American League Roundup : Twins Draw 52,704 but Lose to Royals

Agony marked time for 52,704 long-suffering Minnesota Twins fans in the Metrodome Friday night.

George Brett, Danny Tartabull and Jamie Quirk hit home runs during a five-run fifth inning to power the Kansas City Royals to a 6-4 victory that snapped Minnesota’s six-game win streak and prevented the American League West leaders from lowering their magic number, which stands at four.

The crowd was the largest to watch a Twin game at the Metrodome. They have the best home record in the major leagues at 55-24.

The win lifted the Royals within six games of the Twins, with eight remaining.

“When you say you’ve got to win eight (games) in a row, that seems almost impossible,” Brett said. “If you say we’re just gonna play ‘em one game at a time, that seems possible. If we can take three out of three here, it might put a little pressure on them.”

Chicago 2, Oakland 1--Harold Baines singled home Ozzie Guillen from second base with two out in the 10th inning at Oakland.

The Athletics remained six games behind first-place Minnesota but slipped into a second-place tie with Kansas City.

Oakland’s Mark McGwire had tied the score, 1-1, in the ninth when he led off with his 48th home run, breaking Reggie Jackson’s club record of 47 set in 1969. McGwire also established a team total bases record of 336, erasing Jackson’s mark of 334 in 1969.

Oakland starter Dave Stewart allowed one run in nine innings but failed in his fourth attempt to become the majors’ first 20-game winner.

Chicago rookie Jack McDowell allowed two hits in the first seven innings. The 20-year-old right-hander from NCAA champion Stanford has allowed 9 hits in 20 innings with a 1.33 ERA in his three major league appearances.

New York 8, Baltimore 4--Don Mattingly tied a major league record with his fifth grand slam of the season to power the victory over the shell-shocked Orioles at Baltimore, but he isn’t impressed with himself.

Mattingly, whose homer was his 28th of the season, shares the grand slam record with Ernie Banks of the 1955 Chicago Cubs and Jim Gentile of the 1961 Baltimore Orioles. Mattingly’s five RBIs boosted his season total to 106.

Boston 9, Milwaukee 2--Roger Clemens pitched a five-hitter for his American League-leading 16th complete game, and Sam Horn hit two home runs at Milwaukee.

Clemens (18-9) struck out 10 and did not allow a hit until Paul Molitor doubled with one out in the sixth. The right-hander has struck out 10 or more 19 times in his career, breaking Joe Wood’s club record. Clemens will start twice more this season as he seeks his second consecutive 20-win campaign.

Molitor went 2 for 4 to lift his average to .359. He is chasing Boston’s Wade Boggs, who leads the AL with a .363 average. Boggs missed the game because of a bruised right knee and is listed as day-to-day. Milwaukee will finish the season at Boston Oct. 4.

Seattle 12, Texas 3--Rey Quinones hit a home run and drove in four runs for the Mariners at the Kingdome.