AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Twins Go South Again as A’s Move Closer to West Title, 4-2

The memory of Jose Canseco is fading fast. Almost as fast as the Minnesota Twins are in the West.

Both grew dimmer Wednesday at Oakland as the three players obtained from the Texas Rangers for Canseco last month played key roles in the Athletics’ ninth consecutive victory.

Ruben Sierra’s two-run single in the fifth inning broke a tie, starter Bobby Witt got the victory and reliever Jeff Russell preserved a 4-2 decision over the Twins at Oakland that completed a three-game sweep and all but eliminated the defending world champions in the West.

The Athletics stretched their division lead to nine games and cut their magic number to eight.

If nothing else, the victory showed, at least for a game, the prudence of General Manager Sandy Alderson in trading the controversial Canseco for the pitching the team needs down the stretch.

“I don’t think it’s poetic justice or anything,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “When you put ability like that on your club, it’s got a chance to shine.”

Witt (10-13), who snapped a six-game losing streak, got his first decision since coming to Oakland and his first victory since July 25. He limited the Twins to two runs and six hits in six innings and struck out eight for the third time since the trade.

“I wanted to come over here and try to contribute by going out there and throwing some innings and hopefully keeping the team in the game,” Witt said. “With the bullpen the A’s have, it’s a good felling to know that you can come out of the game close and get the win.”

Russell retired four batters for his 30th save and second with the A’s.

Boston 2, Milwaukee 1--The Red Sox damaged the Brewers’ East title hopes when Bob Zupcic squeezed home Jody Reed with the winning run in the 15th inning at Boston.

Zupcic, who had four hits, drove in Reed, who singled to lead off the 15th and advanced to third base on a single by Billy Hatcher. Doug Henry tried to shovel the ball to catcher Dave Nilsson, but Reed slid under the tag.

Daryl Irvine, Boston’s fourth pitcher, worked three scoreless innings for the victory.

Milwaukee remained in third place in the East, five games behind division-leading Toronto, but missed a chance to move up after the Blue Jays’ loss to Detroit. The Brewers fell two games behind second-place Baltimore.

Brewer starter Bill Wegman allowed one run and five hits in 10 innings and retired 20 consecutive batters in a span that ended in the eighth, when each team scored a run.

Chicago 9, New York 6--Frank Thomas had a personal-best five hits and George Bell collected his 100th run batted in to lead the White Sox at New York.

Thomas, who reached 100 RBIs on Tuesday, went five for five with two doubles. He scored three runs and drove in two.

Bell doubled, singled and drove in two runs as he reached the 100-RBI mark for the fourth time in his career. He and Thomas are the only 100-RBI teammates in the majors.

The White Sox got 18 hits, including five doubles, while finishing a three-game sweep. Steve Sax had three hits and Robin Ventura drove in two runs with a double and a single.

The Yankees had 12 hits, including Mike Stanley’s three-run homer.

Cleveland 6, Toronto 3--Glenallen Hill hit two home runs against his former team and tied a personal best with four RBIs as the Indians won at Toronto to cut the Blue Jays’ lead in the East to three games over Baltimore.

The Blue Jays and Orioles play a three-game series next week at Baltimore.

Charles Nagy (15-10) pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed three runs and six hits to lead the Indians to their sixth victory in seven games. Ted Power got his sixth save.

Hill, a .238 hitter entering the game, went three for four.

“I’m just trying to help get our team to .500 and fourth place in the division,” he said. “I think the Jays are the best team in baseball, and they treated me well when I played here, but as a Cleveland Indian I’m just trying to get our team to .500.”

Baltimore 3, Kansas City 0--Mike Mussina pitched a four-hitter and Luis Mercedes’ double keyed a two-run sixth inning at Baltimore.

Mussina (16-5) did not allow a runner past first base in his fifth consecutive victory. It was his fourth shutout and seventh complete game of the season.

Glenn Davis homered for the Orioles.

Detroit 4, Texas 1--Tony Phillips’ two-run double keyed a three-run seventh and David Haas combined with Mike Henneman for a two-hitter for the Tigers at Detroit.

Haas (5-2) went seven innings, giving up one run and both hits. Henneman pitched the final two innings for his personal-best 23rd save.