Rangers Club Jays To Back Burkett

John Burkett pitched seven strong innings and Domingo Cedeno had three hits and three RBIs as the Texas Rangers routed the Toronto Blue Jays 15-5 Tuesday night at SkyDome.

Burkett (4-3), who had allowed 18 hits, 12 runs and four homers in his two previous starts, gave up only two runs on seven hits. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter in his first complete game of the season.

The Rangers set season highs for runs and hits (16).

Texas used six straight singles, including RBI hits by Will Clark, Dean Palmer, Lee Stevens and Cedeno, to take a 15-2 lead in the eighth.

Robert Person (0-3), who came off the disabled list earlier in the day, gave up seven runs on five hits in 3-2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three in his first start since May 7.

Orioles 10, Yankees 6 New York

Pete Incaviglia drove in four runs and Jeffrey Hammonds hit a three-run homer as Baltimore got its eighth win in 10 games.

Kenny Rogers (3-3), who has just one win in six starts since April 23, was pounded for nine runs - six earned - and six hits in 4-1/3 innings.

Baltimore, which swept the two-game series, opened an eight-game lead over the defending World Series champions, who lost for the seventh time in eight games.

White Sox 8, Indians 2 Chicago

Albert Belle hit a grand slam against his former team Tuesday night, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 22 games and leading Chicago to victory over Cleveland.

Doug Drabek (4-3) pitched seven strong innings as the White Sox gained a split of the two-game series.

Tigers 6, Angels 2 Detroit

Justin Thompson pitched seven shutout innings of two-hit ball to lead Detroit.

Travis Fryman homered for the Tigers, who won for the fourth time in five games and ruined Anaheim left-hander Matt Perisho’s major-league debut.

Red Sox 7, Brewers 6 Boston

Pinch-hitter Mike Stanley’s RBI single broke a seventh-inning tie, giving Boston a victory.

The Red Sox trailed 6-4 in the sixth before Mo Vaughn doubled and Reggie Jefferson hit his seventh home run to tie the game.

Athletics 8, Royals 6 (10) Kansas City, Mo.

Jose Canseco and Scott Spiezio had two RBIs apiece when Oakland batted around in the 10th inning for five runs and then held on for a wild win.

The Royals got three runs in the bottom of the inning off Aaron Small on an RBI single by Chili Davis and Johnny Damon’s two-run single off Dane Johnson.

Clearing the bases

The New York Yankees are expected to announce very soon - perhaps today - that they have come to terms on a $14 million contract with Japanese pitcher Hideki Irabu that will put him in pinstripes through the 2000 season. … Detroit catcher Raul Casanova was cut near his left eye and had to leave the game when Anaheim’s Tony Phillips lost control of his bat during the third inning of the Tigers-Angels game.

The Blue Jays are 3-2 against the Rangers this season, one more victory in the series than they had all last year when they went 2-10 against Texas. … Baltimore’s Cal Ripken needed four stitches to close a cut on his right shin that opened when he tried to catch a foul popup. Ripken, baseball’s ironman with a record 2,364 consecutive games played, didn’t even realize he opened the cut until he took his sock off after the game… . Roberto Alomar’s third-inning double was the first extra-base hit in 51 at-bats hitting right-handed this season for the Orioles second baseman.