AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Behind Key and O’Neill, Yankees Earn Big Victory Over Blue Jays

Everything came up big for the New York Yankees on Thursday.

A large crowd showed up at Yankee Stadium and saw clutch hits from Paul O’Neill and Don Mattingly. And, Jimmy Key made it all stand up with a another huge effort to keep the Yankees’ summer going strong.

O’Neill hit a homer to tie the score and then put New York ahead with a run-scoring grounder in the seventh inning as the Yankees beat Toronto, 5-4, to move within a game of the Blue Jays in the American League East.

“You have to give Paul O’Neill a lot of credit,” Mattingly said. “That was a monster home run to come right back and tie the score after they took the lead.”

The Yankees also came back to split the four-game series after dropping the first two games against the division leaders. The afternoon game drew a crowd of 52,493, New York’s largest since opening day.

“Everyone in this division knows you have to beat the Blue Jays,” Key (13-4) said. “They know we have a good team now. This was a big confidence-booster for us.”

The former Blue Jay left-hander came through for the Yankees again. He gave up four runs and six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts for his fourth complete game.

With the score tied, 4-4, Wade Boggs led off the seventh with a walk against reliever Al Leiter (6-6) and Dion James pushed a perfect bunt between the mound and first base. After Danny Tartabull walked with one out to load the bases, O’Neill hit a slow grounder to first baseman John Olerud that scored Boggs.

Trailing, 3-1, the Blue Jays took the lead on Fernandez’s three-run triple against Key in the sixth inning. But O’Neill tied the score against Juan Guzman in the bottom of the inning with his 15th homer, a shot deep into the right-field bleachers.

Mattingly had a run-scoring double in the first inning and broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run homer, his 11th, in the third. Mattingly’s homer bounced off right fielder Joe Carter’s glove.

“Everyone is coming through in big situations right now,” Mattingly said. “There’s still a long way to go, but I think we proved something to Toronto.”

Boston 2, Minnesota 1--Frank Viola won at Minneapolis for the first time since the Twins traded him in 1989.

Bob Zupcic homered in the sixth inning and Ivan Calderon added a sacrifice fly later in the inning against Jim Deshaies (11-9), giving Viola (7-8) the only runs he needed.

Greg Harris worked the eighth and Jeff Russell the ninth to become only the fourth Boston reliever ever to record 30 saves as the Red Sox improved their record since the All-Star break to 16-5.

Viola won 112 games for the Twins before being dealt to the New York Mets. He signed with Boston as a free agent in 1992 and is 2-1 against Minnesota, his other victory coming last season at Fenway Park.

The 33-year-old left-hander gave up only four singles, walked two and struck out one through seven innings. He pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, getting Jeff Reboulet to end the inning with a grounder.

Cleveland 8, Detroit 4--Wayne Kirby hit a bases-loaded triple to lift the Indians over the fading Tigers at Cleveland.

The Tigers have lost four of their last five games, including two of three at Cleveland. They have not won a series since July 5-7 and are 6-15 since the All-Star break to fall 8 1/2 games behind Toronto in the East.

The Indians, chasing Detroit for fifth place, have won four of their last five games.

Rookie Tom Kramer (5-2) won his fourth consecutive decision, giving up two runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Baltimore 3, Milwaukee 1--Ben McDonald won his fifth successive start at Baltimore’s Camden Yards as the Orioles completed a sweep of the Brewers.

Mike Devereaux drove in two runs as the Orioles finished their first four-game sweep since they took four from Detroit in April 1992.

McDonald (9-9) gave up eight hits, walked none and struck out four in his second complete game of the season. His 2.14 earned-run average at home is best in the American League.

Seattle 3, Oakland 2--Bret Boone broke a seventh-inning tie with a run-scoring double, and Dave Fleming survived a bad start to win his seventh consecutive decision, leading the Mariners at Oakland.

Fleming (7-1) hadn’t defeated the Athletics in three career starts, going 0-1 with a 4.71 ERA. He gave up two runs, four walks and six hits in the first four innings before settling down and holding the A’s hitless until the seventh.

Texas 7, Chicago 1--Ivan Rodriguez drove in a career-high four runs at Arlington, Tex., and the Rangers spoiled Tim Belcher’s American League debut.

Belcher gave up four runs on seven hits in seven innings. He had been 9-6 for the Cincinnati Reds before they traded him to Chicago on July 31 for two minor league pitchers.

Kevin Brown (9-7) gave up one run on six hits and struck out eight in 7 2/3 innings. Cris Carpenter finished for his first American League save.