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

Molitor Stays Hot As Jays Win

Associated Press

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Paul Molitor enjoyed his perfect day at the plate Saturday so much that he decided to do it again.

Molitor tied a team record with his eighth straight hit, going 4-for-4 for the second straight afternoon and leading the Toronto Blue Jays over the Chicago White Sox 2-1 Sunday.

“It’s been a fun couple of days - I had a couple of good days and we won a couple of games,” Molitor said.

Molitor, who had a tie-breaking home run in the sixth inning, matched the Toronto mark for consecutive hits set by Rance Mulliniks in 1984. On Saturday, Molitor singled home the winning run with two outs in the ninth.

Molitor has reached base in nine straight plate appearances. Mulliniks holds the team record with 10.

Molitor went 9-for-12 with a pair of walks in the series. He’s now hitting .266, up from the .227 he was batting on June 27.

Indians 9, Tigers 2 Cleveland

Orel Hershiser won his fifth consecutive decision and Paul Sorrento homered as Cleveland beat Detroit, completing a three-game sweep.

Eddie Murray drove in three runs for the Indians, winners of four straight and eight of their last nine games. They improved baseball’s best record to 76-35.

Royals 5, Rangers 2 Kansas City

Keith Lockhart, mired in a 2-for-26 slump, hit a tie-breaking home run in the seventh inning and Gary Gaetti added a two-run shot in the eighth, leading Kansas City past Texas.

Rookie Johnny Damon had three hits, helping the Royals win for the third time in four weekend games against the Rangers and move within 3-1/2 games of Texas for the A.L. wild-card lead.

Brewers 14, Twins 7 Milwaukee

Milwaukee moved within one-half game of the A.L. wild-card lead, beating Minnesota on home runs by B.J. Surhoff and Dave Nilsson for its fifth straight win.

Surhoff, who drove in four runs, and Kevin Seitzer each had four of the Brewers’ season-high 18 hits. Milwaukee swept the four-game series and closed in on Texas for the top wild-card position.

Red Sox 4, Athletics 1 Oakland

Roger Clemens pitched seven strong innings, and Mike Greenwell and Bill Haselman homered as Boston got back on a winning course by defeating Oakland.

Clemens (6-4) allowed one run on six hits, walked four and struck out two in cooling off the A’s, who had outscored the A.L. East leaders 17-5 in victories on Friday and Saturday.

Orioles 4, Angels 0 Anaheim, Calif.

Mike Mussina became the first 15-game winner in the majors, pitching a four-hitter and striking out a season-high 11 as Baltimore beat California.

Rafael Palmiero hit his 31st home run, helping the Orioles defeat California for the third straight day and move within five games of Texas for the wild-card lead. The A.L. West-leading Angels lost for the ninth time in 12 games and closed out a 3-8 homestand.

Clearing the bases

Seven of the eight games between Chicago and Toronto this season have been decided by one run. The other was a two-run game… . Minnesota pitchers have allowed a major league-leading 168 home runs… . Cleveland is 48-1 when its ace reliever, Jose Mesa, takes the mound… . Boston has 131 extra-base hits in its last 35 games… . The Blue Jays have homered in nine straight games… . Several Cleveland scouts were in Oakland, looking over Rickey Henderson… . Baltimore begins a nine-game homestand Tuesday that concludes Sept. 6 with the game in which Cal Ripken is projected to break Lou Gehrig’s record of playing in 2,130 consecutive games.