AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Valenzuela Extends Scoreless Streak to 23

Fernando Valenzuela extended his string of shutout innings to 23, giving up two hits in eight innings as the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-0, at Baltimore on Saturday.

Valenzuela (4-7) struck out three and walked four. He gave up a first-inning single to Joey Cora, then held the White Sox hitless until Craig Grebek singled with two out in the eighth.

“He hit his spots and he was on,” Chicago’s Lance Johnson said. “He’s not a god or nothing, but he had a great day.”

After his first three starts this season, Valenzuela was 0-2 with an 11.05 earned-run average. At that point, there was some question as to whether his comeback attempt would last into June.

“Everyone was asking why I was here. I didn’t pay attention, though,” Valenzuela said. “I believed im myself and (Manager) Johnny Oates believed in me, and that was enough.”

The White Sox didn’t advance a runner past first base against Valenzuela, who became the first Oriole since Jim Palmer in 1978 to pitch three starts without giving up a run. Valenzuela left after 126 pitches, and Mark Williamson gave up one hit in the ninth.

Valenzuela received all the offensive support he needed when Chris Hoiles hit a two-run homer against Wilson Alvarez (8-5) in the fourth. It was Hoiles’ 18th homer of the season.

Detroit 9, Kansas City 8--Dan Gladden hit a grand slam and Tony Phillips had a two-run single, offsetting four Royal homers, to lead the Tigers at Kansas City.

Phillips’ single against Bill Sampen (2-2) capped a three-run seventh inning and put the Tigers back ahead, 9-7, after Kansas City had scored five in the sixth to take a 7-6 lead.

Rob Deer singled with one out in the seventh, stole second and went to third on Scott Livingstone’s single. Chad Kreuter’s double scored Deer and, after Kirk Gibson was hit by a pitch, Phillips singled home Livingstone and Kreuter.

Boston 5, Oakland 0 -- Rookie Aaron Sele gave up four hits in five innings and reliever Greg Harris escaped a no-out, bases-loaded situation by striking out the side as the Red Sox beat Athletics at Oakland.

Sele is 2-0 with a 1.05 ERA and has yet to give up more than one earned run in any of his four major league starts since being called to take the injured Roger Clemens’ spot in the rotation. Sele left with a 3-0 lead in the sixth after giving up a leadoff single to Brent Gates and a walk to Ruben Sierra.

Harris, who then gave up a single to Troy Neel to load the bases, struck out Terry Steinbach, Mike Aldrete and Dave Henderson to preserve the combined shutout. Harris pitched four innings, giving up two hits, for his third save.

The Red Sox have won 14 of their last 18 games. After starting the home stand with a season-high seven-game winning streak, the A’s have lost four of six.

Texas 10, Toronto 7--The Rangers are finding success on the road, while the Blue Jays can’t seem to win anywhere.

Dean Palmer drove in five runs to ensure Texas of its most successful road trip in 14 years as the Rangers beat the Blue Jays at Toronto. The Rangers are 8-2 with one game remaining on the trip and had not won eight games on a single trip since September of 1979.

Toronto, which has led the American League East since June 26, has lost four in a row.

Milwaukee 5, Minnesota 4--Greg Vaughn hit a bases-loaded single with one out in the ninth to drive in the winning run as the Brewers scored twice in the inning to beat the Twins at Milwaukee.

In the ninth, John Jaha singled against Rick Aguilera (1-1) with one out and Bill Spiers followed with a triple to center, scoring pinch-runner Juan Bell with the tying run. After Darryl Hamilton and Robin Yount were walked intentionally, Vaughn lined a 2-and-2 pitch to right-center field.

Minnesota took a 4-3 lead in the ninth on Dave Winfield’s two-out, two-run homer against Doug Henry (2-2). Winfield’s 13th homer was his fifth of the year against Milwaukee and tied him with Frank Robinson for 22nd place in hits with 2,943.

Seattle 7, Cleveland 6--Jay Buhner homered with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Mariners at Seattle.

Buhner hit a 2-and-0 pitch from Jeremy Hernandez (1-2) to make a winner of Chris Bosio (3-4). Buhner’s 17th homer--a 425-foot drive--came after Cleveland rallied to tie the score, 6-6, with three runs in the seventh.

The Mariners won their fourth in a row to climb within one game of .500 at 43-44 and beat the Indians for the sixth time in seven games this year. Cleveland lost for the fifth time in seven games.