Tribe Keeps Chisox In Second Place

The Indians remember the final week of the 2005 season. That's when the Chicago White Sox beat them to win the AL Central. Cleveland can't pass Chicago this year, but can make sure the White Sox don't get past the first-place Minnesota Twins. The Tribe's 11-8 win Friday night in Chicago sent the White Sox to a fourth straight loss and kept them a half game behind the Twins, losers to Kansas City.

Ryan Garko did the honors, with a solo homer and grand slam. The Tribe fell behind, then surged ahead 9-4 with a six-run fifth inning.

Rookie Scott Lewis (4-0, 2.63 ERA) had his poorest outing since making his MLB three weeks ago, but still got the win. The left-hander allowed six hits and four runs over five innings. Edward Mujica, Rafael Betancourt, Rafael Perez and Jensen Lewis finished in relief. Jensen Lewis (3.76 ERA) allowed one hit over the final 1 1-3 innings for his 13th save.

Ben Francisco (.269) put Cleveland ahead with his 15th homer in the first inning. Josh Barfield (.182) made it 2-0 with an RBI single in the second.

A solo homer by Paul Konerko, two-run shot by A.J. Pierzynski and RBI groundout by Brian Anderson lifted Chicago into a 4-2 lead in the bottom half.

Garko's solo homer got Cleveland within 4-3 in the fourth, and his grand slam capped the Indians' big sixth. Shin-Soo Choo (.307) put Cleveland ahead, 5-4, with a two-run single. After Jhonny Peralta walked to load the bases, Garko (.270) hit his 14th homer to center for a 9-4 advantage.

Jermaine Dye's two-run homer in the bottom half got the White Sox within 9-6.

Cleveland extended its lead when Franklin Gutierrez walked with the bases loaded in the sixth and Asdrubal Cabrera scampered home on a wild pitch in the seventh.

Peralta played third base for the first time since 2004. He didn't make any errors, handling a grounder, a pop fly and starting a game-ending double play. Cabrera made two in the second inning at shortstop in his first game back after serving a three-game suspension for his part in Cleveland's brawl with the Detroit Tigers last Friday night.