Mcgwire’s Homer Pays Off For A’S

American League

Mark McGwire’s first hit of the season, a two-run homer in the first inning Saturday, sent the Oakland Athletics to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.

McGwire, who missed Oakland’s first 18 games with an injured right foot, was 0 for 8 in his first three games. In the first inning, he hit a 3-2 pitch from Felipe Lira (1-2) over the left-field wall to give the A’s a 2-0 lead.

The homer was his 19th at Tiger Stadium and the 31st in his career against Detroit - the most he has against any team. The A’s won for the sixth time in their last seven outings.

Rangers 4, Orioles 2

Baltimore

Bobby Witt allowed four hits in 7-1/3 innings and Texas scored three unearned runs in the eighth inning in a win over Baltimore.

Kevin Elster hit a two-run double for the Rangers, who snapped a tie in the eighth and improved to 5-0 against Baltimore this season.

Brady Anderson hit his American League-leading 10th homer for the Orioles, who have lost 8 of 10 after starting the season 11-2.

Twins 8, Yankees 6 (10)

New York

New York’s bullpen cost Dwight Gooden a victory and then gave away the game.

Pinch-hitter Chip Hale, Jeff Reboulet and Chuck Knoblauch each had bases-loaded singles in the 10th for the Twins, whose bullpen was equally ineffective in the bottom of the inning.

The Yankees got two hits and three walks in the 10th to close to 8-6, and still had the bases loaded with one out. But Dave Stevens got Paul O’Neill on a liner to short and Ruben Sierra on a fly to center for the final out.

Royals 10, Red Sox 0

Boston

Kevin Appier struck out nine in seven innings and Keith Lockhart drove in a career-high five runs to lead Kansas City past Boston.

Appier (2-3) allowed four hits and walked none to snap a personal two-game losing streak.

Blue Jays 11, Indians 6

Toronto

Carlos Delgado hit a two-run home run and drove in four runs and Joe Carter had three hits and three RBIs as Toronto beat Cleveland.

The win, only Toronto’s second in its last nine home games, snapped a three-game losing streak while the Indians lost for just the third time in their last 15 games.

White Sox 2, Angels 1

Chicago

Alex Fernandez pitched a five-hitter over eight innings and Lyle Mouten singled in the go-ahead run to give Chicago its fifth straight win.

Clearing the bases

Boston placed slugging designated hitter Kevin Mitchell on the disabled list. Mitchell will join Jose Canseco on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring. Mitchell injured his hamstring April 11 on a wet field against the Minnesota Twins. He missed nine straight games, but made three appearances before going back on the shelf Monday. … New York’s Paul O’Neill had two singles for his 12th multi-hit game of the season.

With all 81 home dates sold out, Indians fans have been hitting the road to catch their team. Cleveland fans arrived in Toronto for the first two games of the series at SkyDome, escalating Saturday’s attendance to 40,140 - the largest crowd at SkyDome in 12 games this season. … Umpire Ken Kaiser became ill and did not work the game between Oakland and Detroit. “It was some kind of food poisoning,” crew chief Joe Brinkman said. “He was in pretty bad shape.”

Angels manager Marcel Lachemann was in the dugout despite suffering a sprained right hamstring falling down the steps that lead from the visitor’s clubhouse to the dugout before the game. … Texas is 4-0 on Saturdays. … The Blue Jays have 27 homers in their last 16 games, including at least one in each of the last nine.