Strawberry’s 3 Hrs Steal Cecil’s Show

American League

Darryl Strawberry stole the spotlight on Cecil Fielder’s night Tuesday in New York by homering in his first three at-bats and leading the New York Yankees to a 9-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Strawberry lined his fourth homer of the season into the right-field seats in the second inning before unloading a 409-foot shot into the upper deck in right in the fourth off Kevin Tapani (10-6) to give the Yankees a 4-1 lead.

Following Bernie Williams’ two-run triple in the fifth, Strawberry hit his third homer and fourth in consecutive Yankee Stadium at-bats to put New York ahead 9-1.

The crowd of 33,025 had come to cheer Fielder, making his home debut following last week’s trade with Detroit. But it was Strawberry’s night.

With a chance to become the 13th player to hit four homers in a major-league game, Strawberry flied out to left in the seventh.

Red Sox 3, Blue Jays 2

Boston

Mike Maddux, making his first start of the season, turned in a strong performance and Jeff Frye and Darren Bragg delivered RBI doubles as Boston beat Toronto.

Maddux (1-1), sidelined since May 4 with a strained right elbow, allowed only one run and six hits in six innings.

Royals 9, A’s 2

Kansas City

Michael Tucker hit a two-run home run and Craig Paquette added a three-run shot to power Kansas City past Oakland and send the slumping Athletics to their ninth loss in 12 games.

Rangers 4, Tigers 2

Detroit

Kevin Elster homered in his fourth straight game and Ivan Rodriguez hit a two-run shot to propel Texas to a win over Detroit, just the Rangers’ second victory in their last six games.

Elster’s 19th homer, off Richie Lewis in the ninth, tied a Rangers record for homering in four straight games held by three others.

Twins 4, Angels 1

Anaheim, Calif.

Brad Radke pitched 7-1/3 strong innings to beat California in John McNamara’s return as Angels manager, leading Minnesota to a victory.

Scott Stahoviak’s RBI single was the key hit in a two-run sixth inning that broke a scoreless tie.

Orioles 13, Brewers 3

Milwaukee

B.J. Surhoff went 4 for 5, hit two solo home runs and scored three times to lead Baltimore over Milwaukee.

Mike Mussina (13-8) didn’t allow a hit until Matt Mieske doubled leading off the sixth.

Clearing the bases

Cal Ripken stole second in the fourth, his first steal since May 23, 1994 - also at Milwaukee. … The Orioles placed pitcher Arthur Rhodes on the 15-day disabled list with a recurrence of left-shoulder inflammation. … Including Tuesday’s game, the Yankees will play 16 of their next 19 at home. New York hasn’t lost a home series since Aug. 28, 1995. … Cecil Fielder wore No. 45 for the first time with the Yankees after switching numbers with catcher Joe Girardi, who now will wear No. 25.