Francisco Liriano threw six scoreless innings in his return to the Minnesota rotation Sunday, helping the Twins move into first in the American League Central with a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians. Denard Span and Brendan Harris homered for Minnesota, which moved a half-game ahead of the White Sox. Chicago lost 14-3 at Kansas City. Liriano missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery and went 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in three starts before being sent down in April. He dominated at Triple-A Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last 11 starts, and was openly frustrated as the Twins waited until Friday to call him up. Span went 2-for-4, and Nick Punto and Mike Lamb each had run-scoring triples for the Minnesota. After breezing through two innings on 19 pitches, Liriano was tested in the third, facing a bases-loaded situation after two walks and a throwing error by shortstop Harris. Liriano threw 34 pitches in the inning but struck out Ben Francisco to end the threat. Rays 6, Tigers 5, 10 innings: At St. Petersburg, Florida, Carl Crawford hit a tying RBI single in the 10th inning and Carlos Pena drew a game-ending, bases-loaded walk to give AL East-leading Tampa Bay a victory of Detroit. Tampa Bay took advantage of Fernando Rodney's wildness to put together the winning rally. Pinch-hitter Willy Aybar led off with a walk, bringing Jason Bartlett to the plate. Bartlett squared to bunt and left when Rodney (0-3) plunked him on his right index finger. Shawn Riggans batted for Bartlett, and Rodney hit him with the next pitch. Both runners advanced on Akinori Iwamura's sacrifice and B.J. Upton walked before Crawford hit a tying single into left field. One out later, Pena won it when took a 3-2 pitch to force in the winning run. Yankees 14, Angels 9: At New York, Xavier Nady homered and had a career-high six RBIs, rallying New York past sloppy Los Angeles in a wild, back-and-forth game. Royals 14, White Sox 3: At Kansas City, Missouri, Mike Aviles went 4-for-4 with a home run, Zack Greinke pitched well into the seventh inning, and Kansas City defeated Chicago in a game featuring five ejections. There was a bench-clearing brawl in the fifth inning when Royals catcher Miguel Olivo was hit by a pitch from D.J.Carrasco and charged the mound. Olivo, Carrasco and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were sent to the clubhouse once order was restored. Red Sox 5, Athletics 2: At Boston, Jed Lowrie's two-run triple highlighted a three-run fourth inning that helped Daisuke Matsuzaka to his 12th win and Boston completed a three-game sweep of Oakland. Mariners 8, Orioles 4: At Seattle, Raul Ibanez's two-run single off reliever Jamie Walker capped a three-run seventh inning to help Seattle down Baltimore and snap a seven-game home losing streak. Rangers 8, Blue Jays 4: At Arlington, Texas, Gerald Laird homered twice and drove in four runs as Texas beat Toronto.
