AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : McGwire’s 2 Homers Help Athletics Win, 7-4

Mark McGwire hit two home runs and drove in five runs Tuesday night, leading Bob Welch and the Oakland Athletics past the Texas Rangers, 7-4, at Arlington, Tex.

McGwire hit two-run homers in the first and third innings, and added a sacrifice fly in the ninth. He matched his career high for RBIs and had his 14th multiple-home run game, four this season.

“The ball carries well here,” McGwire said. “It was carrying exceptionally well tonight. This is a good hitter’s ballpark. It’s hard to explain why I’ve hit so many homers here. I made two good swings and the two balls just jumped out of here.”

Dave Henderson also homered for Oakland. Ruben Sierra and Harold Baines homered for Texas.

Welch (8-2) gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out five. Dennis Eckersley pitched a scoreless ninth for his 17th save in as many chances.

McGwire hit a 376-foot homer with two out in the first off rookie Brian Bohanon (0-3). McGwire’s 430-foot drive in the third against Bohanon put the Athletics ahead, 4-3.

Seattle 10, Chicago 6--Jay Buhner hit a three-run double and Henry Cotto had an RBI triple and two-run single as the Mariners scored seven times in the fifth inning and beat the White Sox at Chicago.

Brian Holman (7-3) won his fourth consecutive start despite giving up six runs, four earned, on nine hits in five-plus innings.

Harold Reynolds walked to start the Mariners’ fifth and Cotto tripled for a 4-1 lead, chasing Greg Hibbard (4-4). Ken Patterson walked Alvin Davis, Jeffrey Leonard hit an RBI single and Ken Griffey Jr. walked to load the bases.

One out later, Buhner doubled and two more walks reloaded the bases. Cotto hit a two-out, two-run single to make the score 10-1.

Boston 9, New York 8--Wade Boggs tripled and scored on Jody Reed’s suicide squeeze in the eighth inning at Boston as the Red Sox sent the Yankees to their ninth loss in 10 games.

The Yankees trailed, 5-1, after one inning, but made the score 8-8 with four runs in the eighth.

Boggs, knocked down by a pitch from Eric Plunk (2-2), got up and tripled to right. Reed bunted to the left of the mound and Boggs scored as Plunk’s throw glanced off catcher Rick Cerone’s glove. Reed was credited with an RBI.

Milwaukee 6, Baltimore 4--Jaime Navarro gave up two hits through six innings in his second start since returning from the minors and B.J. Surhoff homered as the Brewers beat the Orioles at Milwaukee.

Navarro (2-1), who was sent to the minors last month after struggling early in the season, was recalled only because of injuries to the Brewers’ staff. He walked four in the third to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead, but gave up only two singles in his 98-pitch stint.

Chuck Crim went 1 2/3 innings for his fourth save. Jay Tibbs (2-6) took the loss.

The Orioles’ Mickey Tettleton hit a three-run homer in the eighth.

Surhoff hit his fourth homer with one out in the sixth off reliever Kevin Hickey, giving Milwaukee a 3-1 lead. Darryl Hamilton doubled and scored on Billy Spiers’ triple. Brian Holton replaced Hickey and threw Mike Felder’s slow roller into right field, allowing another run to score.

Toronto 7, Minnesota 3--Tony Fernandez tripled twice and drove in three runs and Fred McGriff homered as the Blue Jays beat the Twins at Toronto.

Fernandez, who leads the majors with six triples, got three hits and scored twice. He is nine for 14 with three triples since moving from leadoff to No. 2 Saturday.

David Wells (3-1), who replaced John Cerutti in the starting rotation on May 21, gave up three runs on four hits, including homers by Gary Gaetti and Shane Mack, in seven innings. He struck out a career-high nine and walked five.

Detroit 6, Cleveland 2--Alan Trammell drove in two runs and Cecil Fielder and Lloyd Moseby each got two hits as the Tigers hit 10 singles at Cleveland.

Dan Petry (5-2) gave up two unearned runs, walked four and struck out four in five-plus innings, reducing his ERA to 2.51. Edwin Nunez pitched four scoreless innings for his first save.