Angels Drop 6 Games Back

American League

Brad Radke scattered six hits in 7-2/3 innings to earn his 19th victory, and Marty Cordova hit a pair of two-run homers as the Minnesota Twins defeated the fading Anaheim Angels 9-3 Tuesday night.

By losing for the 10th time in 14 games, the Angels fell six games behind the A.L. West-leading Seattle Mariners with 11 games remaining for both teams, including two against each other in Seattle next week.

The Mariners, who were idle Tuesday, have a magic number of six for clinching their second division title in three years.

The Angels also trail the New York Yankees by 9-1/2 games in the A.L. wild-card race.

Radke (19-9), who won 12 consecutive starts earlier this season, allowed one run, walked two and struck out four before being relieved by Dan Naulty with two outs and a runner on second in the eighth. Radke has two starts remaining in his bid to become a 20-game winner for the first time.

Paul Molitor and Chuck Knoblauch had three hits each for the Twins, who won for only the fourth time in 14 games.

Minnesota scored three runs off Shigetoshi Hasegawa (3-7) in the fifth to break a scoreless tie.

David Ortiz singled to start the inning, and Cordova, who came to the plate mired in a 10-for-67 slump, followed with his 12th homer.

Matt Lawton reached third when Tim Salmon misplayed his drive to right for an error, and scored on a one-out single by Knoblauch.

Yanks 2-4, Red Sox 0-3 New York

Willie Banks won in his first major league start in nearly two years, and New York cut its magic number for sealing a playoff slot to three by sweeping the doubleheader.

In the opener, Andy Pettitte struck out a career-high 12 in eight innings as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox 2-0.

The Yankees won their fourth in a row.

Indians 4-2, Orioles 2-7 Baltimore

Jimmy Key finally won another game at Camden Yards and Roberto Alomar had three hits and three RBIs as Baltimore beat Cleveland to gain a split of a day-night doubleheader.

In the opener, Charles Nagy pitched five-hit ball into the seventh inning and Matt Williams drove in two runs to lead the Indians to a 4-2 victory.

Cleveland’s magic number to clinch the A.L. Central is eight.

Key (16-9) allowed two unearned runs, four hits and three walks in 7-2/3 innings. The left-hander was 0-7 in his nine starts at home since May 7.

Rangers 4, Royals 2 Arlington, Texas

Rusty Greer homered twice, including a tiebreaking two-run shot in the eighth inning, to give Texas a victory over Kansas City.

Ivan Rodriguez reached on shortstop Jay Bell’s fielding error leading off the eighth against Gregg Olson (3-3), and Greer followed with his 25th homer.

Brewers-White Sox, ppd. Milwaukee

The game between Milwaukee and Chicago was postponed because of rain.

No makeup date has been set.

Clearing the bases

Cecil Fielder, sidelined since mid-July because of a thumb injury, was activated from the disabled list by the New York Yankees and started the first game of the doubleheader against Boston… . Baltimore’s Cal Ripken doubled in the second inning of the nightcap to end a 1-for-22 skid and move past Joe Cronin into sole possession of 29th place on the all-time doubles list with 516… . Andy Pettitte has not allowed a home run in nine starts, a span of 59-2/3 innings.

Troy Glaus, the Anaheim Angels’ first-round pick in June’s major-league baseball draft, agreed to a contract an Angels spokesman said. The contract is worth more than $2 million. … Texas second baseman Mark McLemore’s season is over following surgery on both knees. … Minnesota’s Paul Molitor had two doubles, giving him 575 in his career - 12th most in big-league history.