AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees’ Talk Is Cheap Against Johnson

Jim Leyritz’s vow was empty, the life sucked out of it Saturday by Randy Johnson’s fastball, which struck out 12 Yankees in seven innings of a 3-2 victory for the Seattle Mariners at New York.

Chad Kreuter’s single in the ninth inning drove in the run that made Jeff Nelson (3-0) a winner over the Yankees, who have lost 15 of their last 18 games.

The no-decision left Johnson with a 6-0 record, a 1.91 earned-run average and a major league-leading 94 strikeouts. The Mariners have won all 10 games he has started.

The Yankees had promised revenge after Johnson hit Leyritz with a 96-m.p.h. fastball, triggering a bench-clearing incident, on May 31 at Seattle.

Leyritz promised: “We’ll take care of him, one way or the other.” Johnson answered: “I think he’s been watching too many Hoffa movies or something.”

Johnson, booed when he took the mound, walked Leyritz and two others in the first inning, then gave up two runs.

After that, he dominated the Yankees.

Leyritz struck out three times, twice against Johnson and once in the ninth inning with runners on first and second and one out. He also had two passed balls, and two Seattle runners stole bases that set up the tying and go-ahead runs.

Johnson also did not come near Leyritz with a fastball.

The vow in Seattle was “one of those things where a lot of things were said in the heat of the moment,” Leyritz said.

Johnson refused to comment after the game.

Oakland 8, Boston 5--Mark McGwire hit two home runs, including a 421-foot, two-run shot that broke a seventh-inning tie and cleared the 23-foot screen atop the 37-foot wall in left field at Boston’s Fenway Park.

His first homer traveled 402 feet.

Jim Corsi (2-0) pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for the victory.

Kansas City 8, Toronto 2--Kevin Appier pitched a four-hitter and became the first eight-game winner in the major leagues by beating the Blue Jays at Kansas City.

Appier (8-2) did not allow a hit until Roberto Alomar singled with one out in the fourth inning. After Paul Molitor’s single in the fifth cut the Royal lead to 4-2, Appier retired the final 13 batters.

Milwaukee 6, Cleveland 1--Jose Valentin hit his first two homers of the year, and the Brewers won at home to halt Cleveland’s seven-game winning streak and beat Orel Hershiser (5-2).

David Hulse also connected for the first time this season, a three-run shot in the fourth inning that helped Milwaukee cool off the Indians, who had won 12 of their last 13 and 14 of 20 on the road.

Detroit 7, Minnesota 5--Todd Steverson hit his first major league home run, and Chris Gomez and Juan Samuel hit two-run shots to lead the Tigers at Minneapolis.

Chad Curtis doubled and singled three times in support of Sean Bergman (2-4), who gave up two runs and nine hits in six innings.