AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees Keep Wickman Unbeaten

Kevin Maas hit a three-run home run and Mike Gallego hit a two-run homer Sunday, helping unbeaten Bob Wickman and the New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-3, at New York.

Maas homered against Jack McDowell (7-4).

“He made a mistake, he got an off-speed pitch up in the strike zone,” said Maas, whose eighth home run put the Yankees ahead, 4-2, during the fourth inning. “Right now, I’m making contact and getting it in the air. That means home runs for me, usually.”

McDowell gave up six runs and 11 hits in eight innings. He struck out six, including Maas three times.

Wickman (6-0) left the game with one out in the sixth because of an irritation on the middle finger of his right hand. He gave up seven hits and three runs, two of them earned.

Wickman has won nine consecutive decisions. He is 12-1 since joining the Yankees in the middle of the 1992 season, the best start for a Yankee pitcher since Whitey Ford went 15-1 to begin his career.

“I’m getting a lot of breaks. The bullpen picks me up, the hitters pick me up,” Wickman said.

Toronto 13, Oakland 11--Pat Borders’ two-run double against Mike Mohler in the eighth inning broke an 11-11 tie and gave the Blue Jays the victory at Oakland.

The Athletics led, 10-6, after three innings. The game was tied at 11 after six.

John Olerud, Joe Carter and Ed Sprague homered for the Blue Jays.

Ruben Sierra homered for the A’s, who committed four errors.

Danny Cox (5-1) pitched 3 2/3 innings of hitless relief and Duane Ward pitched the ninth for his 15th save.

Boston 6, Texas 5--John Valentin doubled in the winning run with one out in the 12th as the Red Sox completed a three-game sweep at Boston.

The Red Sox rallied to tie the score with single runs in the ninth and 10th innings, and won for the fifth time in seven games. The Rangers have lost four in a row and six of seven.

Jose Melendez (1-0), the sixth Red Sox pitcher, went 2 1/3 innings for the victory.

Seattle 9, Detroit 5--A three-run homer by Ken Griffey capped a five-run Mariner rally in the eighth inning at Seattle.

The Tigers wasted a fine effort by starter David Wells, who had a career-high 10 strikeouts and gave up three runs, six hits and two walks over six innings.

Norm Charlton (1-1) was the winner, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit and three strikeouts.

Minnesota 8, Cleveland 2--Chuck Knoblauch had four hits and drove in three runs at Minneapolis as the Twins completed their first series sweep.

Pinch-hitter Randy Bush’s run-scoring single during the sixth inning put the Twins ahead, 3-2, and started a five-run rally.

Jim Deshaies (6-4) won for only the second time in seven starts. He gave up two runs and five hits in six innings. Mike Trombley pitched one-hit relief for his first save.

Tom Kramer (1-2) gave up six runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee 8, Kansas City 2--A throwing error by second baseman David Howard helped the Brewers score three runs during the first inning, and Bill Wegman made the lead stand up at Milwaukee.

Wegman (4-7) gave up 10 hits, struck out five and walked one. He had pitched three other complete games this season, and lost all of them.

Mike Macfarlane hit a two-run homer for the Royals. Kevin Reimer hit his eighth homer for the Brewers.