Mcgwire’s Homers Power A’S To Victory

American League

Mark McGwire just hits ‘em. He doesn’t watch where they land.

So the Athletics first baseman didn’t see his second home run of the day clear Fenway Park’s 37-foot high Green Monster and the 23-foot screen above it before landing on Lansdowne Street. The 421-foot, two-run shot broke a seventh-inning tie and helped Oakland beat the Boston Red Sox 8-5 Saturday.

“He never saw it, so he can’t appreciate where that ball went,” A’s manager Tony LaRussa said. “That’s what makes this ballpark exciting… . (When the) ball hits the barrel, exciting things can happen.”

Jim Corsi (2-0) pitched 2 scoreless innings for the win as Oakland beat the Red Sox for the first time in five tries this season and only the fourth time in 23 games. Corsi has allowed one earned run in 17 appearances.

After Mike Maddux (0-1) gave up a double to Reuben Sierra - the only batter he faced - to lead off the seventh, Stan Belinda came in. McGwire hit the third pitch for his 14th home run of the year.

“He gets paid to hit the ball that far and he hit it,” Belinda said. “It was a bad pitch at a bad time. I made a mistake and he crushed it.”

It was the 27th multi-homer game of McGwire’s career; the last was May 6, 1993, also at Fenway. Combined, the two home runs went 823 feet.

“The second one was amazing,” said Scott Brosius, who also homered for Oakland. “Those weren’t Fenway cheapies. They would have gone out anywhere you put them.”

“It’s not easy to hit in this ballpark in the daytime,” McGwire said. “Stands come into play. Fans come into play. They should put a Green Monster in centerfield and raise it up a bit.”

He also singled in the ninth and walked twice, reaching base all five times in breaking an 0-for-13 slump.

“He gets a lot of attention for his power,” LaRussa said. “But he has started a lot of rallies. We’re a lot better team when he plays.”

Orioles 6, Angels 2

Baltimore

Jeff Manto tied a majorleague record by homering in his fourth straight official at-bat over three games as Baltimore beat California.

Manto’s solo home run in the second inning tied the record set by Johnny Blanchard of the New York Yankees in 1961. The home run gave Manto five homers in six official at-bats. He is the 24th player in major league history to homer in four straight at-bats.

Brewers 6, Indians 1

Milwaukee

Jose Valentin hit his first two homers of the year and Milwaukee halted Cleveland’s seven-game winning streak with the victory.

Royals 8, Blue Jays 2

Kansas City

Kevin Appier threw a four-hitter and became the first eight-game winner in the major leagues, pitching Kansas City past struggling Toronto.

Tigers 7, Twins 5

Minneapolis

Todd Steverson hit his first major-league home run, and Chris Gomez and Juan Samuel hit two-run shots to lead Detroit over Minnesota.

White Sox-Rangers, ppd.

Arlington, Texas Heavy rains forced the postponement of the Chicago-Texas game. No makeup date was announced.

Clearing the bases

Milwaukee manager Phil Garner feigned mixed feelings about first-round draft pick Geoff Jenkins, who went 12-for-24 with four homers in the College World Series for Southern California: “Every home run he hits probably puts $100,000 on his signing bonus.” … Detroit’s Cecil Fielder played in his 1,000th major-league game Saturday.