AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rangers Drop A’s With Power Sweep, 9-6

Dean Palmer was the leading home run hitter in professional baseball when he joined the Texas Rangers this week after hitting 22 homers in 60 games at triple-A Oklahoma City.

Palmer demonstrated his powerful swing on Thursday, hitting a two-run homer off Rick Honeycutt that helped the Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 9-6, at Oakland to complete a three-game sweep.

“When I came up here I just wanted to try to do the same things,” said Palmer, who also singled in the Rangers’ first run with two outs in the second.

“I’m not going to change anything. There’s a difference between triple A and the major leagues, but I’m not going to change anything. I’m not trying to hit home runs, really.”

Steve Buechele added a three-run homer for the Rangers as the A’s were swept at home for the first time since June 22-24, 1990, when they lost three games to Chicago.

With the victory, Texas moved past the A’s into third place in the West. Oakland lost for the 10th time in 13 games, even though Jose Canseco and Dave Henderson each hit his 17th home run.

Texas outscored the A’s, 23-8, in the three-game series.

After Canseco tied the score, 4-4, with a solo home run in the sixth, the Rangers scored four runs in the seventh inning.

Ruben Sierra of the Rangers doubled in the third to extend his hitting streak to 15 games and added a run-scoring single in the eighth.

Reliever Wayne Rosenthal (1-0) earned his first victory despite giving up two runs and three hits in 2 1/3 innings. Jeff Russell finished for his 15th save.

Toronto 1, Minnesota 0--The Blue Jays scored on an error by outfielder Shane Mack in the fourth inning at Minneapolis to win the matchup of the AL’s division leaders.

With two outs and Kelly Gruber on first, Rance Mulliniks hit a line drive to left field that went off Mack’s glove for an error. Mack retrieved the ball but overthrew cutoff man Al Newman, allowing Gruber to score.

Juan Guzman (2-2) gave up three hits and struck out six in 7 2/3 innings for the victory. Tom Henke pitched the ninth for his 14th save.

Kevin Tapani (5-7) gave up only four hits, walked none and struck out seven in his second complete game of the season.

New York 8, Boston 0--The Yankees, who lost all seven games at Fenway Park last season, got home runs from Mel Hall, Bob Geren and Roberto Kelly to complete their first series sweep in Boston since October, 1986.

Rookie Wade Taylor (3-2) gave up three hits, struck out four and walked five in seven innings before Greg Cadaret and Lee Guetterman each pitched one inning.

The Yankees pounded Boston starter Tom Bolton (7-5) for 10 hits and eight runs in 3 2/3 innings, dealing the left-hander his first home loss in five decisions.

Baltimore 7, Cleveland 2--Randy Milligan drove in three runs at Cleveland with his second four-hit game of the week and Cal Ripken had three hits to increase his American League-leading average to .355.

Bob Milacki (4-2) gave up 10 hits, walked one and struck out four in 8 2/3 innings. Gregg Olson retired Jerry Browne on a groundout with the bases loaded to end the game and earn his 14th save.

Albert Belle, who had three RBIs Wednesday night in his first game back after a stint in the minors, had a single and a double for the Indians.

Milwaukee 9, Detroit 3--Greg Vaughn drove in five runs with two homers at Detroit.

Chris Bosio (6-7) gave up three hits in eight innings and Dan Plesac pitched the ninth.

The Brewers got homers from Paul Molitor and Vaughn in a five-run sixth inning and Vaughn added a three-run homer off Mark Leiter in a four-run ninth inning.

The loss ended a four-game winning streak for Bill Gullickson (9-4), who was bidding to become the first Tiger to win five consecutive starts since Frank Tanana won his first five in 1988.

Chicago 5, Seattle 2--Dan Pasqua drove in three runs with a homer and two-run triple at Chicago to help the White Sox win for the sixth time in seven games.

Pasqua’s homer, leading off the eighth inning, was his sixth of the season, third of the series and second off left-handed reliever Rob Murphy.

Alex Fernandez (4-7) won his second consecutive start but needed help from Melido Perez in the sixth inning. Bobby Thigpen, the fourth Chicago pitcher, worked the ninth for his 14th save.

Erik Hanson (4-3) sustained Seattle’s fourth loss in five games as the White Sox took the series, three games to one.