AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Twins Win Again, 4-2, Move Ahead of A’s

Kirby Puckett, for one, isn’t about to get too excited about the Minnesota Twins’ winning streak.

“I know this game definitely has a way of humbling you,” Puckett said Sunday after the Twins scored twice in the top of the 10th inning to beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-2, and extend their streak to 15 games. “As good as things are going, they can turn around and go just as bad.”

The victory, coupled with Oakland’s loss to Milwaukee, moved the Twins ahead of the Athletics into first place in the West. It’s the first time Minnesota has been in first place since 1987, the year the Twins won the World Series.

The streak is the longest in the majors since Kansas City won 16 in a row in 1977. Texas had a 14-game winning streak last month.

The American League record of 19 was set by the Chicago White Sox in 1906 and equaled by the New York Yankees in 1947. The major league record is 26, set by the New York Giants in 1916.

Minnesota’s streak started on June 1. June has often been the Twins’ worst month. They had a 390-439 record in June going into this season.

All 15 victories have been against teams with records under .500--seven against the Indians, three against Baltimore and New York and two against Kansas City.

“None of ‘em are easy, man,” Puckett said. “We’re just playing pretty good ball right now, just going out and being ourselves. We know that sooner or later we’re going to lose. It’s inevitable. But hopefully we’ll continue to play good ball and go from there.”

With one out in the 10th inning, Al Newman walked. Puckett, who homered earlier, singled him to third and Chili Davis followed with a sacrifice fly. Brian Harper singled home Puckett, who took second on Davis’ fly.

Harper was two for five, raising his average to .343. In his last eight games, he has gone 15 for 36 (.417) after a two-for-22 slump.

Rick Aguilera (2-2) got the victory despite yielding the tying run in the eighth inning. He walked pinch-hitter Carlos Baerga, who went to third on a one-out single by Alex Cole. Felix Fermin singled to right, tying the score, 2-2. It was Aguilera’s fourth blown save in 21 opportunities.

The loss was the Indians’ fifth in a row and 10th in 11 games.

Greg Swindell shut out the Twins on three hits until the sixth inning, when Puckett tied the score, 1-1, with his eighth home run. Swindell lasted eight innings, yielding two runs and six hits. The Indians have scored two runs or fewer in nine of his 14 starts.

Swindell is 3-5 despite a 2.22 earned-run average. He has pitched eight or more innings in all four of his June starts and has given up four earned runs in the month, but he is 1-0 during that span.

Milwaukee 11, Oakland 7--Greg Vaughn, who hit two home runs off Dave Stewart Saturday, hit a grand slam in the ninth inning at Milwaukee to knock the A’s out of first place.

Jim Gantner opened the ninth with a single. B.J. Surhoff bunted and was safe when pitcher Gene Nelson’s throw to second base was late. Robin Yount followed with another bunt and reached when third baseman Vance Law’s throw to third was not in time. Vaughn hit Nelson’s next pitch into the left-field seats for his 12th homer.

Mark McGwire homered twice and drove in four runs for the A’s. His 11th homer in the eighth inning followed singles by Harold Baines and Terry Steinbach and tied the score, 7-7.

Franklin Stubbs’ first homer since May 1, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, gave the Brewers a 7-1 lead.

Baltimore 13, Toronto 8--Pinch-hitter Joe Orsulak’s grand slam capped a five-run seventh inning as the Orioles broke an 8-8 tie and beat the Blue Jays at Toronto.

In the seventh, Bill Ripken and Cal Ripken singled and Randy Milligan walked. Leo Gomez singled home the go-ahead run and Orsulak, batting for Bob Melvin, hit his first grand slam.

Detroit 7, Seattle 3--A Kingdome crowd of 53,287, drawn in part by free Ken Griffey Jr. replica jerseys and a discount promotion for youngsters, saw Cecil Fielder hit his 14th home run to help the Tigers beat the Mariners.

Fielder hit a two-run homer in the third inning, giving him a major league-leading 51 runs batted in.

Kansas City 9, Chicago 4--Terry Shumpert’s two-run homer keyed an eight-run second inning at Chicago as the Royals moved out of last place and into a tie for fifth with the White Sox in the West.

The eight runs marked the biggest inning for the Royals this season, bettering their six-run inning against Baltimore last Tuesday. It was their fifth victory in the last six games.

Texas 4, New York 3--Mario Diaz doubled home John Russell from first base with one out in the 15th inning to give the Rangers their 13th consecutive victory over the Yankees at Arlington, Tex.

Steve Buechele led off the inning with a double off the third base bag but was thrown out at third when he tried to advance on Russell’s grounder to short.