AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Another Comeback for Indians

No one had a better view of the Cleveland Indians’ latest miracle finish than Dennis Eckersley. And even he had to appreciate it.

“In a situation like that, you’d think a guy would be trying for a base hit--and he goes long. Unbelievable,” a still-stunned Eckersley said Sunday after Manny Ramirez hit a two-out, two-run homer off him in the 12th inning, lifting the Indians past the Oakland Athletics, 5-4, at Cleveland.

Ramirez gave the Indians their 13th victory in their last at-bat this season, completing their first four-game sweep of the A’s. Cleveland is 6-0 in extra innings.

Milwaukee 6, Chicago 1--Brian Givens, who pitched more than 1,000 innings and underwent five elbow operations during 12 seasons in the minors, earned his first major league victory.

Givens (1-2), a 29-year-old left-hander, worked 1,029 1/3 innings in the minors. The rookie gave up three hits in eight innings in his third start since he was called up on June 24. Milwaukee’s B.J. Surhoff went three for four, including a two-run homer.

New York 5, Minnesota 1--Rookie Mariano Rivera pitched six scoreless innings before leaving because of a torn fingernail, and Wade Boggs hit a two-run single at New York.

Rivera (3-2) remained unbeaten in his five daytime starts but was forced to leave after tearing the nail on his right middle finger with two on and no outs in the seventh. Reliever Bob Wickman allowed an RBI double to Pat Meares, but escaped a bases-loaded jam.

Baltimore 3, Kansas City 2--Jamie Moyer pitched 7 2/3 innings of three-hit ball, and Rafael Palmeiro and Cal Ripken homered at Baltimore.

Moyer didn’t walk a batter and had a season-high seven strikeouts in winning his fourth consecutive start. After Wally Joyner singled in the first inning, the left-hander retired 16 consecutive batters before Chris James doubled with two out in the sixth.

Toronto 9, Seattle 3--John Olerud hit his first career grand slam and added a solo home run at Seattle for a career-high five RBIs.

Trailing, 2-0, the Blue Jays loaded the bases off Rafael Carmona (1-4) in the fourth inning on a walk and two singles. Olerud followed with a 409-foot drive that barely cleared the 8 1/2-foot center-field fence.

Texas 5, Boston 2--Juan Gonzalez became the Rangers’ career home run leader with the 154th of his career and 14th of the season as they beat the Red Sox at Boston.

Kenny Rogers (9-4) got his first victory since June 23, giving up only three hits in seven innings. The Red Sox got two runs off relievers Terry Burrows and Roger McDowell in the eighth, keeping them the only major league team without a shutout loss.

Gonzalez’s home run, a three-run shot, came off Zane Smith (3-6) in the third inning.