AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : It’s Starting to Get Wild for the Mariners

Playing for a postseason berth in September for the first time in the franchise’s 19-year history, the Seattle Mariners aren’t buckling under the pressure.

They completed a three-game sweep of fellow wild-card contender Kansas City on Sunday at Seattle with a 5-4 victory on Joey Cora’s run-scoring double in the eighth inning.

“We played very well here at home against a team that’s in contention with us,” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said. “It’s the first step.”

Said Cora: “It’s fun. This is what it’s all about, playing in September when the games mean a lot.”

The Mariners, who moved into sole possession of first place in the wild-card race Saturday, are half a game ahead of the Yankees.

New York 9, Boston 3--Darryl Strawberry, Bernie Williams and Ruben Sierra drove in two runs each at New York to help complete a three-game sweep of the Red Sox.

Erik Hanson (13-5), the first of five Red Sox pitchers, took his first loss since July 30, ending his personal five-game winning streak.

Cleveland 5, Baltimore 3--Sandy Alomar hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning at Jacobs Field, extending the Indians’ league-high home winning streak to 14 games.

It was the Indians’ 43rd comeback victory, 26th in their last at-bat.

Albert Belle led off the eighth with a double off Scott Erickson. Reliever Jesse Orosco walked Eddie Murray and struck out Jim Thome to bring on Armando Benitez. Alomar then hit Benitez’s second pitch for his eighth homer.

Texas 5, Milwaukee 2--The Rangers capitalized on poor defense by the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Three Milwaukee errors led to two runs and sent the Brewers to their 11th loss in 13 games since pulling within half a game of the American League wild-card lead on Aug. 27.

Chicago 5, Oakland 3--Alex Fernandez won his fifth consecutive decision and beat the Athletics for the third time this season.

Fernandez (10-8), who is 5-0 in his last seven starts since July 5, gave up two runs and six hits in seven innings at Oakland. He struck out six and walked one.

Detroit 5, Toronto 2--The Tigers scored three unearned runs in the 11th inning on a bunt single, two errors, three walks and a wild pitch at Toronto.

Wild-Card Races

AMERICAN LEAGUE

* Division Leaders

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Team Division W L Cleveland(1) Central 88 37 Boston East 76 48 Angels West 70 56

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* Wild Card

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Team W L Pct. GB Seattle 65 61 .516 -- New York 64 61 .512 1/2 Kansas City 62 62 .500 2 Texas 63 63 .500 2 Milwaukee 60 65 .480 4 1/2 Oakland 60 66 .476 5 Chicago 58 66 .468 6 Baltimore 57 68 .456 7 1/2

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(1) Clinched division title

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Division Leaders

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Team Division W L Atlanta East 80 46 Cincinnati Central 75 49 Colorado West 66 58

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* Wild Card

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Team W L Pct. GB Dodgers 67 59 .532 -- Houston 64 61 .512 2 1/2 Philadelphia 63 63 .500 4 Chicago 61 63 .492 5 San Francisco 61 64 .488 5 1/2 San Diego 60 64 .484 6 Montreal 59 66 .472 7 1/2

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