Mariners Lose on Mouton’s Homer, 2-1

Bob Wolcott made one mistake, and it cost Seattle a game in the wild-card race.

“Who said this was going to be easy?” Seattle Manager Lou Piniella said Sunday after rookie Lyle Mouton’s tiebreaking homer in the seventh led the Chicago White Sox to a 2-1 victory over the Mariners at Chicago.

Seattle, which had won four in a row, remained one game ahead of the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers for the wild-card spot.

With the score tied, 1-1, Mouton hit a 417-foot drive off Wolcott (3-2), who gave up five hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Kirk McCaskill (5-4) pitched 2 1/3 hitless innings, and Roberto Hernandez got three outs for his 30th save in 40 chances.

Boston 9, Cleveland 6--The Red Sox blew a five-run lead but then capitalized on Alvaro Espinoza’s double error for two runs in the eighth inning at Cleveland.

The victory, coupled with the Yankees’ loss, lowered Boston’s magic number for clinching the East to two. The Red Sox went 3-7 on their 10-game trip.

With Lee Tinsley on second and the score tied, 6-6, in the eighth, Espinoza bobbled Mike Macfarlane’s grounder to short for one error, then threw the ball into the dugout trying to catch Tinsley rounding third. Tinsley was awarded home and Macfarlane took third, and pinch-hitter Matt Stairs followed with a run-scoring double.

Baltimore 2, New York 0--Kevin Brown gave up four hits in 8 1/3 innings and Jesse Orosco escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth at Baltimore.

Brown (8-9) struck out eight and walked two. Ruben Sierra ruined Brown’s no-hit bid with a fifth-inning double that dropped inside the left-field foul line, a few feet beyond the reach of Brady Anderson.

Randy Velarde singled with one out in the ninth, Darryl Strawberry walked and Bernie Williams’ single loaded the bases, chasing Brown. Orosco, who got his third save, induced Paul O’Neill to hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

Texas 5, Detroit 0--Roger Pavlik, pitching on three days’ rest, struck out 12 and combined on a three-hitter at Detroit.

Will Clark and Juan Gonzalez drove in two runs each for the Rangers.

Toronto 5, Milwaukee 0--Al Leiter pitched a six-hitter and struck out 10 at Toronto.

Roberto Perez led off the fourth with his first major league home run, a drive off Brian Givens (5-5) that ended a 47-inning homerless streak for Toronto.

Leiter (11-9), who walked two, set a personal high for victories in a season.

Oakland 4, Minnesota 1--Todd Van Poppel pitched his first complete game and Mark McGwire hit his 33rd homer of the season.

Van Poppel (4-7) pitched a six-hitter, struck out five and walked none at Oakland. Van Poppel, 0-3 in his previous four starts, won for the first time since Aug. 22.

Frankie Rodriguez (5-7) gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings, walked four and struck out three.