Last Update on May 21, 2013 15:07 GMT

MLB-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- The Cleveland Indians aim for their sixth straight win tonight, but they'll be facing an unbeaten pitcher from their closest pursuer in the American League Central race.

The Indians start the night with a two-and-a-half-game lead over Detroit following their four-game sweep of Seattle, their first four-game sweep of the Mariners since 1981. The Indians had three walkoff hits among their four wins over the Mariners, including a Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) three-run homer in the 10th inning of their 10-8 win yesterday.

Tonight, the Indians' opposition gets stiffer. The Tigers come to down and manager Jim Leyland (LEE'-lind) is sending out 5-0 Max Scherzer against the Tribe's Corey Kluber, who's 3-2.

The New York Yankees try to win the second of their three game series against Baltimore following their 6-4, 10-inning win over the Orioles last night. Baltimore has dropped six in a row to fall five games back of the Yankees. It's Phil Hughes for the Yanks against Miguel Gonzalez.

In Toronto, Ramon Ortiz is coming off his first victory since 2011 and he'll be on the mound for the Blue Jays against Tampa Bay's Alex Cobb. The Blue Jays beat the Rays 7-5 yesterday.

Oakland is at Texas, trying to close the five-and-a-half-game edge the Rangers have on the Athletics in the AL West. The A's draw a tough pitching assignment as Texas is sending out ace Yu Darvish, who is 7-1. A Darvish win would tie him with Tampa Bay's Matt Moore for most victories in the majors.

Boston is at Chicago to play the White Sox, who beat the Red Sox 6-4 last night. That ended Boston's five-game winning streak.

Kansas City tries to end its four-game losing streak when it visits Houston, which is tied with Miami for the worst record in baseball at 13-32.

In the interleague matchup, NL East-leading Atlanta tries for its fifth straight victory when it plays Minnesota, which has lost six in a row. The Braves won 5-1 last night to increase their division lead to three and a-half games over Washington. It's Mike Pelfrey for the Twins against Tim Hudson.

The Chicago Cubs send out Matt Garza, who is making his first start of the season since coming off the disabled list, when they play at Pittsburgh. Wandy Rodriguez takes a 4-2 mark to the mound for the Pirates.

The Cincinnati Reds start the day a game and a-half back of St. Louis in the NL Central race. The Reds start 3-2 Mike Leake against Jonathan Niese, who sports a 3-4 record for the New York Mets. Cincinnati beat the Mets 4-3 last night.

The Cardinals go with 5-3 Adam Wainwright against San Diego's Edinson Volquez after the Padres posted a 4-2 win over the Cards last night.

Philadelphia is at Miami tonight after the Marlins beat the Phillies 5-1 last night. Phils lefty Cole Hamels fell to 1-7.

The L.A. Dodgers send out 2-0 Zack Greinke (GREHN'-kee) in his second start since coming off the disabled list when they visit Milwaukee. The Brewers are last in the NL Central with a 17-26 mark.

Arizona is at Colorado as the Diamondbacks try to expand their one-game lead over San Francisco in the NL West.

The Giants try for their second straight win over Washington as they host the Nationals. It's Matt Cain for the Giants against 2-5 Stephen Strasburg. The Giants roughed up the Nats 8-0 last night.

MLB

UNDATED (AP) -- Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard avoided the disabled list after undergoing an MRI on his sore left knee yesterday. Catcher Carlos Ruiz wasn't as lucky.

The Phils say Howard is day to day after battling knee pain for the last two weeks. He's hitting .245 with six homers and 22 RBIs in 41 games and has carved out a .179 average in 16 games this month.

Ruiz is going on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring, prompting the Phillies to recall catcher Humberto Cuintero (uhm-BEHR'-toh kihn-TEHR'-oh) from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Ruiz is expected to be out three to four weeks.

The Phils also played reliever Mike Adams on the 15-day DL retroactive to May 11 due to a back strain.

---- The Rangers have designated 39-year-old pitcher Derek Lowe for assignment to make room for Josh Lindblom, who made his first career big league start against Oakland on Monday. Lowe has allowed 13 runs in 13 innings since making the Rangers out of training camp.

---- A couple of unusual injuries were reported after San Francisco's 8-0 whitewash of Washington last night. Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong broke his throwing hand fouling off a pitch. Vogelsong broke two bones along the right pinkie and dislocated a knuckle the area that the medical staff couldn't get popped back into place. He was scheduled for surgery this morning at Stanford.

---- And Nationals manager Davey Johnson disclosed reliever Ryan Mattheus (MATH'-yooz) broke his hand punching a locker following a sub-par performance Sunday in San Diego.

NHL PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

UNDATED (AP) -- The Boston Bruins and defending Stanley Cup champion L.A. Kings can take commanding leads in their respective NHL conference semifinal series tonight.

The Bruins are in New York with a 2-0 lead after two games in Beantown. The Rangers are in familiar position -- they dropped the first two games in their first-round series against Washington before winning that series in seven games.

In San Jose, the Kings can take a 3-1 series lead over the Sharks. These teams have been off since Friday when the Kings posted a 2-1 overtime win at the Shark Tank.

Last night, the Detroit Red Wings went up two games to one against the top-seeded Chicago Blackhawks in the NHL's Western Conference semifinals with a 3-1 victory. Game 4 is Thursday in Detroit.

NBA PLAYOFFS-SCHEDULE

SAN ANTONIO (AP)-- The San Antonio Spurs hope to match their offensive fireworks they displayed in the series opener when they take on Memphis in Game 2 of that NBA Western Conference final.

The Spurs torched the Grizzlies by hitting 14 3-pointers while shooting 53 percent in their series-opening 105-83 win on Sunday.

By now, the Grizzlies are kind of used to losing series openers. They dropped their last three Game 1's dating back to last year's playoffs.

NBA-LOTTERY

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Orlando Magic have the best odds of winning tonight's draft lottery, which is sort of like the Super Bowl for NBA also-rans. The Magic finished with an NBA-worst 20-62 record.

The Magic have a one-in-four chance to snag the top draft pick in the June 27th draft. That No. 1 pick is expected to be Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel. He comes with a bit of baggage, however. Noel is recovering from a torn ACL and is could miss the first two months of the next NBA season.

NFL-MEETINGS

BOSTON (AP) -- NFL owners will vote on the sites of the 50th and 51st Super Bowls at their spring meetings today in Boston. Santa Clara and South Florida are competing for the 50th Super Bowl to be held in February 2016. The loser in that bidding will go against Houston to host the 51st game the following year.