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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Indians are slowly putting the Minnesota Twins in their rear-view mirror. Kenny Lofton had four hits and drove in four runs as the Indians extended their lead in the American League Central Division with an 8-2 victory over the reeling Twins, who suffered their season-high sixth straight loss. Lofton has struggled for much of the season. But one night after getting three hits, he responded again by going 4-for-5. Lofton got things started early, belting a three-run homer in the second inning. "I feel like I am in a good groove right now," Lofton said. "I am trying to hit the ball hard. Before, I was trying to do too much and trying to change everything in one at-bat. Now I'm just trying to be consistent." Jim Thome hit his AL-leading 40th homer for the Indians, who improved to 9-3 against the Twins this season and moved 3 1/2 games in front of them in the Central. It is their biggest lead atop the division this season. "I think our guys look at them as their competition," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's why they like to play them. If we can win tomorrow from a psychological standpoint, it would swing things our way, but we still have a lot of games to play. Minnesota has a lot of energy and they are young." Chuck Finley (5-5), making his second start since coming off the disabled list, allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings. The veteran lefthander walked three and struck out two in winning for the first time since May 12. "It's been a frustrating season," Finley said. "I have never been out this long, and to come back in a pennant race and crank it up is tough. I feel like I am making some progress." Finley is the first Cleveland starter other than Bartolo Colon or rookie C.C Sabathia to win since July 25. Among baseball's biggest surprises this season, the Twins fell to a woeful 9-24 since the All-Star break. "Obviously, we had a bad day," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "We fell behind too far. We had to play catch-up the whole game. We just had a rough time pitching." Twins starter Joe Mays (12-11) suffered his fourth straight loss, giving up five runs and six hits in three innings. The All-Star righthander walked three, struck out two and uncorked two wild pitches. The Twins, who squandered a three-run lead in the ninth inning Tuesday, squandered a chance to break on top in the opening inning. Minnesota loaded the bases with one out, but Torii Hunter hit a grounder up the middle. Shortstop Omar Vizquel made a nifty play and flipped to Roberto Alomar, who threw to first to complete an inning-ending double play. "The double play in the first inning set the tone for the game," Manuel said. "If they get a hit there, they are on the board for sure. That helped Chuck settle in." In the second, Mays issued a pair of walks before grooving a 1-0 pitch to Lofton, who deposited it over the right-field wall for his eighth homer and a 3-0 lead. Thome matched a year-old career high for homers in a season with a two-run shot in the third that extended the advantage to 5-0. Minnesota got back a pair of runs in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Corey Koskie and an RBI single by Brian Buchanan. Finley was in more trouble in the fifth after the Twins put two on with one out, but he again was bailed out by his defense. Marty Cordova made an acrobatic diving catch on Doug Mientkiewicz's blooper down the left-field line and Finley struck out David Ortiz to end the inning. After Travis Fryman lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth to make it 6-2, Einar Diaz and Lofton capped the scoring in the seventh with RBI singles.
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