AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Clemens Ends Skid by Defeating Royals

How long had it been since Roger Clemens won a game?

It was July 21, and his Boston Red Sox were in the thick of the American League East race.

Clemens shut out the Kansas City Royals for seven innings in a 5-0 victory at Kansas City Friday, although his return to form may not be enough to help the Red Sox.

Boston, which dropped into the middle of the pack in the AL East during Clemens’ winless streak, won for only the second time in eight games.

Clemens (10-10) had lost four consecutive decisions and had an 8.00 earned-run average in his last five starts.

Friday, however, he allowed only three singles, struck out one and walked one.

“Too much Roger,” Kansas City Manager Hal McRae said. “He’s been searching for his fastball, and he had a good one. He didn’t mix his pitches, but he put his fastball where he wanted it.”

Said Clemens: “I felt like I’ve thrown the ball just as well other nights. I got balls hit at people and that was pretty much the story.”

Seattle 7, Toronto 6--Mike Blowers capped a four-run eighth inning with a three-run homer to give the Mariners the victory at Seattle.

The loss prevented the Blue Jays from moving into sole possession of first place in the American League East. They blew a 6-0 lead and remain tied for first with the Yankees.

Blowers’ home run was his third in two days.

Cleveland 9, New York 2--Sandy Alomar, Kenny Lofton and Albert Belle each drove in two runs for the Indians during a six-run sixth inning at Cleveland.

Jim Thome had two doubles and a homer for the Indians, who ended a streak of five consecutive home losses.

Alomar’s bases-loaded double in the sixth put Cleveland up, 3-2, and finished Melido Perez (6-13). Lofton grounded Paul Gibson’s first pitch past a drawn-in infield for a two-run single. Belle capped the rally with a two-run double, giving him 105 RBIs, off Rich Monteleone.

Texas 5, Baltimore 4--Reliever John O’Donoghue made an error that enabled the Rangers to score two runs in the seventh inning and win at Arlington, Tex.

Cal Ripken hit two home runs for the Orioles, including a solo homer in the ninth inning against Tom Henke.

Still, Henke finished for his 31st save to give Texas its fifth victory in six games.

With the score tied, 3-3, Texas loaded the bases in the seventh on singles by Doug Strange and David Hulse, a sacrifice and an intentional walk to Gary Redus. Ivan Rodriguez then grounded into a force play at the plate for the second out of the inning.

O’Donoghue relieved Todd Frohwirth (6-7), and Rafael Palmeiro hit a sharp grounder that glanced off the glove of first baseman David Segui. The ball bounced directly to second baseman Harold Reynolds, whose throw to O’Donoghue covering first base was in time. But O’Donoghue missed the ball, and it rolled into the Ranger dugout, allowing two runners to score.

Chicago 7-2, Minnesota 3-7--Dave Winfield singled home the go-ahead run in the 10th inning and Bernardo Brito added a three-run homer, giving the Twins a split of their doubleheader with the White Sox at Chicago.

Winfield, who doubled in the first game, hit his 19th home run in the second game. His go-ahead single in the 10th inning gave him 2,988 hits.

Jack McDowell, seeking his major league-leading 21st victory, pitched the first nine innings for Chicago, allowing 12 hits.

Kirby Puckett greeted reliever Donn Pall (2-3) with his fourth hit of the game, a single to start the 10th. Kent Hrbek singled Puckett to third, and Winfield singled for a 3-2 lead.

Chuck Cary relieved and hit Chip Hale with a pitch, loading the bases. After Hrbek scored on a wild pitch, Brito hit his fourth home run of the season.

In the opener, Bo Jackson hit a 446-foot, two-run home run to lead the White Sox.

Jackson’s two-run homer, his 12th of the season, put Chicago ahead, 5-3, in the sixth inning.

Belcher (3-2) beat the Twins for the second time in six days, giving up seven hits and three runs in six innings.