Doc, Indians Keep Blue Jays In Check

Dwight Gooden eagerly came to the defense of his defense Monday night.

"I got a lot of help out there," said Gooden after leading the Cleveland Indians over Toronto 6-3 Monday night, keeping the Blue Jays three games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race.

Outfielders Manny Ramirez and Brian Giles and first baseman Richie Sexson turned in stellar plays as Cleveland, seeking its fourth consecutive AL Central title, reduced its magic number to three.

The Blue Jays entered with 14 wins in 17 games.

"We battled, but Ramirez took a home run from (Jose) Canseco and Sexson turned a great double play on (Shawn) Green," Toronto manager Tim Johnson said. "We're still in striking distance, though."

Gooden (8-6) struck out a season-high eight in seven innings, allowing three runs, six hits and one walk. He is 5-0 with four no-decisions since his a 6-3 loss to Detroit on July 26.

"It feels good, but I had a lot of help," Gooden said. "The main thing for me is staying healthy and trying to get better and better each time out. The thing now is to clinch this thing. When you get this close you like to get it over with.

"At the same time, we want to establish a level of consistency for the postseason because it is not always the best team during the season that wins it all, but the team that gets hot at the right time."

Mike Jackson got the last three outs for his 39th save.

"We're starting to get timely hits anconsistent pitching," Jackson said. "The defense has been there all year. Combining all three will take care of winning the division."

Cleveland overcame a 3-2 deficit with a three-run seventh inning.

Omar Vizquel drew a walk against Steve Sinclair (0-2) and took second on Kenny Lofton's bunt single. Vizquel scored when Joey Cora bunted safely for a hit and Sinclair's throw was mishandled by second baseman Craig Grebeck, covering first. That tied it at 3.

David Justice then lined a single to center, scoring Lofton. Manny Ramirez made it 5-3 with a sacrifice fly.

"The thing I liked about that innings was we didn't try to do too much," Indians manager Mike Hargrove said. "We took what the pitchers gave us and got the job done."

Richie Sexson added his 10th homer in the eighth.

Carlos Delgado's 427-foot homer off the facade of the second deck in right, his 32nd, gave Toronto a 1-0 lead in the second.

That was the only hit off Gooden until the sixth, when the Blue Jays lined three straight two-out singles to tie it at 2. The final hit of the string, by Jose Cruz Jr., scored Jose Canseco from second.

Clevelnad ran its way to a run in the third. Vizquel bunted safely for a single and scored on a hit-and-run double to right-center by Kenny Lofton.

Lofton got too aggressive, however, and was easily thrown out trying to steal third with a left-handed hitter, Cora, at bat with none out.

Had Lofton stayed put, he could have walked home on Justice's 18th homer, a two-out shot that traveled 421 feet to right. That gave Cleveland a 2-1 lead.

Ramirez robbed Canseco with a leaping catch against the wall in right in the fourth. One inning later, Giles' sliding snare in left took a hit from Fletcher.

Sexson grabbed a hard shot by Green in the eighth and nimbly turned it into a first-to-short-to first double play.

Notes