AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Hershiser Learns It’s a Monster

Orel Hershiser, who, until this season, had pitched his entire career in the National League with the Dodgers, got a dose of American League lore Saturday.

But home runs by Cleveland teammates Albert Belle and Jim Thome made certain Hershiser wasn’t scarred by The Monster.

Hershiser gave up five runs on eight hits, but homers by Belle and Thome in the eighth inning gave the Indians a 7-5 victory at Boston.

“It’s exciting to come here and play. It was a thrill,” Hershiser said of his first visit to Fenway Park. Sarcasm was unavoidable, though.

“Someone hit one off the Green Monster off me,” he said. “Something I’ve always dreamed about.”

Eric Plunk (2-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings, striking out the side in the eighth inning, for the victory. Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his fourth save, after which Red Sox Manager Kevin Kennedy held a meeting with his coaches.

It was the second game in a row in which Boston’s bullpen has blown a lead.

“I have confidence in this bullpen,” Kennedy said, “but it’s disappointing because when we get to that point, we need the guy to do the job.”

Oakland 11, Kansas City 1--Todd Stottlemyre (3-0) retired 22 consecutive batters and struck out a career-high 10 for the Athletics at Kansas City.

Stottlemyre gave up only three hits in 8 1/3 innings and only six balls were hit out of the infield.

Mark McGwire extended his hitting streak to 17 games, Fausto Cruz drove in three runs and Scott Brosius hit two triples for the A’s.

Seattle 10, Minnesota 6--Twin rookie Marty Cordova homered in his fifth consecutive game, tying a team record, but Jay Buhner hit two homers and drove in five runs for the Mariners at Minneapolis.

Cordova matched Harmon Killebrew’s team mark for consecutive games with a home run, set twice in 1970. Cordova connected for his eighth homer, most among major league rookies, in the fifth inning off Tim Belcher (1-0).

Detroit 10, Toronto 6--Chris Gomez had three hits, including a two-run single during a seven-run seventh inning at Detroit, as the Tigers snapped a three-game losing streak.

Gomez entered the game with a .156 batting average and only seven hits in 45 at-bats.

New York 7, Baltimore 2--Melido Perez (2-0) ended a stretch in which Yankee starting pitchers had won only once in 16 games. He pitched six innings, giving up two unearned runs and the Yankees won at New York to break a four-game losing streak.

Perez also put a halt to a streak in which the Yankees had given up a home run in 17 consecutive games, one short of the major league record.

Texas 7, Milwaukee 6--Mickey Tettleton’s two-out single in the 11th inning scored Otis Nixon from second base, lifting the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Nixon singled with one out off Mark Kiefer (3-1) and went to second on Jeff Frye’s single. Mike Fetters relieved and struck out Will Clark, but Tettleton, who had struck out four times, lined a single to right field.