AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Go Home and Trip Orioles, 8-4

Returning home after a sub-par trip, the Toronto Blue Jays simply wanted to defend their turf.

Dave Winfield, Candy Maldonado and Joe Carter hit two-run home runs, powering the Blue Jays past the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4, Monday night at Toronto in the opener of a four-game series with the East lead at stake.

“It’s a big series, but it’s not do or die,” Maldonado said. “The last seven games haven’t been the best for us and tonight we just wanted to get something started at home.”

The Blue Jays, 2-5 on the trip, ended a three-game losing streak and increased their lead over the Orioles to three games.

Maldonado and Carter homered as Toronto gave Todd Stottlemyre (7-7) a 5-2 lead after three innings. Stottlemyre gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings, the longest outing by a Toronto starting pitcher since Jack Morris went eight innings on Aug. 1.

Mike Mussina (11-5) gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings.

John Olerud’s RBI single gave Toronto a 6-2 lead in the fifth. Winfield chased Mussina with his 19th homer in the seventh.

Oakland 5, Chicago 3--The Athletics scored five runs against nemesis Charlie Hough in the first inning and Ron Darling and Dennis Eckersley limited the White Sox to five hits at Oakland.

The West-leading A’s remained three games ahead of second-place Minnesota.

Darling (11-8) retired the first 13 batters and gave up five hits in eight innings, including a three-run homer by Ron Karkovice in the fifth.

Eckersley, pitching for the first time since his streak of 40 consecutive saves ended Saturday, got the last three outs for his 37th save in 38 chances this season.

Lance Johnson singled in the White Sox fifth, extending the longest hitting streak in the majors this season to 24 games.

Harold Baines’ run-scoring double, a sacrifice fly by Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco’s RBI single gave the A’s a 3-0 lead against Hough (5-8), whose career record against Oakland is 17-9.

With two out, Lance Blankenship hit a two-run double in his first at-bat since going on the disabled list with a broken hand July 6.

Detroit 10, New York 5--Cecil Fielder homered and drove in three runs as the Tigers stole six bases in a victory over the Yankees at Detroit.

Fielder, leading the majors with 98 RBIs, hit his 26th homer as Detroit won its fourth consecutive game. He also had a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring grounder.

The Tigers began the game with only 39 stolen bases this season, second-fewest in the majors to Boston’s 34. But they ran wild against former Detroit catcher Matt Nokes, with Gary Pettis stealing three bases.

Bernie Williams hit a two-run homer for the Yankees.

John Doherty (3-2) made his second major league start for Detroit, giving up three runs--two earned--and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Shawn Hillegas (1-6) gave up five runs and seven hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Minnesota 7, Texas 5--Kirby Puckett had three hits, including his first home run since June 28, and the Twins defeated the Rangers at Minneapolis.

Puckett doubled, singled and scored three times as Minnesota returned to the Metrodome after a 1-5 trip.

Dean Palmer homered twice for Texas, giving him 19 this season.

Kevin Tapani (13-7) gave up eight hits and three earned runs in eight innings for the Twins, who won for only the fifth time in 14 games. Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 31st save.

Minnesota got to Bobby Witt (9-10) for seven runs and 11 hits in seven innings.

Seattle 3, Kansas City 1--Randy Johnson pitched a three-hitter and struck out 10 as the Mariners got past the Royals at Seattle.

Johnson (8-12) pitched his fourth complete game of the season, and struck out 10 or more batters for the fourth time this year and the 19th time in his career. He fell behind, 1-0, in the third when Bob Melvin singled and scored on David Howard’s double.

In the Seattle third, Dave Valle and Harold Reynolds hit consecutive doubles and Edgar Martinez singled to break the tie.

Luis Aquino (2-3) gave up five hits in seven innings, including three doubles.