AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Twins Go to West, Keep From Going South, 1-0

David West hadn’t pitched all season, but he didn’t forget how.

West gave up only two hits over seven innings as the struggling Minnesota Twins defeated Toronto, 1-0, on Thursday at Toronto, ending the Blue Jays’ five-game winning streak.

It was the second victory in nine games for the Twins, who regained the AL West lead by a game over the Angels.

“The adrenaline is going and everything else, but my concentration took over and I felt good,” West said. “I kept the ball down and let them hit it.

“In the later innings, the changeup started coming around pretty good and I could sneak a slider in for a strike to lead the hitters off with. It was one of those days where everything was going pretty good.”

West, who was on the disabled list all season with elbow and abdominal muscle injuries, was activated Tuesday to replace injured Scott Erickson (12-3). He struck out five and walked one.

West gave up Joe Carter’s fourth-inning double and rookie Derek Bell’s first major league hit, an infield single in the seventh.

Steve Bedrosian pitched the eighth and Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 21st save.

Pedro Munoz led off the second inning with a single off Jimmy Key (10-4), took third on Shane Mack’s single and scored on a fielder’s choice grounder by Junior Ortiz.

Key pitched 7 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits.

Texas 5, Oakland 4--Kevin Reimer hit a two-out home run in the 10th inning after the Rangers rallied to tie the game against Athletics’ relief ace Dennis Eckersley in the eighth at Arlington, Tex.

Reimer hit a two-out single off Eckersley and Juan Gonzalez followed with a two-run homer to tie the score, 4-4. Reimer’s homer off Gene Nelson (1-3) gave the win to reliever Jeff Russell (3-1).

Eckersley’s third blown save of the season in 25 opportunities wasted the first grand slam of Rickey Henderson’s career in the seventh.

Rafael Palmeiro hit a two-run homer off Oakland’s Mike Moore in the first.

New York 3, Baltimore 2--Steve Sax and Mel Hall hit home runs and Roberto Kelly singled home the winning run as the Yankees beat the Orioles at New York for their sixth consecutive victory.

The Yankees improved to 37-38, the closest they have been to .500 since a 2-3 record on April 13. New York has won nine of 10 games.

The score was tied, 2-2, when Pat Kelly led off the eighth with a double off Roy Smith (4-2). After Todd Frohwirth relieved, Sax popped up a bunt, Kelly stole third and Roberto Kelly singled up the middle past the drawn-in infield.

Eric Plunk (1-2) pitched one-plus inning and won for the first time since last Sept. 22.

Seattle 3, Chicago 2--Jay Buhner homered twice in a game for the first time in the major leagues, driving in all the runs as the Mariners broke a five-game losing streak by beating the White Sox at Seattle.

Buhner’s homer off Greg Hibbard (6-7) tied the score, 2-2, in the fourth and he hit the game-winner off Hibbard in the sixth. He also singled home a run in the first.

Rookie Rich DeLucia (7-5) pitched six innings, giving up four hits, walking two and striking out two. The Seattle bullpen, which blew save opportunities in the past three games, held the lead over the last three innings.

Carlton Fisk’s two-run single in the third put Chicago ahead, 2-1.

Detroit 6, Boston 1--Cecil Fielder tied for the major league lead with his 20th homer and Mickey Tettleton hit his 15th as the Tigers defeated the Red Sox at Boston.

Tettleton broke a scoreless tie against Danny Darwin (3-6) in the fourth inning with a two-run homer. Fielder homered in the fifth and increased his major league-leading RBI total to 64.

Travis Fryman, who also had a pair of singles and scored three runs, hit his ninth homer in the seventh as the Tigers won for the sixth time in seven games.

Rookie Rusty Meacham (2-0), recalled from the minors on June 25, blanked the Red Sox on three hits over five innings in his second major league start.

Boston rookie Mo Vaughn led off the sixth with his third homer in eight major league games.

Cleveland 3, Milwaukee 0--Rookie Charles Nagy pitched his first shutout and Carlos Baerga drove in two runs as the Indians ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the slumping Brewers at Cleveland.

The victory was the third in 15 games for Cleveland. Milwaukee has lost six in a row.

Nagy (4-9) pitched a six-hitter for his third complete game.

Rookie Jim Hunter (0-2) took the loss in his first major league start, giving up three runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings. Hunter started because Ted Higuera had soreness in his upper back and neck.

Cleveland scored in the third on a run-scoring single by Alex Cole and Baerga’s two-run single.