Perez’s Pitching Gem Stops Yankees’ Skid

American League

Starting pitchers for the New York Yankees have had more luck getting hurt than getting victories. Somebody must have forgot to mention that to Melido Perez.

Perez (2-0) yielded only four hits and two runs, both unearned, in six innings as New York beat Baltimore 4-2 in New York.

Perez’s victory ended a period in which Yankees starters had won only once in 16 games, but it also came on a day when the Yankees put starter Jimmy Key on the disabled list with a sore tendon in his pitching shoulder. Scott Kamieniecki was already on the DL.

“I wanted to get this game so bad because we’ve been losing, ” said Perez, who helped New York end a season-high four-game losing streak.

Angels 7, White Sox 5

Chicago

Pinch-hitter Carlos Martinez singled home the go-ahead run off Rob Dibble with two outs in the 10th inning. Dibble (0-1), promoted from the minors on Monday, entered during the ninth and struck out the first three batters he faced. Greg Myers drew a two-out walk in the 10th and a wild pitch sent pinch-runner Rex Hudler to second.

Indians 7, Red Sox 5

Boston

Albert Belle and Jim Thome homered as Cleveland scored four runs in the eighth inning to overcome a two-run deficit.

The heroics saved starter Orel Hershiser from a loss in his first appearance at Fenway Park. The former N.L. Cy Young Award winner, who spent the first 11 years of his career with the Dodgers, allowed five runs on eight hits, striking out three and walking one.

Rangers 7, Brewers 6 (11)

Arlington, Texas

Mickey Tettleton’s two-out single in the 11th inning scored Otis Nixon from second base to lift Texas.

Nixon singled with one out in the 11th off Mark Kiefer (3-1) and went to second on Jeff Frye’s single. Mike Fetters relieved and struck out Will Clark, who went 4 for 5 with a homer and four RBIs.

Athletics 11, Royals 1

Kansas City, Mo.

Todd Stottlemyre retired 22 consecutive batters and struck out a career-high 10, leading Oakland over Kansas City. Mark McGwire extended his hitting streak to 17 games, Fausto Cruz drove in three runs and Scott Brosius hit two triples.

Tigers 10, Blue Jays 6

Detroit

Kirk Gibson and Chris Gomez each hit two-run singles to highlight a seven-run seventh inning as Detroit snapped a three-game losing streak.

Timing is nothing

According to Stats Inc., the average time of games in the major leagues over the first three weeks of this season was 3 hours, 3 minutes. That is 13 minutes longer per game than just two seasons ago at the same stage.

Lucky 13

With the sixth choice of last December’s major-league draft, the Texas Rangers selected right-hander Francisco Saneaux from Baltimore. With the 13th pick of the draft, Boston selected left-hander Vaughn Eshelman from Baltimore. The Rangers returned Saneaux to Baltimore. Eshelman is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA in four starts for Boston, and the Red Sox are 4-0 in those games.

Clearing the bases

California had six comeback victories in its first 19 games… . Kevin Appier’s long run of good pitching with Kansas City began when he went back to relying on his fastball. Since the decision, Appier is 8-2 with a 2.49 ERA for 20 starts … . New York’s first baseman Don Mattingly missed the second straight game with a viral infection in his right eye. He remains day-to-day… . Cleveland’s Jim Thome extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games. He has reached base in all 18 games as a starter… . Milwaukee has not homered since May 12, and has one homer in the last 11 games.