Yanks Find Home In Cleveland Park

American League

The New York Yankees are treating Cleveland’s Jacobs Field like it’s their own.

The Yankees scored six runs in the ninth inning, highlighted by Paul O’Neill’s two-run homer, to finish off a 9-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night.

It was New York’s sixth win in seven games at Cleveland’s new park since it opened last year, including two in a row this week.

Overall, the Yankees have won six straight and 12 of 14, good enough to push them past Seattle and into the lead in the A.L. wild card race.

“You’re darn right beating this team two in a row is important,” manager Buck Showalter said. “I’ve said all along that the path to the American League pennant is going to go right through here somewhere along the line.”

The victory was the 300th for the 39-year-old Showalter, who became the second-youngest Yankees manager to reach that mark. Clark Griffith won his 300th when he was 36.

Royals 3, Athletics 1

Oakland, Calif.

Tom Gordon and Jeff Montgomery combined on a six-hitter and Bob Hamelin homered as Kansas City snapped a four-game losing streak with a victory over Oakland.

The Royals, still two games out of first place in the A.L. wild-card race, overcame Todd Van Poppel’s nine-strikeout performance, which matched his career-high.

Rangers 6, Blue Jays 5

Toronto

First baseman John Olerud had a line drive bounce off his glove for a double and made a throwing error in the eighth inning, helping Texas score three runs and beat Toronto.

Angels 3, White Sox 1

Anaheim, Calif.

California rookie Garret Anderson homered and Greg Myers drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh as the Angels beat Chicago.

Orioles 6, Red Sox 5

Baltimore

Baltimore overcame two homers by Mo Vaughn and another by Mike Greenwell, extending Boston’s losing streak to a season-high five games.

The bottom two batters in the Baltimore lineup inflicted the most damage. No.8 hitter Mark Smith had two RBIs, including the tie-breaking single in the seventh, and Bret Barberie also drove in two.

Tigers 5, Brewers 1

Detroit

Chris Gomez had a three-run double and Jose Lima allowed three hits over six innings as Detroit defeated Milwaukee, the Tigers’ fourth consecutive victory.

No progress noted

Major League Baseball’s Executive Council met in Detroit Tuesday night to plot labor strategy and map out the future of a troubled sport, but there still is little hard evidence that the industry is ready to pull itself back together.

The 5-hour caucus opened three days of quarterly meetings that Boston Red Sox general partner John Harrington characterized as “very important” and yet unlikely to yield significant headlines.

The owners are expected to discuss a wide range of issues, but the game’s labor dispute remains the most important issue.

Clearing the bases

A string of ineffective starts has cost Zane Smith his spot in Boston’s starting rotation, at least temporarily. He has been assigned to long relief. … Damion Easley’s knee injury apparently isn’t serious, but it is known how long the California second baseman will miss.