Mussina’s One-Hitter Near Perfect

American League

Mike Mussina came within two outs of a perfect game, losing it on Sandy Alomar’s single Friday night as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the visiting Cleveland Indians 3-0.

The Indians had not come close to getting a hit off Mussina (7-1) when Alomar lined a 1-1 pitch to left field with one out in the ninth. Mussina received a standing ovation following the base hit, and finished the Indians off by striking out the final two batters.

Mussina struck out 10 and walked none in his second career one-hitter.

The right-hander entered with a 4.26 ERA. The Indians had been averaging 10.5 hits and six runs in their last 10 games.

Mussina went to three balls on two batters in both the first and second innings but did not let the count reach three balls after that until Tony Fernandez grounded out on a 3-1 count to open the ninth.

Mussina was bidding to pitch the first perfect game in the majors since Kenny Rogers stopped California for the Texas Rangers on July 28, 1994.

Mussina’s other one-hit game came against Texas on July 17, 1992. The Orioles have never had a perfect game. Jim Palmer was the last Baltimore pitcher to throw a solo nohitter, beating Oakland on Aug. 13, 1969.

Red Sox 10, Yankees 4

Boston

Mo Vaughn hit three of Boston’s six homers, giving him four in seven at-bats.

All of Vaughn’s homers were solo shots, against Ramiro Mendoza (3-2) in the third, Danny Rios in the fourth and Graeme Lloyd in the eighth. It was the second three-homer game of his career and second in two seasons.

The Yankees allowed six homers in a game for the first time since June 17, 1977, also in Fenway Park.

Brewers 5, White Sox 0

Milwaukee

Cal Eldred limited Chicago to three singles and Jeff Cirillo hit a grand slam for Milwaukee.

Albert Belle extended his career-best hitting streak to 25 games for the White Sox.

Eldred (5-5) struck out eight and walked one. It was his third career shutout and first complete game since 1994.

Royals 3, Rangers 2

Arlington, Texas

Rookie Glendon Rusch won for the first time in eight starts as Kansas City halted a three-game losing streak.

Rusch (3-2), who last won on April 14, allowed eight hits over seven innings. The right-hander hadn’t won since shutting down Texas in his first appearance against the Rangers.

Twins 4, Angels 3

Anaheim, Calif.

Matt Lawton singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and Bob Tewksbury won for the first time in a month. Tewksbury (2-5) allowed 12 hits, but left five Angels stranded in scoring position.

Athletics 12, Blue Jays 7

Oakland, Calif.

Pat Hentgen, last year’s A.L. Cy Young Award winner, was tagged for six runs and lost for the first time since April 5.

Clearing the bases

Baltimore’s Cal Ripken Jr. went 0 for 3 on the 15th anniversary of the start of his record consecutive games streak, now 2,365 dating to May 30, 1982.