AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Winfield, Morris Lead Blue Jays

Dave Winfield and Jack Morris, two players Toronto got to help win a pennant, did their part Thursday night at Toronto.

Winfield’s three-run homer ended a sixth-inning tie, and Morris improved to 17-5 as the Blue Jays beat Milwaukee, 5-4, sending the Brewers to their fifth consecutive loss.

Morris pitched seven innings and gave up one run and four hits.

“I was able to make the pitches I needed to make to keep it close,” Morris said.

The victory gave Toronto a 2 1/2-game lead over idle Baltimore in the AL East. The third-place Brewers fell 5 1/2 games behind.

“It’s nice to beat the guys creeping close to you,” Morris said. “They’re a good ballclub--they don’t quit. They played hard and almost came back to win it tonight.”

Devon White walked with one out in the sixth and Roberto Alomar followed with a single. Starter Jaime Navarro (14-9) moved both runners up with an errant pickoff attempt before getting Joe Carter to ground out. Winfield then hit his 22nd homer. Candy Maldonado hit his 17th homer in the seventh.

“He got out of the jams,” Brewer Manager Phil Garner said of Morris. “A guy like Jack, you’ve got to get the big hit to break through him. And you don’t get but one or two chances to get to him.”

New York 5, Minnesota 0--Melido Perez pitched a six-hitter for his first shutout of the season as the Yankees beat the Twins at Minneapolis for their fourth consecutive victory.

Perez (11-13) walked one and struck out nine, moving ahead of Roger Clemens for the league lead with 174 strikeouts. It was Perez’s ninth complete game of the season, but only his second complete-game victory. The Yankees have supported the right-hander with only 12 runs in his seven complete-game losses.

“My record is 11-13 now,” Perez said. “If we would have scored runs like we did today, who knows what my record might have been? There’s nothing I can do about that. I just have to keep it going (on the mound).”

Randy Velarde and Bernie Williams each drove in two runs. Velarde had a two-out, two-run single in the first inning and Williams hit a one-out double into the left-field corner for two runs in the fourth.

“We could score 100 runs, and still fall short of what we owe him,” Velarde said of Perez.

Kansas City 7, Texas 2--George Brett had three singles and drove in two runs as the Royals beat Nolan Ryan and the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Brett has 1,509 RBIs and is tied with Mickey Mantle for 33rd on the all-time list. He has 2,965 hits and passed Sam Crawford for 19th place on the all-time list.

Ryan (5-8) lost his fifth consecutive decision, yielding seven runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five. It tied the most runs he has given up in a Texas uniform.

Kevin Koslofski of the Royals hit his first major league homer in the third, one that went 401 feet into the right-field stands.

Seattle 6, Cleveland 2--Edgar Martinez extended his hitting streak to 13 games and drove in the go-ahead run for the Mariners at Seattle. Martinez, the leading hitter in the American League, had one hit in five at-bats and is hitting .342. His major league-leading 41st double in the sixth inning broke a 1-1 tie.

Dennis Cook (5-6) lost for the first time since June 15. He lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs and six hits.

Albert Belle accounted for both Cleveland runs with his 25th and 26th home runs.

Cook had a two-hitter entering the sixth inning. With one out, Bret Boone doubled down the right-field line and Martinez followed with an RBI-double to left-center. Kevin Mitchell then singled to score Martinez.