AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Martinez and Belle Lead Indians to Split

Dennis Martinez allowed just two hits in eight innings and Albert Belle had three hits, including his 32nd home run, as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Orioles, 9-2, Tuesday night to gain a split in the first day-night doubleheader at Baltimore since 1961.

In the first game, Harold Baines ended a long homer-less drought with two solo shots in the Orioles’ 10-4 victory. Rafael Palmeiro and Leo Gomez also homered for Baltimore, which withstood homers from Belle and Eddie Murray.

“It really was a carbon-copy of the first game,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said about the nightcap. “This time, we scored all the runs and they didn’t.”

Belle, who is playing while appealing a 10-game suspension for using a corked bat, has six home runs in his last eight games. He had three runs batted in Tuesday, giving him 93 for the season.

Cleveland took command of the second game in the first inning, using a run scoring double by Belle and a three-run double by Manny Ramirez to go up 4-0. Belle hit a solo homer against Mike Oquist (3-3) in the third.

“The home run to Belle was right down the middle,” Oquist said. “They don’t miss mistakes.”

That was more than enough offense for Martinez (10-5), who had a no-hitter until Brady Anderson’s two-out, RBI single in the sixth. Martinez, 9-1 since May 11, walked two and struck out six.

After not hitting a home run in 69 at-bats since June 27, Baines homered in the fourth inning, and again in the sixth in the opener.

“Both were line drives,” Baines said. “It really wasn’t that I was trying to hit home runs.”

Ben McDonald (12-6) faced just one batter over the minimum through six innings. He allowed seven hits in eight innings.

Milwaukee 7, Toronto 5--Jody Reed--who had been in a one-for-25 slump--celebrated his 32nd birthday by hitting two singles, scoring a run and driving in two more in the Brewers’ seven-run first inning at Toronto.

“I was struggling for so long, trying everything,” Reed said. “I go out there and relax and ‘bam’, two hits in one inning. It doesn’t pay to get wound up.”

Ricky Bones (10-7) went eight innings to win his third consecutive start and help the Brewers end their three-game losing skid and snap the Blue Jays’ season-high eight-game winning streak.

Juan Guzman (10-10), who has a 30.90 earned run average against the Brewers this season, took the loss.

Kansas City 3, Chicago 2--Wally Joyner had two run-scoring singles at Kansas City, as the Royals stretched their winning streak to four games.

Tom Gordon (10-6) improved to 7-1 lifetime against the White Sox, helped by relievers Billy Brewer, Rusty Meacham and Jeff Montgomery. Gordon allowed two runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings. He walked five and struck out four.

“After two bad starts, I was able to relax and throw strikes when I had to,” said Gordon, who had given up 15 runs over nine innings in his previous two starts. “All my pitches were working and you have to have all of them against a good-hitting team like the White Sox.”

Wilson Alvarez (11-6) gave up six hits and three runs in seven innings.

Detroit 9, Seattle 1--Travis Fryman broke a hitless streak of 26 at bats with two doubles, two triples and four RBI at Detroit.

The win was the 2,125th of Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson’s career, leaving him one behind Joe McCarthy for fourth place on the career-wins list.

David Wells (4-6) allowed just one run on five hits in his fourth complete game of the season. Jim Converse (0-3) continued to struggle for Seattle, allowing six runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Boston 10, New York 7--Tim Naehring and Mo Vaughn hit two-run home runs in the sixth inning to lift the Red Sox over the Yankees and Jimmy Key at New York.

Naehring’s seventh homer of the year came off Key (15-3) and capped a Red Sox comeback that began after the Yankees scored five runs in the first inning off Boston’s Chris Nabholz (3-3).

Reliever Xavier Hernandez walked John Valentin and Vaughn then hit his 22nd homer to give the Red Sox an 8-5 lead.

Texas 8, Minnesota 7--Rusty Greer’s run-scoring single with two outs in the eighth inning led the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Doug Strange’s run-scoring pinch single in the bottom of the eighth against Rick Aguilera (1-4) tied the score, 7-7. Both Ranger runs were unearned. Manuel Lee reached second when his line drive hit off the glove of left fielder Shane Mack for an error.

Lee scored on Strange’s hit off the glove of first baseman Kent Hrbek. One out later, Greer delivered his game-winner.