AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Griffey Equals Ruth With No. 30

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 30th homer of the season Friday night, Edgar Martinez added a three-run shot and Dave Fleming ended a personal five-game losing streak as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Kansas City Royals, 5-1, at Kansas City.

Griffey’s homer enabled him to match Babe Ruth’s mark for most home runs before June 30. Ruth hit 30 by that date in both 1928 and 1930, finishing with 54 in 1928 and 49 two years later.

Griffey’s goal is the all-time single-season home run mark of 61 set by Roger Maris in 1961.

Dave Fleming (4-9) gave up only four hits over six innings in outpitching David Cone (10-3) and winning for the first time since May 8.

Griffey’s homer was a towering 428-foot blast into the upper level of the fountain in right-center field in the third inning.

Milwaukee 8, New York 1--The struggling Yankees dropped a little lower at New York. And their top hitter, Paul O’Neill, fell lower than he has been all season.

Although they still lead Baltimore by two games in the American League East, the Yankees are 5-11 in June.

O’Neill, hitless in four at-bats, dropped to .397, the first time his average has been below .400.

Dave Nilsson hit a grand slam for Milwaukee, but pitcher Cal Eldred (7-7) was the main star. He pitched a three-hitter, his third complete game in 15 starts.

Nilsson’s first career grand slam came in a five-run fifth in which losing pitcher Scott Kamieniecki (4-3) walked three batters.

Cleveland 8, Boston 1--The Indians say they have known since spring training what the rest of the world is discovering now.

“We weren’t joking. We’re really serious about winning this division,” Dennis Martinez said at Cleveland after the Indians beat the Red Sox to tie a 43-year-old franchise record with their 16th consecutive home victory.

The Indians’ streak at Jacobs Field is the longest in the majors since Boston won a record 24 in a row at Fenway Park in 1988. Cleveland won 16 in a row at Cleveland Stadium in 1951.

The Indians, winners of seven in a row overall, took over the best record in the American League (38-25), a half-game better than the Yankees.

The Red Sox dropped their ninth in a row--their first nine-game skid since 1977.

Martinez is 5-4, but the Indians are 6-1 in his last seven starts.

After his teammates gave him a big lead Friday, he wasted little time finishing off the Red Sox. Of the 38 pitches he threw in his final four innings, 35 were strikes.

“When you have that kind of lead, you have to go right after the hitters and make them swing the bat,” Martinez said. “But I still used all my pitches. I had to keep my game plan, keep them off balance.”

Baltimore 9, Minnesota 2--Ben McDonald earned his 10th victory as the Orioles ended seven-game winning streaks by the Twins and pitcher Kevin Tapani at Baltimore.

McDonald (10-4) pitched an eight-hitter, striking out five and walking none. The Orioles broke the game open by sending 11 men to the plate in a five-run fifth inning that gave them a 7-0 lead.

Tapani (8-3) had not lost since April 29.

Oakland 4, Texas 2--Stan Javier homered twice and drove in three runs at Arlington, Tex., lifting the Athletics to their sixth victory in eight games.

It was the first two-homer game of Javier’s career.

The Rangers lost for the sixth time in seven games.

Oakland pitcher Todd Van Poppel (3-5), an Arlington native, was making his second appearance in his hometown. The loser was Hector Fajardo (2-3).

Toronto 7, Detroit 4--Paul Molitor had three hits at Detroit, including a three-run homer, to help the Blue Jays end a three-game losing streak.

The Tigers, playing before a crowd of 36,210--their largest since opening day--lost their third in a row.

Dave Stewart (5-5) beat reliever Mike Gardiner (2-1).