AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Anderson’s Home Run Feeds a Yankee Habit

New York’s closer didn’t close, which opened the door for the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night.

Maybe John Wetteland is figuring, if in New York, do as the rest of the Yankee pitchers do.

Wetteland blew his second save opportunity of the season when Brady Anderson hit a three-run home run off him in the ninth inning to give the Orioles a 7-5 victory.

Surprise. “Usually, when you get a team’s closer in the game, the game is over. That’s just the way it is,” Anderson said.

Not lately.

New York had a 5-3 lead entering the ninth inning and was on the verge of ending its three-game losing streak. But Jeff Manto’s RBI single off Wetteland (1-1) made it 5-4, and after Bret Barberie hit into a 1-2-3 double play, Anderson homered into the lower deck in right field.

That’s the way it has been for Yankee pitchers, who have made it hard on themselves by throwing 18 home run balls in the past seven games and a homer in 17 games in a row, one game short of the major league record.

Oakland 10, Kansas City 3--Terry Steinbach went four for five to lead an offensive surge by the Nos. 6, 7 and 8 hitters in the Athletics’ lineup in a victory at Kansas City.

Steinbach, Brent Gates and Scott Brosius were a combined seven for 14, with three doubles and four RBIs for Oakland.

Minnesota 8, Seattle 6--Rookie Marty Cordova homered for the fourth consecutive game and Pat Meares hit a tie-breaking solo homer for the Twins in a victory at Minneapolis.

Meares hit the first pitch in the seventh inning from Tim Davis (2-1) over the wall in left field. Cordova lined a three-run, opposite-field homer to right field off Dave Fleming to make it 8-4.

Milwaukee 1, Texas 0--Knuckleballer Steve Sparks pitched five-hit ball for 7 1/3 innings in his first major league start for the Brewers, who won at Arlington, Tex.

Sparks (1-0), who had pitched in relief three times, won for the first time in the majors. He got support from Joe Oliver, whose fourth-inning single drove in Jeff Cirillo with the game’s only run.

Toronto 4, Detroit 2--David Cone (3-2) avoided his recent first-inning troubles and did not yield a hit over the final four innings in a four-hitter that beat the Tigers at Detroit. It was Cone’s second four-hitter in a row.

Shawn Green and Ed Sprague homered on Mike Moore’s first two pitches in the seventh inning to give the Jays the winning margin.

Cleveland 9, Boston 5--Kenny Lofton went three for three and scored four times, including the go-ahead run on Carlos Baerga’s two-out single in the ninth inning for the Indians at Boston.

The Red Sox were one out away from extending their winning streak to six games, but Omar Vizquel singled past Mo Vaughn to drive in Wayne Kirby and tie the game, 5-5. Baerga singled in Lofton, and Albert Belle followed with a three-run homer.