Shin-Soo Choo gave his high school baseball coach a fitting tribute. Choo learned before batting practice that his coach had died of cancer. Then he homered twice and drove in a career-high seven runs in a 15-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night that snapped Cleveland's five-game losing streak.

Catching their breath days after the Mark DeRosa trade, the Indians had a scheduled off day Thursday in the middle of a nine-game homestand. DeRosa was dealt to St. Louis for reliever Chris Perez on Sunday.

The Indians have played four games since the trade and have lost them all. In those four games, they hit .203 as a team while being outscored 31-10 and out-hit 52-24.

Cleveland has lost 13 of its last 15 games and remains buried in last place in the Central Division with a record of 31-49, the worst record in the American League. They will conclude the homestand with a three-game series against Oakland starting Friday.

The Indians will take a five-game losing streak into Friday's game.

Jose Contreras feels like a complete pitcher again. The command, the fastball, the bite on his nasty forkball, it's all as good as ever. "I've got it back," he said. Contreras, demoted to the minor leagues earlier this season after an 0-5 start, pitched eight superb innings for his third win since his return to the majors as the Chicago White Sox won their fifth straight, 6-2 over...

The rainy weather stopped the game prematurely. The Chicago White Sox ended Cliff Lee's night soon after it started. Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye drove in two runs apiece Tuesday as the White Sox chased Lee in the fourth inning and pounded the miserable Indians 11-4 in a game called in the seventh to move above .500 for the first time since May 2.

Gavin Floyd made 95 pitches, some good ones, some bad ones. However, the strike he threw to first mattered most. Floyd shut out Cleveland on five singles over 7 2-3 innings and made a smart defensive play to escape a bases-loaded jam in the seventh as the surging Chicago White Sox climbed back to .500 with a 6-3 win Monday night over the free-falling Indians, who lost for the 11th time in 13 games.

Brandon Phillips found the perfect way to celebrate his 28th birthday: by beating the Cleveland Indians. Phillips broke out of a 1-for-16 slump with three hits, three runs and three RBIs to lead the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-1 win over his former team Sunday. "It's good to have a game like I did today, especially on my birthday and against the guys you used to play for," Phillips said.

Homer Bailey struggled to grip his pitches for the Cincinnati Reds. Meanwhile, the Cleveland Indians appear to be losing their hold on the season. Bailey labored through five innings for Cincinnati, walking seven and throwing two wild pitches, but was good enough for the Reds to beat the Indians 7-3 on Saturday night.

Jeremy Sowers finally got over his middle-inning hump. The Cleveland Indians still have a long climb ahead. Sowers pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this season, Ryan Garko hit a two-run homer and Victor Martinez added a solo shot to lead the Cleveland Indians to just their second win in 10 games, 9-2 over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night.