 1/2 games of Boston in the wild-card race.

Royals 5, White Sox 2: At Kansas City, Mo., Kyle Davies gave up three hits in seven-plus innings and the Royals beat Chicago. The White Sox remained 2 1/2 games in front of the Minnesota Twins in the Central.

National League highlights

Cubs 5, Cardinals 4: The Chicago Cubs clinched their second straight Central title, beating St. Louis behind Ted Lilly’s seven innings at rocking Wrigley Field. Lilly was sailing along with a 5-0 lead when the Cardinals scored four runs with two out in the sixth, including a three-run homer by Troy Glaus. Lilly regrouped in the seventh and relievers Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood held off the Cardinals. Wood earned his 32nd save in 39 chances.

Braves 4, Mets 2: At Atlanta, Kelly Johnson hit an RBI double off Pedro Martinez in the Braves’ three-run first inning, rookie Josh Anderson had three hits and Atlanta won to end New York’s three-game winning streak. With the loss, the Mets fell one-half game behind Philadelphia in the East.

Phillies 3, Marlins 2: At Miami, Philadelphia went ahead, fell behind, rallied and held on, escaping threats in the final three innings to beat Florida and reclaim first place from the Mets.

Pirates 6, Astros 4: At Pittsburgh, Ryan Doumit (Moses Lake) drove in three runs with a pair of triples in the first two innings and the Pirates held on to beat skidding Houston.

Clearing the bases

The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Jeff Kent from the 15-day disabled list – less than three weeks after the 40-year-old second baseman underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.