Cleveland's Kenny Lofton tips his helmet to the crowd before taking his first at-bat against Minnesota at Jacobs Field Friday. Lofton, who played with the Indians two different times earlier in his career and returned in a trade with the Texas Rangers, had three hits to help the Indians take a 10-4 victory.

Kenny Lofton's first at-bat as a member of the Cleveland Indians in six years was anticlimactic. By the end of the night, however, fans were thrilled to have the veteran back.

Lofton began his third go-round with Cleveland by getting three hits and playing left field for the first time as the Indians beat the visiting Minnesota Twins 10-4 on Friday night.

Jhonny Peralta added two home runs for Cleveland.

"It was emotional at first," said Lofton, who was traded from Texas for minor league catcher Max Ramirez earlier in the day. "The fans were cheering and I was trying to calm myself down the first time up. I didn't know what to expect and it was nice to go out there and show the fans I have a little bit left."

Lofton, a lifetime leadoff hitter and center fielder who numbers Pittsburgh among his stops in the majors, batted second and played left. He finished 3-for-5 with an RBI in his first game for Cleveland since leaving after the Indians were eliminated in the 2001 playoffs.

That was the last time they made the postseason, and the Indians are hoping Lofton can help them get back.

"We got a shot in the arm," pitcher Paul Byrd said of Lofton's arrival. "We got somebody who knows how to win in playoff situations, a gamer."

Rookie Jeremy Guthrie limited New York to two runs in six innings and host Baltimore won its fifth straight.Earlier, the Yankees beat the Orioles in the completion of a game suspended on June 28 by rain. Play resumed in the eighth inning with the Yankees up 8-6, and closer Mariano Rivera gave up a run in a harrowing ninth before earning his 16th save.

Tim Wakefield (12-9) allowed one run over six innings and Kevin Youkilis hit a three-run homer to lead visiting Boston over Tampa Bay.

Adrian Beltre hit a three-run double and Jose Guillen hit a two-run homer as host Seattle ended a season-high seven-game losing streak.

Gary Matthews Jr. broke out of an 0-for-19 drought with three run-scoring hits and robbed Craig Monroe of a grand slam to lead host Los Angeles in the matchup of division leaders.

Brian Bannister (7-6) pitched seven shutout innings and Billy Butler hit a three-run homer for host Kansas City.Butler homered in the first off Jamey Wright (3-3) to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead.Sammy Sosa hit his team-leading 16th homer and the 604th of his career with two outs in the eighth to snap the Royals' 17-inning scoreless streak.

Jermaine Dye homered and Juan Uribe hit a go-ahead two-run double in the sixth inning to lead host Chicago.

After Arizona blew a seven-run lead, Tony Clark homered to lead off the bottom of the 11th and beat Atlanta Braves for the Diamondbacks' second straight game-winning homer and fifth this season.

At New York, Washington's Ryan Church and Austin Kearns homered to back the pitching of former Met Mike Bacsik (4-6), who scattered eight hits over seven innings.

At Houston, Milton Bradley homered and Brian Giles had a season-high three RBIs for San Diego and Jake (10-5) Peavy won for the first time since June 19.

At Cincinnati, Edwin Encarnacion drove in Norris Hopper with a game-winning single off Bobby Howry (5-6) in the bottom of the ninth inning.

At St. Louis, Claudio Vargas (9-2) worked eight innings for the first time in four seasons and was backed by Milwaukee's 19-hit attack.