AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Griffey’s Hit Slams Door on Rangers

Ken Griffey Jr. broke an eighth-inning tie with a grand slam as the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers, 6-2, Thursday night at Arlington, Tex., and moved toward their first AL West title.

“I was just trying to do my small part,” Griffey said. “I wasn’t thinking homer. I was just trying to get us a one-run lead. We still have some more work to do, but the pressure is on California.”

Seattle maintained its two-game lead over the second-place Angels, who beat Oakland, 4-1. The Mariners, who have won 15 of 18, can clinch tonight if they win and the Angels lose.

Randy Johnson (17-2) gave up nine hits in 8 1/3 innings, striking out seven and walking two. He allowed a two-run homer to Mickey Tettleton in the second.

Texas was eliminated with the loss, dropping four games behind the New York Yankees in the wild-card race with three games left.

Cleveland 12, Minnesota 4--Eddie Murray hit his third homer in two games and Alvaro Espinoza hit his second of the season as the Indians beat the Twins at Minneapolis.

Cleveland, which has a major league best 97 victories, kept alive its hopes for a 100-win season with three games remaining.

Kansas City 4, Chicago 0--Mark Gubicza pitched a four-hitter as the Royals stopped a 23-inning scoreless streak and beat the White Sox at Kansas City.

Boston 11, Milwaukee 6--Reggie Jefferson, Dwayne Hosey, John Valentin, Tim Naehring and Mike Macfarlane homered as the Red Sox beat the Brewers at Milwaukee.