Rangers Get Licked by Cone and Yankees

David Cone pitched seven strong innings and Ruben Sierra homered for the second consecutive game Friday night, giving the New York Yankees a 4-3 victory over the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium.

Texas, which won its first seven games, lost its second in a row. The Rangers swept a three-game series from New York last weekend in Texas.

Cone threw 120 pitches in seven innings. He struck out nine and yielded only one unearned run.

Seattle 9, Toronto 6--Ken Griffey Jr. hit two home runs, including a drive over the Hard Rock Cafe in deep right field at SkyDome, powering the Mariners past the Blue Jays.

Griffey, who drove in four runs and scored three times, is tied with Cecil Fielder for the major league lead with five homers. Jay Buhner and Edgar Martinez also homered for the Mariners.

Sterling Hitchcock (3-0) improved to 4-0 lifetime against the Blue Jays. He gave up three runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Kansas City 4, Milwaukee 1--Kevin Appier struck out 11 in six innings and rookie Sal Fasano drove in two runs with his first major league hit as the Royals beat the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Appier (1-1) gave up only three hits and improved to 6-1 against the Brewers, including 5-1 at County Stadium. He struck out nine of his first 18 batters, including the side in the second inning.

Baltimore 3, Minnesota 2--Mike Mussina pitched a two-hitter for his third consecutive victory and Rafael Palmeiro hit a three-run homer as the streaking Orioles won at Baltimore.

Chuck Knoblauch homered in the fourth inning and Scott Stahoviak homered with one out in the ninth. Mussina allowed only one other runner, walking Knoblauch to start the game.

Thanks in part to Mussina, the Orioles have won eight of their first nine games and are off to the second-best start in the history of the franchise.

Cleveland 3, Boston 1--Charles Nagy yielded five hits in eight innings and Julio Franco singled, doubled and had two runs batted in leading the Indians at Cleveland.

Nagy is 2-0 this season and has a 4-0 record with a 1.14 earned-run average at Fenway Park. Aaron Sele (0-1) went five innings, giving up three runs and eight hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Oakland 7, Chicago 2--Carlos Reyes got his first major league win as a starter and Scott Brosius drove in three runs as the Athletics beat the White Sox at Chicago and ended Alex Fernandez’s eight-game winning streak.

Reyes (1-2) was 0-5 in his previous 12 starts, but the right-hander, usually a reliever, gave up only three hits over six innings.