AMERICAN LEAGUE : Twins Turn Griffey’s Return Into a Nightmare

It wasn’t the welcome-back party the Seattle Mariners envisioned for Ken Griffey Jr. It was more like a nightmare.

Kirby Puckett’s two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth Tuesday capped a five-run inning that included an error and a misplayed popup, spoiling Griffey’s return to Seattle’s lineup in the Twins’ 7-6 victory at Minneapolis.

Griffey, who missed three months because of a broken wrist, went one for four as the Mariners took a 6-2 lead into the last half-inning.

Griffey, who missed 73 games, singled, walked and struck out twice. He left the bases loaded in the fourth inning by flying out to center, but hit a two-out single in a four-run sixth. It was the 999th hit of Griffey’s career.

Because of Griffey’s return, the Mariners seemed almost giddy before the game. Afterward, their locker room was eerily quiet; players stared at their lockers, ate lasagna, hardly spoke a word.

Griffey, for his part, iced his left wrist and declined to talk to reporters.

However, Griffey, who batted second instead of third as he usually does, talked to the media before the game.

“I’m back,” he said. “It’s been long, but I’m back. I’m probably more excited than [the fans] are.”

New York 9, Boston 2--The Yankees scored five unearned runs at Boston in the second inning and ended the Red Sox’s 12-game winning streak.

Pat Kelly had three doubles and three runs batted in and Jim Leyritz had three hits for New York, cutting Boston’s lead in the AL East to nine games.

Baltimore 8, Cleveland 3--Rafael Palmeiro homered for the third consecutive game as the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak at Baltimore.

Texas 3, Milwaukee 2--Esteban Beltre’s two-out single in the bottom of the eighth snapped a tie and gave the Rangers a victory over the Brewers at Arlington, Texas.

In a battle of AL wild-card contenders, the Rangers moved 2 1/2 games ahead of the Brewers.

Detroit 11, Toronto 5--Milt Cuyler hit a pair of two-run triples and Cecil Fielder hit a two-run homer as the Tigers beat the Blue Jays at Detroit to stay out of last place in the AL East.

The victory, only Detroit’s seventh in 33 games since the All-Star break, moved the fourth-place Tigers 1 1/2 games ahead of Toronto.

Kansas City 7, Oakland 4--Jon Nunnally stole home for the third time this season and David Howard knocked in three runs as the Royals beat the Athletics at Kansas City in a game called because of rain in the seventh inning.

Keith Lockhart had two doubles and an RBI single and Jason Jacome (2-2) went 6 1/3 innings in the rain-plagued game.