AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Beat Indians, Move Ahead of Yankees

With a club record for saves within reach, Duane Ward of the Toronto Blue Jays learned a lesson Tuesday night: It’s pretty tough to get three outs with one pitch.

In an 8-6 victory at Toronto over the Cleveland Indians, Ward gave up one run in the ninth inning before earning his 35th save to break Tom Henke’s record.

“I tried to get it by only facing one batter,” Ward said. “I’ve been thinking about the save since the first game against Seattle (last Friday). Next thing I know, I’ve got runners at first and third, one out and Albert Belle at the plate. That’s not a great feeling.”

However, Ward got Belle to ground into a double play.

“It means a lot,” Ward said.

Joe Carter hit his fifth home run in the last three games and Darnell Coles hit a three-run homer to power the Blue Jays, who moved one game ahead of the New York Yankees into first place in the American League East.

Carter gave Toronto a 3-0 lead in the first inning when he followed Paul Molitor’s run-scoring groundout with his 28th home run, a two-run shot. He hit three home runs against the Indians on Monday night, and one against Seattle on Sunday.

“When Joe gets on a streak like the one he’s on now, he’s one of the best hitters in baseball,” Indian Manager Mike Hargrove said.

Chicago 4, New York 2--Ellis Burks’ two-run double in the seventh at Chicago broke a 2-2 tie and Wilson Alvarez ended his four-game losing streak as the division-leading White Sox maintained a four-game lead over the Kansas City Royals in the AL West.

Tim Raines opened the seventh with a single against Jim Abbott and was forced at second on Joey Cora’s grounder. Bobby Munoz relieved and walked Frank Thomas. Burks followed with his game-winning double off the wall in left-center.

Alvarez (9-8), winning for the first time in eight starts, gave up two runs and five hits, walked two and struck out eight in 7 1/3 innings.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 3--Brian McRae hit a two-run triple during a three-run seventh at Kansas City and Greg Gagne had three hits to back David Cone.

McRae, who was three for four against Twin starter Eddie Guardado when the Royals beat him at Minneapolis last Thursday, tripled under the glove of a diving Shane Mack in center to give the Royals a 5-2 lead.

Cone (10-11) went 7 1/3 innings, giving up eight hits while walking four and striking out four. He was relieved by Jeff Montgomery after Chip Hale hit his second homer of the season with the bases empty and one out in the eighth. Montgomery earned his league-leading 39th save, tying his career high.

Texas 4, Boston 3--David Hulse drove in two runs and Rafael Palmeiro hit his 32nd homer at Arlington, Tex., as the Rangers sent the Red Sox to their fifth consecutive defeat and remained 4 1/2 games behind the White Sox in the AL West.

Roger Pavlik (8-6) gave up 10 hits in eight innings, but was able to work out of trouble with 10 strikeouts.

Detroit 4, Seattle 1--John Doherty pitched a three-hitter, and Mickey Tettleton and Dan Gladden hit seventh-inning home runs at Detroit as the Tigers stretched their winning streak to four games.

Doherty (11-9), who walked four and struck out four, ended his two-game losing streak in pitching his second complete game.

Milwaukee 9, Oakland 2--Kevin Seitzer’s three-run homer capped a four-run seventh inning and Ricky Bones gave up six hits in eight innings in the first game of a doubleheader at Milwaukee.