BALTIMORE — Now that they're sharing first place in the AL Central, the Minnesota Twins are not ready to slow down yet.

Justin Morneau and Carlos Gomez drove in two runs each during a six-run first inning and the Twins moved into a first-place tie with the Chicago White Sox last night by completing a doubleheader sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 12-6 win.

"We can't worry about the White Sox. We can't get caught up in what they're doing," Twins outfielder Denard Span said. "We pretty much feel that as long as we take care of our business, play our own game, then everything will be what we want at the end."

The Twins entered the day trailing the White Sox by a game. A second consecutive day of rain forced Chicago to postpone its scheduled home doubleheader against Detroit yesterday and the teams will play a split doubleheader today — if the remnants of Hurricane Ike, which are tracking toward the Upper Midwest, do not interfere.

In the nightcap, Minnesota picked up where it left off following a 12-2 rout in the opener.

The Twins knocked Orioles starter Garrett Olson (9-8) out after two-thirds of an inning and 27 pitches. It was the shortest outing of Olson's career.

"I wish we could have done the top of the first inning over again," Baltimore manager Dave Trembley said. "I know Olson wishes he could. ... The starting pitching sets the tone of the game and starting pitching in game two was not where it needed to be."

Span led off the game with a single to left, Matt Tolbert walked and, after a double steal, Olson hit Mike Redmond with a pitch to load the bases. Morneau laced a two-run single to right and Randy Ruiz made it 3-0 with a single to center.

After Delmon Young flew out, Brendan Harris added an RBI single and Gomez slammed a two-run double to center for a 6-0 lead, chasing Olson.

"The first inning can make or break a starter sometimes," Olson said. "It was location. Stuff was not an issue. ... A couple of pitches I could have gotten down more."

The big first inning provided enough of a cushion for the Twins — even though the Orioles got as close as 10-6 after three innings.

"That was big, getting off to a good start. You have to give them credit. They didn't stop playing, they battled the whole game. They made it tough on us," said Morneau, who increased his RBI total to 124, tying AL leader Josh Hamilton of Texas. "We held on. It was a little more nerve-racking than the score showed, but it was a big two wins and now we're tied for first place. That one ahead in the win column is pretty big."

ANGELS 5, MARINERS 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Francisco Rodriguez set the major league record with his 58th save this season, closing out Los Angeles' win over Seattle. Rodriguez two days earlier tied the 1990 mark of 57 set by Bobby Thigpen with the Chicago White Sox. He has blown six save opportunities this year. Thigpen blew eight chances in his record-setting season.

"It's unbelievable," Rodriguez said. "Finally I did it.

BOSTON, TORONTO SPLIT

BOSTON — Jacoby Ellsbury drove in the go-ahead run on a 30-foot single when pitcher Scott Downs fell going after the ball and the Red Sox rallied for a 7-5 win to split their day-night doubleheader with the Blue Jays. Toronto won the opener 8-1 and led 5-2 in the nightcap with five runs in the second inning. Then Boston chipped away with a run in the sixth and another in the seventh before going ahead with three in the eighth.

YANKEES, RAYS SPLIT

NEW YORK — Xavier Nady hit a tiebreaking single in the seventh inning and New York rallied to beat Tampa Bay, salvaging a split of the day-night doubleheader. James Shields (13-8) got the AL East-leading Rays off to a fast start in the opener, tossing eight shutout innings in a 7-1 victory. Tampa Bay wound up the day with a two-game division edge over Boston, which split a doubleheader with Toronto. The Rays franchise has never won a doubleheader in 13 tries.

ROYALS SWEEP INDIANS

CLEVELAND — Kansas City's Mark Teahen hit two home runs in the second game to lead the Royals to an 8-4 win over Cleveland and a doubleheader sweep. Ryan Shealy homered and had a career-high four hits in the nightcap after Teahen had three hits in an 8-3 win in the first game. Teahen went 5 for 9 with four RBIs in the sweep.

ATHLETICS 7, RANGERS 1

OAKLAND, Calif. — Jack Cust homered and Bobby Crosby hit a three-run double as Oakland beat Texas.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

BRAVES, METS SPLIT

NEW YORK — Jonathon Niese (1-0) struck out seven and scattered six hits in eight innings in his second major league start, David Wright hit the first of three Mets homers and New York beat the Atlanta, 5-0, for a doubleheader split. In the first game, Jeff Francoeur hit a tying single in the eighth inning and Atlanta rallied against Johan Santana and the Mets' bullpen, beating New York, 3-2, for its first one-run road win in more than a year. Atlanta had lost 22 one-run games in a row this season and 29 overall — the longest streak of its kind in major league history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

DODGERS 5, ROCKIES 1

DENVER — Clayton Kershaw (4-5) allowed just four singles in six innings as Los Angeles beat Colorado for its 12th win in 13 games. The Dodgers (77-71) moved a season-best six games above .500 and will go for the three-game sweep at Coors Field today.

REDS 3, DIAMONDBACKS 2

PHOENIX — Micah Owings doubled in the deciding run in the 10th inning to give Cincinnati a come-from-behind victory over Arizona. The loss, coupled with Los Angeles' 5-1 victory in Colorado, left the Diamondbacks 4 1/2 behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West with 15 games to play.

MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 2

MIAMI — Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu homered to help Florida beat Washington. Ramirez's two-run shot off Washington starter Tim Redding (10-9) made the shortstop the second Florida player with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season, joining Preston Wilson.

GIANTS 7, PADRES 0

SAN DIEGO — Tim Lincecum pitched a four-hitter for his first career shutout and San Francisco beat San Diego. Lincecum (17-3) hadn't thrown a complete game in his first 54 starts, but sailed through nine innings against the Padres, needing just 86 pitches. He held the Padres to four singles with three walks and struck out 12 to win his sixth straight decision.

PIRATES 7, CARDINALS 6

PITTSBURGH — Brandon Moss doubled with two outs in the 12th inning to score Adam LaRoche, and Pittsburgh rallied from a four-run deficit to beat St. Louis.