7-27-09 Morning Highlights

INDIANS 12, MARINERS 3 -- Travis Hafner, Jhonny Peralta, Grady Sizemore and Ben Francisco all hit home runs, Peralta's of the grand slam variety, and Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings to finish the three-game sweep of the Mariners. The Indians are now on a four-game winning streak and have won five of their last six. Cleveland will begin a three-game set against the AL West leading Angels tonight at 10:10 p.m. in Anaheim.

ELSEWHERE IN THE AL CENTRAL:

TWINS 10, ANGELS 2 -- Twins first baseman Justin Morneau hit two home runs and right fielder Denard Span drove in four runs out of his lead off spot as the Twins routed the Angels. The Twins will begin a three-game set with the White Sox tonight at the Metrodome.

WHITE SOX 5, TIGERS 1 -- A four-run first inning, which included a two-run home run by Paul Konerko, was all the support Chicago starting pitcherClayton Richard would need. the left-hander scattered five hits and struck out three over eight innings to get the win. The Tigers begin a three game set in Texas tonight before heading to Cleveland for a weekend series with the Indians.

RANGERS 7, ROYALS 2 -- Royals starter Sidney Ponson threw six innings of scoreless baseball, but the Kansas City bullpen, and the defense behind it, couldn't earn the victory. The Rangers scored three runs in the seventh in and four runs in the eighth, to pull out the victory. Only four of the runs were earned. Michael Young led the Rangers attack with two RBI singles. He finished the game 3-4 with two RBI. The Royals will play four in Baltimore beginning tonight.