Indians' hopes dented after double-header

The Cleveland Indians came closer to dropping out of the American League wild card race following a historic three-team double-header on Monday. Torii Hunter's two-run single and Corey Koskie's diving catch to end the game were the highlights as the Minnesota Twins rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Indians.

The Cleveland Indians came closer to dropping out of the American League wild card race following a historic three-team double-header on Monday. Torii Hunter's two-run single and Corey Koskie's diving catch to end the game were the highlights as the Minnesota Twins rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Indians.

Cleveland had defeated the Chicago White Sox 9-2 in the afternoon but failed to complete the sweep as they became the first club to play a double-header against different teams since 13 September 1951, when the St Louis Cardinals hosted the New York Giants and Boston Braves.

"It didn't seem that strange," the Cleveland third baseman, Travis Fryman, said. "We've played a lot of these the past two or three years. This one was a little different because it was against two teams, but it wasn't that big a deal."

The Indians are now 1 ¹/2 games behind Oakland in the wild card chase after the Athletics beat Anaheim 7-5, with Jason Giambi hitting his 40th home run and his younger brother Jeremy taking a three-run triple. Oakland have now won 17 of their last 22 games and have climbed within half a game of Seattle in the West Division.

In New York, the Yankees closed their home schedule in dismal fashion as Dwight Gooden and David Cone were hammered in a 15-4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.