AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Rangers’ Rest Turns Tigers Into the Weary

Sometimes less is more. For the Texas Rangers, it turned out to be a whole lot more Saturday.

The Rangers skipped batting practice in favor of an extra hour of sleep, then bombed the Tigers, 10-4, with an 18-hit attack that included home runs by Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez at Detroit.

The Rangers arrived in Detroit at 5 a.m. Friday and were tired in their 7-3 loss to Detroit that night. That prompted Manager Kevin Kennedy to cancel batting practice on Saturday.

“We really needed some sleep,” Kennedy said. “I decided to give the guys an extra hour, and you can see how it paid off.”

Kenny Rogers (10-4) took care of the rest, pitching three-hit ball for seven innings.

Cleveland 4, Minnesota 3--Dennis Martinez earned his seventh consecutive victory and Eddie Murray hit a two-run home run, lifting the Indians at Minneapolis.

Martinez (8-4) retired the Twins in order only once in his seven innings, but still extended his streak of starts without a loss to 11. He allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out seven and walked two.

Baltimore 8, Oakland 7--Jeffrey Hammonds homered leading off the ninth inning as the Orioles rallied from a five-run deficit at Baltimore.

Rafael Palmeiro had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run for the Orioles, who have won six of seven.

Seattle 7, Boston 4--Edgar Martinez hit two solo home runs and Tino Martinez hit a three-run homer to give pitcher Chris Bosio his first road win of the year at Boston.

Seattle shortstop Alex Rodriguez, the top choice in the 1993 draft, got his first major league hit and stolen base in the fourth inning. He had two singles in four at-bats and also reached on third baseman Scott Cooper’s error.

Bosio (4-10) is 3-2 with a 2.84 earned-run average at home but was 0-8 on the road before defeating Boston. Sergio Valdez (0-1) made his first start of the season, replacing Roger Clemens, who is nursing a groin injury.

Chicago 11, Milwaukee 7--Frank Thomas hit his 32nd homer and drove in five runs at Milwaukee, as the White Sox won their fifth consecutive game.

Thomas went three for five with two doubles and Norberto Martin and Tim Raines each had three hits for the White Sox. Greg Vaughn drove in three runs for the Brewers, who have lost five of their last six.

Toronto 9, Kansas City 4--Pat Hentgen won his fifth consecutive decision by pitching seven strong innings and the Blue Jays stopped their seven-game home losing streak.

Hentgen (11-5), who improved to 3-0 against Kansas City this season, gave up two runs and six hits and struck out nine.