AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Put Orioles on Edge

The Toronto Blue Jays pushed the Orioles to the brink of elimination Tuesday night, using homers by Devon White and John Olerud to win, 4-3, at Baltimore.

The victory enabled Toronto to maintain its 4 1/2-game lead over second-place Milwaukee and drop Baltimore a season-high six games back in the East.

The Orioles have lost 10 of 15.

The Blue Jays’ magic number to clinch the division is seven.

Todd Stottlemyre (11-11) gave up two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 7-0 with a 1.55 earned-run average in nine games against Baltimore.

Duane Ward pitched 1 1/3 innings and Tom Henke worked the ninth for his 31st save.

The Orioles put runners at first and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth. But Mark McLemore flied out to short center and, after Henke issued an intentional walk, Mike Devereaux, who was batting .571 with the bases loaded, popped out to short.

The start of the game was delayed by rain for 2 hours 42 minutes. After that, White hit Rick Sutcliffe’s fourth pitch for his 17th homer.

Devereaux made it 1-1 in the third with his 23rd homer, but the Blue Jays took the lead for good in the fourth when Dave Winfield walked and Olerud followed with his 16th homer.

Sutcliffe gave up a single to Kelly Gruber and a walk before leaving with back spasms.

Cleveland 4, Boston 2--Roger Clemens failed in his third bid to get his 19th victory as Paul Sorrento’s two-run double in the sixth inning sent the Indians to victory at Boston.

Clemens (18-11) has two starts left in his quest for his fourth 20-victory season. He lost his third consecutive start for the first time since May, 1989, and a fourth consecutive start at Fenway Park for the second time in his career.

Clemens struck out four, walked none and allowed three hits in five innings before giving up three runs in the sixth. He finished for his 11th complete game, giving up three earned runs with eight strikeouts and two walks. He came into the game 3-0 against the Indians this season.

Boston, last in the AL East, lost for the fifth time in six games and dropped 17 games under .500 for the first time since ending 1966 at 72-90.

Cleveland is 6-5 against Boston and can win the season series for the first time since 1983 with a victory tonight or Thursday.

Minnesota 1, Texas 0--Pedro Munoz drove Kirby Puckett home from second base with a two-out single in the 13th inning to give the Twins the victory at Arlington, Tex.

Munoz got his hit after Puckett singled and moved to second base on a wild pitch from Kenny Rogers.

Larry Casian, who came up from triple-A Portland on Sept. 14, earned his first victory since Oct. 3, 1990, by pitching 1 1/3 innings. Rick Aguilera finished for his 40th save.

Nolan Ryan, who missed two starts with a muscle pull, went six scoreless innings and allowed only four hits. He walked one and struck out four in yet another game the Rangers batters failed to support him.

Ryan has allowed only two earned runs his last 20 1/3 innings. Ryan threw 94 pitches, 64 of them strikes. His last win was July 26, nine starts ago.

The Twins’ best chance to score off Ryan came in the sixth inning, when J.T. Bruett doubled and was sacrificed to third. Ryan then struck out Puckett and Munoz to end the threat.

Chicago 8, Oakland 3--Charlie Hough got his 202nd victory and Ron Karkovice had two home runs and a single at Chicago.

The Athletics lost for only the second time in 14 games. Their magic number for clinching the AL West title remained at four.

Hough (7-11) gave up two earned runs and eight hits in six innings. He has an 18-9 record in his career against the A’s.

Oakland hit into four double plays.

Kansas City 3, Seattle 0--Chris Haney pitched a two-hitter for his first AL shutout and Brian McRae had an inside-the-park home run at Kansas City.

Haney, acquired from the Montreal Expos in a four-player deal Aug. 29, had a 4.22 ERA his first four starts.

The Mariners, whose 23-53 road record is the worst in the majors, lost their 12th in a row away from the Kingdome. They wasted a five-hit, 12-strikeout effort by Randy Johnson, who struck out every Royal at least once while recording his eighth 10th-strikeout game of the year. It boosted his strikeout total to 215, best in the major leagues.

New York 6-7, Detroit 5-4--The Yankees swept the doubleheader at New York, winning the nightcap when Matt Nokes hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the seventh that broke a 4-4 tie.

The Yankees took the first game when pinch-hitter Roberto Kelly scored Danny Tartabull with a sacrifice fly in the 12th inning.

The rain-interrupted doubleheader took 9 hours 12 minutes.