Indians Leave Town Amid Peaceful Accord

The Cleveland Indians left Milwaukee with three victories in four games, leaving behind a bevy of bumps, lumps and bruised egos.

Alvaro Espinoza’s two-run homer in the sixth sparked Cleveland to an 11-6 victory over the Brewers on Sunday. And, for the first time in three games, the two teams played peacefully.

Except for a brushback pitch to Kenny Lofton leading off the game, the two clubs completed the series without incident. The teams will have plenty of time to cool down before their next game, an Aug. 23 matchup at Cleveland.

“That’s all over,” said Brewer second baseman Fernando Vina, the victim of Albert Belle’s forearm shiver that triggered an ugly brawl Friday night.

Vina also got into it with Lofton on Saturday, but second-base umpire Derryl Cousins separated them before it escalated into another brawl.

On Sunday, the only punch thrown was by Cleveland reliever Jose Mesa--when he pounded his clenched fist into his glove after the last out.

Said Vina: “I’ll never forget what Albert did. There’s going to be tension every time we play. But that’s behind us now. We just got to go on--and my nose is OK.”

Another victim of Friday’s brawl was Brewer right-handed closer Mike Fetters, who fell and hurt his left wrist when he tried to jump over the right-field wall. X-rays Sunday were negative.

Belle went 0 for 5 Sunday, marking the first time in 37 games he hadn’t reached first base, and finished the four-game series with two singles in 16 at-bats.

Minnesota 6, Texas 5--The Twins, making a habit of comebacks against the Rangers’ bullpen, rallied for three runs with two outs in the ninth inning against relievers Jeff Russell and Gil Heredia for the victory at Arlington, Texas.

The Twins struck for six runs in the ninth against Ranger closer Mike Henneman in a come-from-behind 9-5 victory Saturday. Texas relievers have blown three saves against Minnesota this season.

On Sunday, all five of the Twins’ ninth-inning hits came with two-strike counts.

Juan Gonzalez hit a 449-foot home run, the second-longest in the three-year history of The Ballpark in Arlington, giving Texas a 5-3 lead in the seventh.

Seattle 3, Boston 1--Bob Wolcott provided a solid start and Jay Buhner hit his 20th homer as the Mariners ripped Roger Clemens at Seattle.

Wolcott (4-5) gave up five hits in 6 1/3 innings. Clemens (3-6) lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up a season-high 11 hits. He walked three and struck out five.

New York 11, Oakland 4--Gerald Williams tied a team record with four steals and the Yankees stole eight bases in winning at Oakland.

Kenny Rogers (4-1) pitched 6 1/3 solid innings as the Yankees completed their first three-game sweep in Oakland since July 1979.

The Yankees broke open the game with six runs in the ninth. John Wetteland got his 12th save.

Kansas City 7, Toronto 5--Tim Belcher earned his 100th career victory as the Royals snapped a three-game losing streak at Toronto.

“It’s a nice milestone,” said Belcher, who played four-plus seasons with the Dodgers (1987-91). “It’s not something as lofty as 200 or 300, but there’s not a huge amount of guys with 100.”

Chicago 4-13, Detroit 2-5--Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer and Danny Tartabull added a two-run shot as the White Sox completed a doubleheader sweep of the Tigers at Chicago.

In the opener, James Baldwin (5-1) beat fellow rookie Justin Thompson (0-1), giving up three hits over eight innings.

The White Sox have won 13 of 15 games and are 7-0 against Detroit, outscoring the Tigers, 75-22. Detroit, which gave up 12 walks in the second game, has lost 16 of 17.