AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : It’s Not a No-Hitter for Cone, but He’s Happy With the Ending

David Cone lost his no-hitter, but not the game.

Cone held Texas hitless until Benji Gil singled with one out in the ninth inning, pitching the Toronto Blue Jays past the Rangers, 4-3, Saturday at Toronto.

Cone (5-3) had allowed only one runner--Otis Nixon reached on an error to start the game--before Gil singled cleanly to left field. The Rangers went on to score three unearned runs before Cone struck out Ivan Rodriguez with runners on first and third to end it.

“It was close to a no-hitter, but it was close to a loss, too,” said Cone, who was helped by Candy Maldonado’s two-run homer in the fourth. “It was nice to get the win. You go from euphoria to scrambling for the win.

“It was a tremendous feeling to walk out in the ninth and hear the response from the fans.”

Cone, the 1994 AL Cy Young winner with Kansas City, was bidding to pitch the first official no-hitter of the major league season. He finished with a three-hitter in his third complete game of the season.

Detroit 5, Baltimore 3--Pinch-hitter Juan Samuel’s double broke an eighth-inning tie at Detroit as the Tigers extended the Orioles’ losing streak to six games.

The victory was the 2,157th for Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson, tying him with Bucky Harris for third place on the all-time list.

“This game has been played for 125, 126 years and there’s only three of us that got that many,” Anderson said. “Nobody’s going to last long enough in today’s market to win that much. You can’t. It’s impossible. That’s as safe as gold.”

Only Connie Mack and John McGraw are ahead of Anderson, but he doesn’t see any more records in his future.

“I would never run after McGraw,” he said with a laugh. “He deserves it. He’s the best manager of all time.”

David Wells (4-3) gave up only three hits and two walks in seven innings for the victory. Cal Ripken Jr was hitless and has only one hit in his last 19 at-bats.

Oakland 7, Kansas City 5--Craig Paquette and Terry Steinbach each hit three-run home runs at Oakland as the Athletics ended the Royals’ season-high seven-game winning streak.

Mike Harkey (3-4) gave up three runs and three hits in 5 1/3 innings to earn the victory.

“It was a very lucky win for me,” Harkey said. “I don’t think I had very much on the ball. It seemed like I was effectively wild, walking five guys. But I was able to get some key outs in big situations.”

In his first start of the year for Kansas City, Dennis Rasmussen (0-1) gave up seven runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Cleveland 7, New York 4--Rookie Herbert Perry hit the first two home runs of his career to lead the Indians over the Yankees at Cleveland.

Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle also homered for the Indians, who have not lost two in a row since their second and third games of the season in April.

Bud Black (3-1) improved to 3-0 in four June starts. Jose Mesa got three outs for his 17th save in 17 tries.

Milwaukee 9, Boston 1--Rookie Steve Sparks nearly had his first major league shutout but settled for a victory over struggling Roger Clemens at Boston.

Mo Vaughn spoiled Sparks’ shutout bid with his 16th homer, with one out in the ninth inning.

“I was able to keep [my knuckleball] in the strike zone where they had to go for the pitches,” Sparks said. “All I’m doing is focusing on the catcher’s mask and hopefully the ball will move and drop a little bit.”

Clemens (1-1) walked four and had two wild pitches in his fourth start since recovering from a strained shoulder muscle suffered in spring training.

“I felt fine,” Clemens said. “As long as I continue to throw the ball and progress like that, I feel great about it.”

Jose Valentin hit a solo homer off Clemens in the third, and Greg Vaughn added a two-run shot in the four-run eighth off Rheal Cormier as Milwaukee won its third consecutive game.

Seattle 6, Minnesota 4--Edgar Martinez hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs as the Mariners broke a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Twins in Seattle.

Chris Bosio (5-0) earned the win in his first start since being ejected in the second inning Monday against Kansas City for throwing at a batter after giving up seven earned runs in the first inning.

Bosio gave up five hits and three earned runs, walked one and struck out four in 5 1/3 innings. He left the game three batters after he was hit by a batted ball on the knuckle of his right ring finger in the sixth inning. He was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, which came back negative.