AL: Twins rally past ailing O's

BALTIMORE - Held to one hit over the first six innings, the Minnesota Twins revived their slumbering offense in time to beat the Orioles, who lost a seemingly safe lead and two starting outfielders during a lamentable night.

Pinch-hitter Jacque Jones and Shannon Stewart homered on successive pitches from Steve Kline in the 10th inning, lifting the Twins to a 6-4 victory Tuesday.

The Twins trailed 4-2 in the seventh before rallying to earn their 10th win in 14 games.

"It's just the type of team we have," Jones said. "We never give up, and that's against one of the toughest teams in baseball."

It was an awful evening for the first-place Orioles, for reasons that extended beyond the blown lead and the two unearned runs Minnesota scored on errors by third baseman Melvin Mora.

During the game, the Orioles put rightfielder Sammy Sosa on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to Thursday with an abscess and staph infection in his left foot.

Also, Baltimore centerfielder Luis Matos broke his right ring finger when hit by Jesse Crain's pitch in the eighth. He will be placed on the disabled list and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks.

"I'm not really happy about that," manager Lee Mazzilli said. "It's unfortunate, you lose a guy like Sammy and then Luis, who was playing so well."

Matos was batting .289. He will probably be replaced by David Newhan.

"We're going to have to pull our straps up. You lose two starting players, what's the alternative?" Mazzilli said. "We're going to fight it and grind it out, that's for sure. I guarantee you that."

Jones led off the 10th with Minnesota's first pinch-hit homer of the season, a shot to right-center on a full count. Stewart then put Kline's next pitch into the seats in left.

Crain pitched two scoreless innings and Joe Nathan got three outs for his 10th save in 11 chances. Neither has allowed an earned run this season.

All the Orioles' runs came on homers off Twins starter Brad Radke, the former Jesuit standout. Javy Lopez hit a two-run drive in the second, Rafael Palmeiro led off the fourth with the 553rd of his career and Brian Roberts connected to open the fifth.

"Three bad pitches, three home runs," Radke said.

Orioles starter Erik Bedard gave up one hit and two unearned runs through six innings and left after the seventh with a 4-3 lead. His bid to win a fourth straight start, however, was undone by the bullpen.

Jorge Julio got one out in the eighth before Nick Punto singled. After B.J. Ryan replaced Julio, Punto stole second and took third on a wild pitch before Joe Mauer tied it with a sacrifice fly.

RED SOX 3, A'S 2: Kevin Millar's winning two-run homer in the ninth inning made up for his two costly errors.

Millar homered off Octavio Dotel on a 2-and-2 pitch with one out to lift host Boston. The blast came one night after Millar's first homer of the season ended a career-worst home run drought of 120 at-bats.

Oakland scored its runs on plays involving Millar errors.

But after Manny Ramirez struck out in the ninth, Dotel walked David Ortiz before Millar's line drive that sailed into the leftfield seats behind the Green Monster.

Bronson Arroyo's latest outstanding pitching performance looked as if it would be ruined by his questionable fielding decision. The Hernando High product threw to first base after fielding a grounder, allowing Bobby Kielty to charge in from third with the go-ahead run in the seventh.

YANKEES 7, MARINERS 4: Former Devil Ray and Jefferson High standout Tino Martinez homered for the fourth consecutive game, a two-run drive that lifted suddenly streaking New York.

Chien-Ming Wang got his first major-league victory as the host Yankees overcame a two-run deficit and extended a regular-season winning streak to four for the first time since September.

Wang, a right-hander from Taiwan starting because Jaret Wright is on the disabled list, allowed runs in each of the first two innings but only two hits after that.

BLUE JAYS 3, ROYALS 1: Roy Halladay pitched his league-leading third complete game to lead host Toronto. Shea Hillenbrand hit a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who struggled before playing major league-worst Kansas City. Toronto has won two straight against the Royals since a four-game skid.

RANGERS 5, TIGERS 4: Gary Matthews Jr.'s first homer of the season broke a tie, and Hank Blalock also homered and drove in three for host Texas. Detroit had erased a four-run deficit before Matthews homered leading off the seventh against former Devil Ray Jason Johnson.

ANGELS 5, INDIANS 4: Garret Anderson and Josh Paul hit two-run homers as host Anaheim snapped a three-game losing streak. Felix Rodriguez allowed Coco Crisp's leadoff homer in the ninth before finishing for his ninth save.

[Last modified May 11, 2005, 01:14:01]