AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees Roll Past Indians Again

For Paul O’Neill, it was simply a matter of time.

“I don’t give up,” he said after ending a 22-at-bat slump with an RBI double that helped the New York Yankees defeat the Cleveland Indians, 6-5, Saturday at New York.

“I’m going to continue to go out there and play hard and see what happens.”

What happened Saturday was simple. With O’Neill’s help, the Yankees won their 10th in a row over the Indians since Sept. 3.

With the score 4-4 in the sixth, Mike Gallego and Pat Kelly singled with one out against Larry Casian (1-5). Wade Boggs singled with two out against Derek Lilliquist for the go-ahead run and O’Neill’s double made the score 6-4.

“In this game you go through ups and downs,” said O’Neill, who has a .355 average. “Maybe I can go on an upswing now. When the team’s winning, it makes it easier to go through a personal thing. We’ve played real well the last two weeks, so it’s been good for me.”

Joe Ausanio (2-0) gave up one hit in 1 2/3 innings--Carlos Baerga’s 15th home run of the season in the eighth. Steve Howe got two outs for his 14th save.

Albert Belle hit his 35th homer and ninth in 12 games for the Indians, who have lost all eight games against the Yankees this season. Belle will begin serving a six-day suspension Monday for using a corked bat.

Chicago 4, Seattle 2--Jack McDowell pitched a five-hitter and Frank Thomas hit his 36th homer as the White Sox moved a game ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central with their victory at Chicago.

McDowell (9-8) struck out seven and walked one in his fourth complete game. He won for the sixth time in seven decisions, and is 9-1 against the Mariners.

The loss was the sixth in a row for the road-weary Mariners, who have spent 10 consecutive days away from home because of roof problems in the Kingdome.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 4--Brent Mayne singled home pinch-runner Vince Coleman with one out in the 11th inning to lead the Royals at Kansas City.

Bob Hamelin led off the 11th with a single and advanced to second on Felix Jose’s single against Mark Guthrie (4-2). After Coleman ran for Hamelin and Erik Schullstrom replaced Guthrie, Terry Shumpert advanced the runners with a sacrifice and Mayne followed with the game-winning single.

Detroit 14, Oakland 2--Chad Kreuter tied a major league record with three sacrifice flies, and Milt Cuyler went three for four with a home run to lead the Tigers at Detroit.

Kreuter became the ninth player to hit three sacrifice flies in a game, and the first since Toronto’s George Bell did it in 1990 against Chicago.

Cuyler, who had been on the disabled list since May 26, is nine for 16 with eight runs scored in five games since returning.

Scott Brosius had a single and a home run for the Athletics, whose five-game winning streak ended.

Milwaukee 5, Boston 1--Cal Eldred gave up four hits in six innings to outduel Roger Clemens as the Brewers won for the seventh time in their last nine road games.

John Jaha led off the fourth at Boston with his 11th home run and Jody Reed, who played for Boston in 1988-92, hit a three-run shot in the eighth.

Baltimore 7, Toronto 5--Leo Gomez hit a home run in a three-run seventh inning that carried the Orioles at Baltimore. Harold Baines also homered for the Orioles, who ended a four-game losing streak. Dwight Smith and Mark McLemore each had three singles in Baltimore’s 15-hit attack.