Denard Span delivered the go-ahead single in the seventh inning, emergency starter Matt Fox pitched 5 2-3 innings in his major league debut, and the depleted Minnesota Twins beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Friday night.

Fox allowed two runs and four hits, giving the Twins' staff a major boost after scheduled starter Nick Blackburn was forced to pitch in Thursday's 13-inning loss to Detroit.

Alex Burnett (2-2 ), who arrived with Fox from Triple-A earlier Friday, allowed a run in 1 1-3 innings. Matt Capps recorded five outs for his eighth save with the Twins and 34th overall.

With one out and runners on first and third in the eighth, Capps struck out Nelson Cruz and got Ian Kinsler to ground out.

Josh Hamilton singled with one out in the eighth, and then left the game with lower back stiffness. Hamilton had missed the Rangers last two games with a sore knee.

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Shin-Soo Choo drove in five runs with a bases-loaded double and a two-run home run to give the Cleveland Indians a 6-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night. Choo, traded to the Indians by Seattle in 2006, hit a 3-1 fastball from Doug Fister (4-11) against the right-center-field wall in the Indians' four-run sixth to score all three runners without a throw. He added his two-run shot in the ninth to match his season-high for RBIs. Choo had five RBIs against the Chicago White Sox on April 18.

Choo leads Cleveland in home runs (16) and RBI (68). Asdrubal Cabrera had three hits for the Indians. Josh Tomlin (3-3) allowed seven hits, three runs, struck out five and walked none. Chris Perez worked the ninth to pick up his 17th save.

Lincecum Finally Wins Again For Giants: Pinch-runner Darren Ford scored the go-ahead run from second base on a wild pitch and throwing error in the eighth inning, helping Tim Lincecum end a career-worst five-start skid in the San Francisco Giants' 2-1 victory over Colorado on Wednesday night.

Ubaldo Jimenez (17-6) was denied in his fifth attempt at a franchise-record 18th win. He lost his third straight start and fourth consecutive decision dating to a win over the Giants on Aug. 4.

The Giants gained another game on the first-place Padres, pulling within three games in the NL West race after San Diego lost its seventh in a row.

Lincecum (12-9) won for the first time since July 30. He hung tough in an impressive pitchers' duel between the two-time reigning NL Cy Young Award winner and the guy who may unseat him for the honor this season.

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Francoeur Traded To Rangers For Playoff Push: The first-place Texas Rangers acquired New York outfielder Jeff Francoeur  for their playoff push Tuesday night, just hours before the deadline for players to be eligible for the postseason roster. The Mets traded Francoeur and cash considerations to Texas for infielder Joaquin Arias, who had been designated for assignment last week when Alex Cora was called up by the Rangers.

Francoeur is hitting .237 with 11 homers and 54 RBIs and leads the NL with 11 outfield assists. Arias batted .276 in 50 games for the Rangers, including 22 starts. He had two stints on the disabled list.

Texas has been looking for a right-handed hitter to come off the bench for the final month of the season and their expected postseason appearance. The deal had to be completed by midnight Tuesday in order for Francoeur to be eligible for the Rangers' playoff roster. Going into Tuesday's game at Kansas City, Texas had a commanding nine-game lead in the AL West.

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Pena, Crawford Homer To Power Rays Past Red Sox: Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford homered to back James Shields and help Tampa Bay retain a share of first place in the AL East with a 5-3 victory over Boston on Sunday night. Keeping pace with the New York Yankees, the Rays rebounded from losing the opener of a crucial weekend series to win two straight and drop the third-place Red Sox 6 1/2 games behind in the division and wild card.

Shields (13-11) won for the sixth time in eight starts, allowing three runs and seven hits over 6 2-3 innings. He walked one and struck out eight before turning over a one-run lead to a better-than-expected bullpen that's one of the reasons Tampa Bay has been able to keep up with the Yankees for the best record in baseball.

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Lidge's Balk Forces Phillies To Go Extras For Win:  Brad Lidge  balked home the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, forcing the Philadelphia Phillies to play three more innings before beating the NL West-leading San Diego Padres 3-2 Friday night on a perfect slide by Jimmy Rollins.

Rollins doubled to the right-field wall off rookie Ernesto Frieri (0-1) leading off the 12th and came around to score on Placido Polanco's single to center. Luis Durango made a strong throw to catcher Yorvit Torrealba, but Rollins slid wide to avoid the tag and reached back with his left hand to touch the plate. Umpire James Hoye signaled safe as Rollins popped up and clapped his hands.

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McGehee lifts Brewers over first-place Padres 10-6: Casey McGehee homered and drove in four runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers piled up 15 hits against baseball's top pitching staff to snap the San Diego Padres' five-game winning streak, 10-6 on Friday night. The Padres, owners of the best record in the National League at 73-48, had won 10 of 11. They lead the NL West by five games. The hits were the most against the Padres since St. Louis tallied 15 in an 8-3 victory May 27. The Giants had 18 hits against San Diego in a 7-6, 12-inning win on May 18.

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Choo Helps Indians Rally Past Royals: Shin-Soo Choo hit a tiebreaking RBI single in Cleveland's five-run eighth inning and the Indians rallied to beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Thursday night. Asdrubal Cabrera had two hits and drove in two runs for the Indians, who committed a season-high five errors and had a runner thrown out at every base. Matt LaPorta and Jayson Nix also had two hits apiece. Rafael Perez (4-0), the fourth of five Indians pitchers, pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings and Chris Perez got four outs for his 15th save in 19 opportunities.

Alex Gordon had three hits and Wilson Betemit drove in two runs for Kansas City, which had won three straight. Kyle Davies allowed three runs and seven hits in 7 1-3 innings. Betemit hit a two-out, two-run single in the fifth inning to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead. The Royals had a chance at a bigger inning, with four singles, a walk and an Indians error, but Mitch Maier struck out to leave the bases loaded.

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The Atlanta Braves said Thursday that 38-year-old third baseman Chipper Jones tore his anterior cruciate ligament and will need surgery.

The estimated recovery time is six months  if Jones decides to return in 2011. He had already said he would consider retirement after.

A season that's now ended sooner than expected.Jones was hurt in Tuesday night's game at Houston.

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Mike Lowell hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 7-5 on Tuesday night. J.D. Drew added a solo shot as the Red Sox improved to 8-2 against the Blue Jays this season. Boston has won eight of its past 11 on the road.

Jose Bautista hit his major-league-leading 35th home run for the Blue Jays, while Travis Snider hit a three-run shot and Adam Lind added a solo blast. Toronto leads the majors with 178 homers this season, 29 more than Boston, who are second with 149.

Felix Doubront (2-2) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win while Shawn Camp (3-2) took the loss. Jonathan Papelbon pitched around a one-out double in the ninth for his 29th save in 34 chances. Scott Downs got one out in the eighth for the Blue Jays before Camp came on to face Adrian Beltre, who grounded out. Lowell followed with a homer to left-center, his fourth.

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