The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - As the rain fell, the Seattle Mariners passed the time during a seemingly endless delay by watching other baseball games on their clubhouse TVs. Their manager was tuned to the Weather Channel.

Edgar Martinez hit a three-run homer and three Seattle pitchers took a shutout into the seventh inning for the Mariners, who had to wait out a 2 1/2-hour rain delay before beating the Cleveland Indians 9-1 Thursday night.

Martinez homered in the first inning off Jake Westbrook (2-3) and added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for the Mariners, who were up 7-0 in the fourth when thunderstorms and steady rain caused a two-hour, 28-minute delay.

For a while, it looked like Seattle's easy win would be washed out.

"I know a rule is a rule but this would have been a tough one to swallow," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "I was happy to sit around and get a win."

Seattle improved to 5-1 against Cleveland this season and 12-3 vs. AL Central teams.

Randy Winn and Jeff Cirillo had two RBIs apiece for the Mariners.

"I didn't want the game to be canceled," Martinez said. "No one in the clubhouse did. It didn't look good for a while. When we looked outside, we didn't think it was going to stop."

Giovanni Carrara (2-0) allowed three hits in three scoreless innings and recorded the first decision for Seattle's bullpen since April 22 when the right-hander also beat Cleveland.

Omar Vizquel homered in the seventh off Julio Mateo for the Indians' lone run.

Royals 9, Twins 5

MINNEAPOLIS - Slumping Joe Randa keyed a four-run 14th inning with a leadoff double to lead the Kansas City Royals over the Minnesota Twins 9-5 Thursday.

Carlos Beltran hit a two-run homer in the first inning for the Royals, who split the four-game series and lead Minnesota by 21/2 games in the AL Central.

Cristian Guzman went 4-for-7 for the Twins, who stranded 13 runners.

Randa, in a 2-for-43 skid, doubled off Johan Santana (2-1) to start the 14th. Raul Ibanez hit a looper over a drawn-in Guzman at shortstop to make it 6-5. Ken Harvey added a sacrifice fly against Tony Fiore, and Desi Relaford and Angel Berroa followed with bloop RBI singles.

D.J. Carrasco (3-1) got out of a 12th-inning jam with the help of a diving play by Berroa at shortstop and pitched 2 2-3 hitless innings.

Devil Rays 9, Blue Jays 5

TORONTO - Toby Hall's two-run double and Rocco Baldelli's two-run single highlighted a six-run second inning that lifted Tampa Bay over Toronto.

Baldelli went 2-for-5, raising his average to .352. The 21-year-old rookie center fielder entered the day tied for the most hits in the majors with 55. Jared Sandberg added a two-run double.

Vernon Wells homered for the Blue Jays, who fell to 2-4 against Tampa Bay this season. Wells has a team-high 39 RBIs.

Jesus Colome (1-1) pitched 3 2-3 scoreless innings for the win.

Toronto starter Doug Davis (1-2) was roughed up for seven runs on seven hits in 1 2-3 innings.

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Yankees 10, Angels 4

NEW YORK - Todd Zeile, playing first base for the first time this year, homered, singled on a pitchout and made a tumbling catch on a foul pop.

Arturo Moreno, whose $184 million purchase of the Angels was approved earlier in the day, had barely settled into his box seat next to the Anaheim dugout when Alfonso Soriano, in a 1-for-20 skid, hit a leadoff homer off Aaron Sele (1-1). The World Series champions allowed 10 runs for the first time this season.

Derek Jeter doubled twice, Bernie Williams hit a pair of RBI singles and Raul Mondesi scored two runs as the Yankees took a 10-1 lead after four innings.

Jeff Weaver (3-2) allowed two earned runs and eight hits in 6 2-3 innings.

Red Sox 12, Rangers 3

BOSTON - Pedro Martinez (4-2) allowed five hits in six shutout innings and David Ortiz was 3-for-5 with two RBIs as Boston completed a three-game sweep. Only one runner reached third base against him.

Alan Benes (0-2) allowed six runs and seven hits in three-plus innings.

Boston scored two in the third when Nomar Garciaparra's popup fell in front of right fielder Carl Everett and bounced past him for a triple.

Athletics 11, Tigers 2

DETROIT - Eric Byrnes hit a three-run triple in a six-run first and Barry Zito (6-3) gave up two runs - one earned - four hits and one walk in six innings.

The A's, who held Detroit to five hits, won their eighth straight series and 11th of 13. Oakland (25-15) has its best record after 40 games since 1990.

Detroit, a major league-worst 9-29, had won six of its nine previous games.

Adam Bernero (0-6) gave up eight runs, eight hits and three walks in 3 1-3 innings.

White Sox 8, Orioles 2

CHICAGO - Bartolo Colon allowed five hits before he was ejected in the ninth inning, and Magglio Ordonez keyed a six-run seventh with a bases-loaded triple for Chicago.

The victory gave the White Sox a three-game sweep and got them back to .500 for the first time in 12 days. The Orioles have lost five straight.

Frank Thomas homered, singled and drew a key bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run in the seventh.

Colon (4-3) walked one and struck out five and was on his way to a complete game before he hit Jerry Hairston with a pitch to start the ninth.

Plate umpire Terry Craft had warned both dugouts in the eighth after Baltimore reliever Jorge Julio hit Ordonez in the back with a pitch, so Colon was tossed when he plunked Hairston.

The benches emptied but there were no punches. White Sox manager Jerry Manuel also was ejected.

Sidney Ponson (4-3) took the loss.