AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Twins Fall Behind, 5-0, Rise Up for 7-5 Victory

When Mark Guthrie came into the game, he almost expected the Minnesota Twins to win, even though the Boston Red Sox had a 5-0 lead in the fifth inning.

When it was over Sunday, the Twins had rallied to beat the Red Sox, 7-5, getting their third come-from behind victory of the four-game series at Minneapolis.

“I’ve never seen anything like this season,” said Guthrie (2-2), who worked 2 2/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief for his first victory since May 10. “It seems like everything that happens bounces our way, that the other teams never get the breaks.

“After my first two-thirds of an inning, the guys were pretty upbeat and vocal. You could sense things were going to happen.”

The Twins, who maintained their three-game lead over Oakland in the AL West, were unable to mount a comeback only on Saturday, when Roger Clemens beat them, 1-0.

Minnesota, defending World Series champion, won for the sixth time in seven games.

“We were in every game right to the end but the only way we could beat those guys was with a two-hit shutout,” said former Twin reliever Jeff Reardon, who gave up Brian Harper’s tie-breaking single in Minnesota’s three-run seventh inning.

“Those kinds of games are a lot tougher than blowouts. It’s easier to swallow if you never had a chance.”

The Twins are 44-19 since May 8 and their 56-35 record is tied for the best in the majors.

Chuck Knoblauch’s one-out infield hit off Daryl Irvine started the Twins’ winning rally. Shane Mack got a broken-bat single before Greg Harris (2-6) relieved and hit Kirby Puckett in the left elbow with his only pitch of the game, loading the bases.

Tony Fossas got Kent Hrbek to pop out but yielded Chili Davis’ two-strike, two-run single, making it 5-5. Harper, who already had two doubles, lined Reardon’s hanging curve to center.

Puckett added an eighth-inning sacrifice fly off Reardon, who also gave up the decisive hit Friday in Minnesota’s 3-2 victory. Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 28th save.

Oakland 6, Detroit 2--Carney Lansford had three doubles among his four hits and drove in three runs as the Athletics defeated the Tigers at Oakland.

Gene Nelson (2-1) and four relievers combined to hold Detroit to nine hits as Oakland got a split of the four-game series. Nelson, making his second start this season after four years as a reliever, gave up one run and six hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn his first victory as a starter since Aug. 22, 1987.

Kevin Ritz (2-4) took the loss.

Milwaukee 6, Chicago 3--Greg Vaughn had a two-run homer and the Brewers won their third consecutive game by downing the White Sox at Chicago.

Cal Eldred, 2-0 in three starts for Milwaukee last year, was recalled from triple-A Denver on Wednesday and allowed a run and seven hits in six innings.

Cleveland 4, Kansas City 3--Carlos Baerga’s fourth hit drove in the tie-breaking run in the ninth inning and the Indians avoided a four-game sweep by beating the Royals at Kansas City.

Baerga, batting .460 in his last 23 games, hit a two-run homer in the first inning.

Derek Lilliquist (4-2), the fourth Cleveland pitcher, went two-thirds of an inning to get the victory and Steve Olin worked the ninth for his 16th save.

Toronto 8, Seattle 4--Dave Winfield and Candy Maldonado hit two-run homers as the Blue Jays beat the Mariners for the fifth time in six games at Seattle this season.

Toronto’s David Wells (5-4) gave up four runs and five hits in six innings.

Baltimore 3, Texas 2--Cal Ripken’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning lifted the Orioles to a victory over the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Brady Anderson singled with one out off reliever Terry Mathews (1-4) and took third on Mike Devereaux’s single. Ripken followed with his fly ball to right.

Todd Frohwirth (3-0) pitched three innings of relief. Gregg Olson picked up his 22nd save.