AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Griffey’s Blast Finishes Off Yankees

Ken Griffey Jr. found a new way to become a hero Thursday.

It’s hard to believe, but for the first time in his seven-year major league career, he ended a game with a home run.

“If I get the ball up, it will go out,” Griffey said after hitting a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning that sent the Seattle Mariners past the New York Yankees, 9-7, at Seattle. “I got it up and it went out.”

Seattle rallied for three runs in the ninth inning against New York relief ace John Wetteland and sent the Yankees to their sixth consecutive loss, their longest skid since September of 1992.

“That’s a heckuva way to finish a ball game,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said.

The Mariners had been 0-43 when trailing after eight innings, but Joey Cora’s run-scoring single with two outs tied it, 7-7. Griffey hit the next pitch into the second deck in right field for his 10th home run, third since returning to the lineup from a broken left wrist.

As Griffey crossed home plate, he was mobbed by his happy teammates.

Wetteland (1-4) blew a save for the fifth time in his last six chances. He retired the first two batters in the ninth inning, but walked Vince Coleman on a 3-and-2 pitch. Coleman stole second and third and scored when Cora hit a line drive that tipped the glove of shortstop Tony Fernandez, who seemed to mistime his jump and slammed his glove to the ground after missing the ball.

Milwaukee 5, Minnesota 3--B.J. Surhoff hit two home runs and Ricky Bones scattered seven hits over eight innings at Milwaukee.

Bones (8-9) walked one and struck out four in outdueling Brad Radke (9-12).

Mike Fetters got the final three outs for his 20th save.

Surhoff’s first-inning home run traveled 408 feet and gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead. His two-run, 400-foot shot in the fifth made it 4-0.

Kansas City 5, Texas 3--Tom Goodwin hit a two-run single and tripled, and Jason Jacome shook off a bad start to win his third decision at Kansas City.

Jacome (3-2) gave up a run in the second inning and had runners at second and third with none out, but escaped further damage. The left-hander, obtained in a trade with the New York Mets, gave up six hits and two runs in seven innings. Jeff Montgomery pitched the last two innings for his 22nd save.

Kevin Gross (7-12) retired the first 10 batters but gave up a one-out triple to Goodwin in the fourth inning. Goodwin, who leads the AL in stolen bases, cut the Rangers’ lead to 2-1 on Wally Joyner’s infield out. With two outs, Gary Gaetti hit his 28th home run for a 2-2 tie.

Boston 13, Oakland 6--John Valentin drove in five runs with a homer, double and single, and Mo Vaughn hit his 32nd homer as the Red Sox won at Oakland, Boston’s sixth consecutive victory.

Jose Canseco also homered for Boston, which has won 20 of 22 and has a 15 1/2-game lead in the AL East--its largest lead in a race since Sept. 10, 1946.

Valentin doubled in a run in the first inning, had an RBI single in Boston’s five-run second and hit a three-run homer in a seven-run third. It was his 22nd homer.

Vaughn took over the major league lead in RBIs with 99 and tied Chicago’s Frank Thomas for the major league lead in homers with his three-run shot in the second, a 430-foot blast.

Canseco homered for the fourth consecutive game and extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

Erik Hanson (13-4) won his fifth game in a row.

Steve Ontiveros (8-5), who had not pitched since July 15 because of a sore right elbow, gave up 10 runs on 10 hits in 2 1/3 innings.

John Wasdin made an inauspicious major league debut for Oakland in the third. Recalled earlier in the day from the minors, he gave up Valentin’s homer on his second pitch. He then walked Vaughn, gave up Canseco’s homer, walked Mike Greenwell and struck out Troy O’Leary--on his 28th pitch.