AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Slumping Yankees, Kamieniecki Get A’s Again, Romp to a 14-3 Victory

For the most part it has been a miserable season for the New York Yankees and pitcher Scott Kamieniecki.

But the Oakland Athletics bring out the best in the Yankees. And they did the same for Kamieniecki Wednesday night at New York.

Kamieniecki, winless in his last five starts, held the leaders of the American League West hitless for six innings and the Yankees romped to a 14-3 victory, their second in a row over the Athletics.

It was only the third victory in 20 starts for Kamieniecki, who has beaten the A’s twice this season, and for six innings he was almost perfect. When he blew his shot at the no-hitter, it was no fluke.

Jose Canseco opened the seventh inning with a drive over the left-field fence for his 21st home run. Harold Baines followed with a double and Mark McGwire singled him home, so Kamieniecki, 0-3 with an earned-run average of 5.29 in his previous five outings, left after seven with a three-hitter.

The Yankees, who had not won consecutive games in a month, had 18 hits. They pounded Dave Stewart for eight hits in five innings, including a two-run home run by Danny Tartabull in the first inning.

The Yankees, 10 games below .500 and tied for last in the East, are 6-5 against the Athletics.

“Maybe we just rise to the challenge, maybe we match up well against them,” Kamieniecki said. “The way we played tonight it would have been tough to lose.

“I really wasn’t thinking no-hitter going into the seventh. That’s too early. After seven, that’s a little different.”

Canseco was impressed with Kamieniecki, especially his breaking ball. “He was spotting his pitches,” he said, “and throwing the breaking ball for strikes.”

Cleveland 5, Minnesota 1--The Athletics may not play too well against the Yankees, but the Twins aren’t playing well against anyone.

Charles Nagy (13-8) scattered eight hits at Cleveland, pitching the Indians to their fourth victory in a row.

The Twins, five games behind the Athletics, have lost four consecutive games and 15 of their last 22.

Shane Mack’s 22-game hitting streak ended and Bill Krueger’s failures since the All-Star break continued. He is 10-4 and only 1-2 since the break, with a 6.42 ERA in his last seven starts.

Nagy, who has nine of the Indians’ 10 complete games, struck out six, walked none and lowered his ERA to 2.52.

Twin Manager Tom Kelly said his team is playing a little uptight.

“We’re trying very hard,” Kelly said. “The players, if anything, might be trying too hard.”

Seattle 10, Baltimore 8--The Orioles keep blowing chances to make a race of it in the East.

Bret Boone, who made history because he followed his grandfather Ray and his father Bob into the majors, had a hit, drove in a run and scored two in his debut for the Mariners.

He helped the visiting Mariners hand the Orioles their fourth defeat in a row and kept them four games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the East.

Edgar Martinez hit his first grand slam as the Mariners won their fourth in a row.

Milwaukee 10, Toronto 5--The Brewers served notice to the Blue Jays that they are not out of the race.

Greg Vaughn, who has been struggling all season, homered and drove in five runs at Milwaukee to lead the romp. The Brewers moved to within 5 1/2 games of Toronto.

Chris Bosio (11-5) won his fifth consecutive decision since the All-Star game. He gave up seven hits and three runs in seven innings.

Kansas City 7, Detroit 2--Kevin Appier (14-5) held the Tigers to two hits in seven innings at Kansas City and handed the Tigers only their third loss in the last 12 games.

George Brett had two more hits, including a single to drive in the first run of the game, and needs 39 hits in 42 games to reach 3,000.

Appier reduced his ERA to 2.26, second in the league to Roger Clemens at 2.10.

“With a 7-0 lead, I didn’t want to take my ace out,” Manager Hal McRae said. “But he’d thrown 115 pitches and that was enough.”

Chicago 3, Texas 2--Frank Thomas hit a two-run double with two out in the eighth inning at Chicago to bring the White Sox from behind to their fourth consecutive victory.

The White Sox, who have won 15 of 21, trailed, 2-1, before Steve Sax and Tim Raines singled with two out in the eighth. Thomas doubled off Jeff Russell, who failed for the ninth time to get a save.

George Bell’s 19th home run gave the White Sox their first run.