O’S Go Deep In Ninth To Unravel Royals
American League
Mark Smith hit Baltimore’s third home run in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday, capping an improbable rally that gave the Orioles a 5-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals in Baltimore.
Kansas City starter Tim Belcher took a two-hitter and a 3-0 lead into the ninth, but a one-out double by Roberto Alomar and a homer by Rafael Palmeiro got Baltimore within a run.
Jeff Montgomery (1-5) entered and gave up a game-tying homer to Bobby Bonilla. After a walk to Cal Ripken, B.J. Surhoff hit a fly ball for the second out. Smith followed with a shot that barely cleared the wall in center.
Tigers 6, Twins 0 Detroit
Brian Williams pitched Detroit’s second straight shutout as the Tigers roughed up former teammate Scott Aldred and beat Minnesota.
Williams’s shutout followed Felipe Lira’s four-hitter in a 2-0 win over the Twins Friday.
The last time Detroit pitchers threw consecutive shutouts was Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 1990, against the Yankees and Twins. Both were combined shutouts.
The last time they had consecutive complete-game shutouts was April 22-23, 1983, both against the Mariners, by Jack Morris and Milt Wilcox.
Detroit pitchers have not allowed a run since the eighth inning of a 7-3 loss Thursday to Minnesota, a string of 19 innings which lowered the team’s ERA to 6.87.
Yankees 11, Indians 9 Cleveland
Ruben Sierra hit homers from both sides of the plate, including a three-run shot during a nine-run sixth inning, and New York beat Albert Belle and Cleveland.
Belle, back in the lineup after serving a two-game suspension during the Yankees’ doubleheader sweep Friday, went 3 for 5 with a double. Eddie Murray hit his 488th career home run for Cleveland.
Athletics 8, Blue Jays 4 Oakland, Calif.
Jason Giambi homered and Bobby Chouinard earned his first big-league win as Oakland beat Toronto, ending the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak.
Chouinard (1-2), making his sixth career start, pitched the first five innings and allowed four runs on six hits. He walked two and struck out four.
Dennis Martinez (8-5) failed to hold an early 5-0 lead, and lost his 11th straight decision to the Yankees dating back to 1982. He is 0-4 against New York this season, and 2-17 lifetime.
Angels 6, Brewers 4 Milwaukee
Rookie Darin Erstad drove in three runs and Shawn Boskie pitched eight solid innings before tiring as California defeated Milwaukee.
Boskie (8-2) earned his first win in four starts since June 1 and is 5-1 as a starter this season. Boskie allowed a two-run homer to John Jaha in the fourth, and consecutive solo shots to Jose Valentin and Jeff Cirillo to start the ninth before Troy Percival got three outs for his 20th save.
Rangers 8, Red Sox 2 Arlington, Texas
Ivan Rodriguez drove in four runs with a triple and a double, and Roger Pavlik won his 10th game as Texas handed Boston its fifth straight defeat.
Pavlik (10-1) allowed six hits in his league-leading fifth complete game, matching his previous career total. Pavlik, off to the best record by a Rangers starter after 11 decisions, struck out seven and walked one.
Clearing the bases
In his first four games with the Tigers, newlyacquired catcher Brad Ausmus threw out two of three would-be base stealers. He threw out 15 of 47 (32 percent) with San Diego before being traded to Detroit on Tuesday. .. Baltimore’s Roberto Alomar, who was batting .404 June 10, is in a 9-for-46 skid that has dropped his average to .374. … The Indians/Yankees game took 4 hours, 10 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in Indians history. The entire sixth inning of the game took 1 hour, 4 minutes. … Kansas City’s Johnny Damon has 12 straight steals without being caught. … Angels left-hander Brad Pennington was activated from the 15-day disabled list. Catcher Jorge Fabregas was optioned to Triple-A Vancouver.