AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Martinez (9-0), Indians Too Much for A’s

The Cleveland Indians continued their domination of the Athletics as streaking Dennis Martinez pitched a six-hitter and Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer in a 6-1 victory Friday night at Oakland.

Albert Belle and Tony Pena also homered against Oakland’s Todd Stottlemyre (8-3) as the Indians beat the A’s for the 11th consecutive time. It was the fourth consecutive victory and eighth in the last nine for Cleveland.

Martinez (9-0) is 10-0 in his last 18 starts, dating to July 31, 1994. He walked three and struck out six, improving his career record against Oakland to 10-3. The complete game was his third of the season.

Boston 13, Minnesota 5--Mo Vaughn hit his second grand slam of the year and Troy O’Leary, John Valentin and Mike Greenwell added solo homers as the Red Sox won at Boston.

Boston also scored two runs after three errors by Pedro Munoz, who was playing first base for the second time in his career.

Vaughn, who started the game two runs batted in behind Tino Martinez’s American League-leading total of 69 and tied with Frank Thomas for the league lead with 25 homers, went two for four with five RBIs and took the lead in both categories.

New York 8, Texas 3--After being held hitless through the first four innings, the Yankees batted around in the fifth inning and then capitalized on four walks and three wild pitches in the eighth to win at New York.

It was the third victory in a row for the Yankees and the season-high fifth consecutive loss for the Rangers.

Dave Eiland (1-0), the latest in a string of minor leaguers called up for a spot start, pitched adequately for 5 1/3 innings. He gave up seven hits and a walk before tiring in the sixth and leaving with a 4-3 lead.

Bob McDonald, Steve Howe and John Wetteland finished up for New York, giving up only two hits in the final 3 2/3 innings.

Toronto 4, Seattle 3--Ed Sprague hit his second grand slam of the season and rookie Edwin Hurtado scattered eight hits over seven innings in his first major league start, leading the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Sprague hit a 2-0 pitch into Toronto’s left-field bullpen with two out in the third, giving the Blue Jays a 4-0 lead. Sprague’s 13th homer is a career high.

Hurtado (2-0) gave up three runs while striking out a career-high five batters and walking two. Loser Salomon Torres (3-5) went eight innings and gave up four runs and seven hits.

Baltimore 10, Kansas City 6--The first grand slam of Bret Barberie’s career capped a six-run fourth inning and Baltimore won at Kansas City.

Barberie also had a sacrifice fly and Greg Zaun had four RBIs as the Orioles handed the Royals their 18th loss in 24 games.

Mike Oquist (2-0) replaced starter Jamie Moyer in the bottom of the fourth and got the victory with 3 1/3 innings of two-hit, one-run pitching. Rookie Melvin Bunch (0-2), who lost to the Orioles and Moyer in Baltimore on June 16 in his other major league start, had a 3-0 lead and two out when the Orioles erupted in the fourth.

Milwaukee 5, Chicago 2--Kevin Seitzer’s two-run single keyed a three-run eighth at Chicago as the Brewers won for the eighth time in nine games.

Seitzer’s hit against reliever Matt Karchner followed walks to Mike Matheny, Jose Valentin and Fernando Vina. The White Sox helped things along with two wild pitches and a passed ball.