Indians 6, Blue Jays 2

CLEVELAND – Pinch-hitter Ben Broussard hit his second grand slam in four days, sending the Cleveland Indians over the Toronto Blue Jays 6-2.

Broussard has three slams overall this season, including a shot Monday against the White Sox. He is the fourth player in major league history with two pinch-hit slams in one season, joining Dave Johnson (1978), Mike Ivie (1978) and Darryl Strawberry (1998).

The Indians won for the seventh time in eight games and stayed three games behind Minnesota in the AL Central. The Twins start a three-game series at Jacobs Field on Friday night.

Toronto got only three hits in losing for the eighth time in nine games.

Batting for Josh Phelps, Broussard connected off Vinnie Chulk to highlight a five-run rally in the seventh inning. It was Broussard’s ninth home run of the year.

Broussard is 6-for-9 with three grand slams and 21 RBIs with the bases loaded this season.

David Riske (6-2) pitched a scoreless seventh and Rafael Betancourt finished with two hitless innings.

Blue Jays starter Ted Lilly had a 2-1 lead and got two quick outs in the seventh, but left after Ronnie Belliard extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a broken-bat single.

Reliever Kerry Ligtenberg (1-5) then walked Coco Crisp, Matt Lawton and Casey Blake to force in run. The right-hander threw 14 pitches, only two for strikes.

Chulk, who had not allowed a run in his previous seven appearances, then gave up Broussard’s slam.

Lilly gave up two runs and five hits, striking out four. He is 1-4 in eight starts since June 28 – the win coming against the Indians on Aug. 2 in Toronto.

The left-hander tied a season high with five walks and went to a three-ball count on 11 batters, including six of the first seven he faced.

Carlos Delgado put Toronto ahead 1-0 in the third with an RBI single off Cliff Lee.

Orlando Hudson made it 2-0 in the fifth with his eighth homer. Crisp hit his ninth home run in the bottom half.

Lee allowed two runs and three hits over six innings. He walked three and tied a career high with eight strikeouts. That was a significant improvement over his previous four starts, in which he had allowed 20 earned runs and 30 hits over 15 innings.

Notes: Broussard’s first slam this year came as a pinch-hitter June 23 at Chicago. … Phelps, acquired from Toronto on Aug. 6, went 1-for-3 in his first game for the Indians. … Indians OF Alex Escobar, designated for assignment Sunday when Phelps was added to the active roster, was released. … Delgado went 1-for-1 with two walks against Lee. Delgado is 4-for-5 with a homer and six RBIs in his career against the lefty. … Crisp is hitting .447 (17-for-38) when used in the No. 2 spot in the batting order.

AP-ES-08-12-04 2200EDT