Lofton's grand slam inspires Indians

Kenny Lofton continued his weekend to savour in the American League with two home runs, including his second career grand slam, as the Cleveland Indians completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners, 12-4, on Sunday.

Kenny Lofton continued his weekend to savour in the American League with two home runs, including his second career grand slam, as the Cleveland Indians completed a three-game sweep of the Seattle Mariners, 12-4, on Sunday.

Seattle, who lost their eighth consecutive game, enjoyed a comfortable lead in the American League West 10 days ago, but have allowed at least nine runs in a seven-game sequence, erasing the record of the New York Giants, who had a six-game stretch in 1901.

In New York, David Cone pitched to perfection, but Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson had off days. New York's two key middle relievers combined to allow four runs in the seventh inning as the Anaheim Angels rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Yankees. Cone allowed only two hits over six scoreless innings and left with the Yankees holding a 3-0 lead - but then the Yankee bullpen collapsed for the second time in three days.

In the National League, Tom Glavine allowed three hits over seven innings to win for the ninth time in 10 starts, and Chipper Jones had four hits, including a pair of homers, and scored four times in Atlanta's 8-5 triumph over the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. Glavineallowed four runs - three earned. The left-hander has not yielded more than three earned runs in eight of his last 10 starts.

Johnson tossed a four-hitter and Greg Colbrunn and Danny Bautista had key hits in a four-run sixth inning as the Arizona Diamondbacks rallied to defeat the Chicago Cubs, 5-4. Arizona moved within a half-game of San Francisco for the lead in the National League West.