AL roundup: Unknown hurlers driving Indians to great start

CLEVELAND — Orlando Cabrera senses something special happening to the Cleveland Indians. In 13 major league seasons, he's seen this before.

With each quality start, clutch hit and win, the Indians' confidence grows. Cabrera sees a young team blossoming into a quality one.

"I think we have what it takes," he said.

To do what?

"To win," he said. "I don't like to compete. I like to win."

That's exactly what the Indians are doing.

Josh Tomlin delivered yet another quality start for Cleveland, Cabrera drove in four runs and the first-place Indians won their sixth straight at home, 8-3 on Saturday over the Baltimore Orioles, who have lost six in a row and are having trouble scoring.

Tomlin (3-0) gave up two runs — solo homers to Jake Fox and Luke Scott — and six hits in six innings. His outing continued a dominant run by Cleveland's starters, who are making it look easy. In the last 12 games, they're 8-1 with a 1.91 ERA, not bad for a five-man rotation of virtual unknowns.

Shin-Soo Choo homered off Jeremy Guthrie (1-2) and Matt LaPorta had two RBIs for the Indians, who are 10-4 and off to their best start in nine years.

RED SOX 4, BLUE JAYS 1: At Boston, Josh Beckett had his second straight strong start, holding Toronto to one run over seven innings, and Jed Lowrie provided a spark at the top of Boston's lineup with a two-run homer. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Red Sox, who have the majors' worst record at 3-10.

ROYALS 7, MARINERS 0: At Kansas City, Mo., Alex Gordon added three hits to his league-leading total and drove in two runs and Sean O'Sullivan out-pitched Felix Hernandez, leading Kansas City past Seattle. Mike Aviles had two hits and three RBIs as the Royals beat the Mariners for the third straight day and handed them their 11th loss in 13 games.

YANKEES 5, RANGERS 2: At New York, Freddy Garcia allowed two hits over six innings in his first start of the season, Mark Teixeira drove in three runs and the Yankees held off Texas. With temperatures in the mid-40s, Garcia (1-0) worked through steady rain showers and winds gusting to 30 mph to shut down the Texas offense.

RAYS 4, TWINS 3: At St. Petersburg, Fla., Ben Zobrist led off the ninth with a tying home run off Twins closer Joe Nathan (0-1) and Johnny Damon ended the game with a two-out single for Tampa Bay. B.J. Upton walked and stole second. Nathan was replaced by Jose Mijares after walking Casey Kotchman and getting a flyball from John Jaso.

ANGELS 7, WHITE SOX 2: At Chicago, Tyler Chatwood pitched seven impressive innings for his first major league win and Hank Conger hit a three-run homer to lead the Angels over the White Sox. After the start was delayed more than 2 hours by rain, the 21-year-old Chatwood (1-1) allowed just one run and five hits.

ATHLETICS 6, TIGERS 2: At Oakland, Calif., Dallas Braden allowed an unearned run in five innings before leaving with stiffness in his pitching shoulder. David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui had two hits apiece as Oakland knocked around Detroit ace Justin Verlander with five doubles.