Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Orioles Climb Closer To Yankees In East

Associated Press

American League

Ever since the 14th game of the season, the Baltimore Orioles have been striving to get 10 games over .500.

Nine times they tried; nine times they failed.

The Orioles finally made it Sunday thanks to their favorite weapon - the home run. Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla hit successive homers in the eighth inning and Chris Hoiles added a two-run shot, rallying Baltimore past the Detroit Tigers 6-2.

The victory moved the Orioles within three games of first-place New York in the A.L. East and kept them a game behind Chicago in the wild-card race.

Baltimore (76-66) opened the season 11-2, but it wasn’t until Sunday that the team was able to move 10 games over the break-even level.

“Ten was the number that we set out to get,” Palmeiro said. “We figured we needed to get to that point to get into the wild-card race. Now we need to take off from there.”

Bobby Higginson homered for the Tigers, who took a 2-1 lead into the eighth. Detroit struck out 11 times and has 39 strikeouts in the first three games of the four-game series.

Blue Jays 4, Yankees 2

New York

Ed Sprague hit two home runs off 20-game winner Andy Pettitte, accounting for all of Toronto’s runs as the Blue Jays defeated New York.

The Yankees’ three-game lead is their smallest edge since June 24 - over Baltimore. Toronto defeated New York for only the fourth time in their last 21 meetings.

The Blue Jays also became the first team to beat Pettitte, the Yankees’ slump stopper, in a daytime start. The left-hander had been 11-0 in afternoon games this season and 13-2 following a Yankees loss.

Rangers 7, Brewers 1

Milwaukee

Bobby Witt pitched a five-hitter and Darryl Hamilton, Mickey Tettleton and Juan Gonzalez homered as Texas defeated Milwaukee.

Witt (15-9) struck out five and walked two to win for the eighth time in his last nine decisions.

Bryce Florie (0-1) relieved Brewers starter Jeff D’Amico following a rain delay of 1:07 to open the third inning and was promptly tagged for four runs, including home runs by Hamilton and Tettleton.

Angels 4, Twins 2

Minneapolis

Jack Howell started a triple play and hit a tie-breaking home run, helping Jim Abbott snap a personal 11-game losing streak as California beat Minnesota.

Abbott (2-15), who hadn’t won since May 2 at Oakland, was making his first start since being recalled from the minor leagues following the first demotion of his career.

The left-hander pitched six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits, striking out three and walking none before being relieved by Mark Eichhorn to start the seventh. Troy Percival pitched a perfect eighth and ninth for his 34th save.

White Sox 7, Red Sox 4

Chicago

Robin Ventura homered, singled and drove in two runs as Chicago maintained its one-game lead in the A.L. wild-card race with a victory over Boston.

The White Sox have won eight of their last 10 games. They next face Baltimore, the team right behind them, in a three-game series beginning Tuesday at Camden Yards.

Boston, 16 games behind Chicago less than three months ago, had charged to within 2-1/2 by beating the White Sox on Friday. But with two straight losses, the Red Sox have fallen 4-1/2 games back in the wild-card race with only 19 games left.

Athletics 8, Royals 7 (10)

Oakland, Calif.

Tony Batista homered with one out in the 10th inning to give Oakland a victory over Kansas City and a sweep of their three-game series. Mike Bordick, who tied a career high with four RBIs, hit a three-run double in the seventh as the A’s tied the game at 7. Bordick, who had a run-scoring single in the sixth, also set a career high with 51 RBIs this season.

Jim Corsi (6-0) walked three in the top of the 10th but held on to get the victory with one scoreless inning.

Clearing the bases

Jason Giambi hit his 40th double of the season, breaking the Oakland record of 39 and becoming the first Athletics player to reach 40 since Ferris Fain had 43 for the 1952 Philadelphia A’s. … Outfielder David Hulse is out for the season after dislocating his left shoulder sliding head first into home plate Saturday night.

Eddie Murray played in his 2,951st game, tying Rusty Staub for eighth on the career list. … Toronto manager Cito Gaston got his 600th career win. …Chicago’s Danny Tartabull, with 24 RBIs in a 17-game span coming in, struck out three times.