New York Steals Game Off Oakland

American League

Gerald Williams tied a team record with four steals, and the New York Yankees stole eight bases in beating the Oakland Athletics 11-4 Sunday in Oakland, Calif.

Kenny Rogers (4-1) pitched 6-1/3 solid innings as the Yankees completed their first three-game sweep in Oakland since July 1979.

Bernie Williams and Tino Martinez each homered for New York. The Yankees broke open the game with six runs in the ninth, keyed by Wade Boggs’ RBI double.

When Williams stole home in the fourth inning, he gave the Yankees three such steals this season.

Orioles 14, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif.

Roberto Alomar, Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken homered as Baltimore became the latest team to pound Jim Abbott.

Alomar hit a three-run homer and extended his hitting streak to 17 games as the Orioles collected 17 hits. Alomar went 3 for 5 to raise his major league leading average to .399.

Scott Erickson (3-4) allowed six hits in eight innings to extend his mastery over the Angels.

He defeated California for the 10th straight time and improved to 5-0 in Anaheim Stadium.

White Sox 4-13, Tigers 2-5

Chicago

Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer and Danny Tartabull added a two-run shot, leading Chicago to its second-game romp and a doubleheader sweep of Detroit.

In the opener, James Baldwin of the White Sox outdueled fellow rookie Justin Thompson, allowing three hits over eight innings.

Chicago earned its first doubleheader sweep since it took two from Detroit on Sept. 8, 1992. The White Sox have won 13 of their last 15 games and they are 7-0 against Detroit this season, outscoring the Tigers 75-22 in the seven games.

Twins 6, Rangers 5

Arlington, Texas

Minnesota rallied for three runs with two outs in the ninth inning off Texas relievers Jeff Russell and Gil Heredia and beat the Rangers.

Juan Gonzalez hit a 449-foot home run, the second-longest in the three-year history of The Ballpark in Arlington, giving Texas a 5-3 lead in the seventh.

Chuck Knoblach tied a Twins record with eight straight hits, matching the mark shared by Tony Oliva and Mickey Hatcher. Knoblauch also reached base in 11 consecutive plate appearances, tying Rod Carew’s club record, before popping up in the sixth.

Indians 11, Brewers 6

Milwaukee

Alvaro Espinoza’s two-run homer in the sixth inning sparked Cleveland to a win over Milwaukee. And, for the first time in three games, the Indians and Brewers played peacefully.

Except for a brushback pitch to Kenny Lofton leading off the game, the two clubs completed their three-game series without incident. The teams will have plenty of time to cool down before their next game, an Aug. 23 match-up in Cleveland.

Cleveland’s Albert Belle, whose forearm shiver to second baseman Fernando Vina, triggered an ugly brawl Friday night, went 0 for 5 and finished the four-game series 2 for 16 with two singles.

On Sunday, the Brewers shifted their infield, moving Vina directly behind second base, where he fielded three grounders hit by Belle.

Royals 7, Blue Jays 5

Toronto

Craig Paquette, Bob Hamelin and Joe Vitiello each hit two-run home runs, powering Tim Belcher and Kansas City to a win over Toronto.

Belcher (6-2) gave up four runs and four hits over seven innings for his 100th career win. He struck out seven and walked four.

Clearing the bases

Oakland’s Mark McGwire has reached base safely in 48 consecutive games, including all 34 he has played this season… . Oakland placed outfielder Pedro Munoz on the disabled list because of a left-knee strain. He was hitting .256 in 34 games this season. Tony Batista was recalled from Triple-A Edmonton to take Munoz’s place.

Twins manager Tom Kelly said closer Dave Stevens will sit out for a few days because the right-hander has nerve irritation in his pitching arm. … Baltimore activated B.J. Surhoff, who started at DH, made his first appearance since spraining his left ankle on May 17. Surhoff’s absence led to the Cal Ripken-to-third base speculation… . Rusty Greer of the Rangers had his career-high hitting streak end at 13 games… . Brady Anderson missed a second straight game for Baltimore with a strained right quadriceps muscle.