AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees Are Singing in the Rain

It took more than seven hours of baseball and rain delays spread over two days to bring an end to the longest home winning streak and the longest nine-inning game in Cleveland Indian history.

The New York Yankees beat the Indians, 11-6, Saturday, ending Cleveland’s string of 18 victories in a row at Jacobs Field.

The game actually began Friday night, but was suspended after seven innings and several rain delays because of the American League’s 1 a.m. curfew.

The final two innings Saturday were played in a persistent rain. Saturday’s scheduled game was then called off.

“It took so long to get one win,” Yankee leadoff hitter Luis Polonia said. “It didn’t look like this game was going to end.”

The game even included a pitcher who wasn’t a member of the Indians when the game began.

The Indians lost for the first time at home since Texas beat them May 1.

The seventh inning was completed at 1:18 a.m. Saturday, with the Yankees leading, 9-5. The game continued Saturday afternoon, despite showers that soon turned the infield to mud. The game officially lasted 4:03, not counting more than three hours of rain delays.

Jerry DiPoto pitched the final two innings for the Indians, who recalled him from the minors overnight. The Yankees didn’t believe DiPoto should have been permitted to pitch, because, technically, he was added to the roster during a game in progress.

Boston 10, Milwaukee 8--Mo Vaughn hit a two-run homer in the top of the 12th inning at Milwaukee for the victory.

The game featured seven homers, 26 hits and a 33-minute rain delay in the 11th inning.

Boston’s Andre Dawson went four for seven with two homers and four RBIs.

Kansas City 4, Minnesota 1--The Royals managed only six hits at Minneapolis, giving them only 13 in their last three games, but two of those Saturday hits were homers by Bob Hamelin and Terry Shumpert, accounting for three runs.

Kirby Puckett had two hits to tie Hall of Famer Rod Carew for the most in Twin history with 2,085.

Chicago 2, Seattle 1--Jack McDowell pitched a three-hitter at Seattle to lead the the White Sox to their fifth consecutive victory. It was the first complete game of the season for McDowell (4-7), a Cy Young Award winner last year.

Losing pitcher Randy Johnson (9-4) had his seven-game winning streak broken. He pitched his seventh complete game and struck out 12, running his season total to 129. He leads the major leagues in both categories.

Baltimore 4, Toronto 1--Cal Ripken hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning at Toronto, and the reeling Blue Jays went on to their seventh consecutive loss.

It’s their longest losing streak since a seven-game skid in August, 1991.

Oakland 2, Detroit 1--Pinch-runner Scott Hemond scored the winning run from third base on a wild pitch by Joe Boever (6-1) in the eighth inning at Oakland, giving the Athletics their ninth victory in their last 11 games.

Five Oakland pitchers combined on a five-hitter.