AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Stay Late Before Winning

It was almost as if they didn’t want the season to end.

The New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays played more than four hours Thursday, and most of the fans stayed in their seats until it was over, with the Blue Jays winning in 13 innings, 8-7, at New York.

A crowd of 37,333, including players’ union head Donald Fehr, came out to Yankee Stadium for what may have been the final game of the season in New York. The players say they will strike today unless an agreement is reached with owners.

Joe Carter of the Blue Jays, who ended last season with a World Series-winning home run, nearly finished this one with another homer. He led off the 12th inning with his 27th home run, but the Yankees weren’t finished. They tied the score when Luis Polonia opened the 12th with a double, moved up on a single by Wade Boggs and scored on a double-play grounder by Paul O’Neill.

Ed Sprague, who drove in Toronto’s first two runs with a triple, opened the 13th with a home run.

“It was strange out there,” said Carter, who is the Blue Jays’ player representative. “You look out there and see what may materialize. Fans holding up banners asking us not to strike. We don’t want to either. This is a last resort.”

Sprague’s 11th home run of the season beat Joe Ausanio (2-1), who was sent to triple-A Columbus after the game. Darren Hall (2-3), the fourth Blue Jay pitcher, pitched two innings.

Toronto tied the score at 6-6 in the eighth against reliever Bob Wickman when John Olerud opened with a triple that skipped past center fielder Bernie Williams and Darnell Coles doubled him home.

Milwaukee 10, Detroit 5--The Brewers scored six runs in the eighth inning at Detroit.

On another day, the game might have been called. But no one wanted a rainout on the eve of a walkout. So, the Brewers and Tigers spent nearly three hours playing cards and eating doughnuts while the start of the game was delayed because of rain.

Once it started, Jody Reed lined the first pitch from Mike Moore up the middle for a single, setting the tone for the rest of the free-swinging contest.

Milwaukee scored six in the eighth on five hits, including Reed’s two-run double, two errors and a wild pitch.

Jesse Orosco (3-1) was the winner and Storm Davis (2-4), the second of five Detroit pitchers, took the loss.