AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mack Attacks Indians as Twins Set Club Record

Shane Mack is swinging a hot bat for the Minnesota Twins, who remain the hottest team in the major leagues.

The Twins won a team-record 13th consecutive game Friday night, beating the Indians, 7-0, before 55,158 at Cleveland. The large crowd was attracted by a promotion by a local oil company.

Mack hit his first career grand slam and also had a double and a single with a career-high five runs batted in.

“Everyone in here would like to keep the streak going,” said Mack, who is 11 for 29 during the Twins’ surge. “But everyone in here is even-keeled. We’re keeping level heads about it.”

The Indians were shut out for the third consecutive game, matching a club mark and one shy of the major league record.

Jack Morris (8-5) won his fifth consecutive start as the Twins surpassed their previous record streak of 12 consecutive victories in 1980. Morris gave up three hits in seven innings and improved to 29-9 against Cleveland.

“Whenever you win this many games in a row, I think guys have the feeling, ‘Hey, we are good. We can play.’ The confidence from this streak will help us in a lot of ways,” Morris said.

The Indians have only eight hits in their last three games. They went 23 innings without getting a runner past second base until Mark Lewis reached third on a wild pitch in the sixth.

“It’s got to turn around eventually,” Lewis said. “I’m not going to tell you it’s easy, because it’s not.”

Cleveland has been held to two runs or less in 11 of its last 12 games.

Jeff Shaw (0-1) lasted 4 2/3 innings in his first start of the season, yielding six runs and nine hits.

Kent Hrbek gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the third with his sixth home run.

Randy Bush tripled and scored on Mack’s single in the fourth, and Mack broke it open when he hit reliever Rod Nichols’ first pitch for the grand slam in the fifth. The Twins had loaded the bases against Shaw on a single by Brian Harper sandwiched between two hit batters.

During the 13-game streak, the Twins have outscored their opponents, 72-30. They are batting .288 and their pitchers have a 2.06 earned-run average in that span.

The Twins are 11 games over .500 for the first time since 1988, when they finished the season 91-71.

Toronto 9, Baltimore 1--John Olerud, Kelly Gruber and Mark Whiten homered for the Blue Jays at Baltimore.

Olerud, who drove in four runs, also had a triple and double to back Todd Stottlemyre (7-2), who scattered eight hits in eight innings.

Gruber hit a two-run homer, his fourth, in the first inning off Jeff Robinson (3-6). Whiten made it 4-0 in the second when he hit his second home run. Olerud hit a two-run homer in the third.

Chicago 9, Kansas City 3--Frank Thomas drove in five runs with his ninth homer, two doubles and a single at Chicago.

Thomas put Chicago ahead with a three-run homer off Luis Aquino (0-3) in the fifth inning to put the White Sox ahead, 5-3.

Jack McDowell (8-3) gave up three runs on five hits and five walks in seven innings. Scott Radinsky pitched two perfect innings for his second save.

Texas 8, New York 4--At Arlington, Tex., Jeff Huson’s first home run in 628 major league at-bats helped Jose Guzman win for the first time since 1988.

Guzman (1-2), who gave up three runs on nine hits in seven innings, had not won since Aug. 22, 1988, shortly before sustaining a rotator-cuff injury. He was released by the Rangers in spring training, re-signed with their triple-A team and was recalled on May 21.

Huson hit his three-run homer off Wade Taylor (2-1) in the first inning.

Matt Nokes and Kevin Maas homered for the Yankees.

Detroit 5, Seattle 1--Rookie Dan Gakeler (1-1) gave up two hits in 7 2/3 innings and Skeeter aarnes homered in his first at-bat of the season to lead the Tigers at Seattle.

A bunt single by Greg Briley in the third inning and a run-scoring single by Alvin Davis in the eighth were the only hits off Gakeler.

Barnes homered into the left-field seats for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. It was Barnes’ fourth career homer.

Cecil Fielder’s third-inning single off Brian Holman (7-6) gave him a league-leading 49 RBIs.