Orioles Shake Delay to Overcome Royals

Julio Franco singled off Hipolito Pichardo on the third pitch after a 50-minute rain delay, giving the Indians a 3-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals Tuesday at Cleveland.

Tim Belcher got the first two outs in the ninth before giving up singles to Manny Ramirez and Sandy Alomar. That brought on Pichardo, and Franco was announced as a pinch-hitter for Alvaro Espinoza.

But while Pichardo was warming up, lightning and rain forced the 50-minute delay.

“I thought we might need snorkels and fins to finish, but I was confident with Julio up there,” Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove said.

When play resumed, Pichardo threw two balls to Franco before Franco lined the hit to right field, sending home Ramirez with the winning run.

“The delay didn’t bother me,” Franco said. “I know that pitcher, but it doesn’t matter who the pitcher is. I don’t hit the pitcher, I hit the baseball.

‘I think the pitch was a low sinker. I was trying to get a pitch I could drive. I was glad it was me, but it could’ve been anybody on the team.”

Jim Poole (4-0) pitched one-third of an inning for the victory.

New York 7, Boston 5--Derek Jeter’s fourth hit, a two-run single, capped a three-run seventh inning that carried the Yankees to a victory at New York.

Jeter’s single off Joe Hudson ended a 5-5 tie created by Gerald Williams’ run-scoring double earlier in the inning. Jeff Nelson, the fourth of six Yankee pitchers, was the winner with one inning of relief.

John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his 27th save and 21st in a row as New York maintained its 4 1/2-game lead over Baltimore in the East.

Bernie Williams had an RBI single and his 16th homer, helping the Yankees take a 4-0 lead after three innings.

Chicago 7, Minnesota 4--Danny Tartabull hit a three-run home run and Alex Fernandez gave up five hits in 7 2/3 innings, leading the White Sox over the Twins at Chicago.

Fernandez was helped by four double plays as the White Sox ended a three-game losing streak. One of the hits Fernandez gave up was a home run to Marty Cordova, the 19th given up by the Fernandez this season, matching the total he gave up last year in 30 starts.

Roberto Hernandez got the last two outs for his 24th save.

Baltimore 8, Toronto 2--After not being selected as a reserve for the All-Star game, Rafael Palmeiro hit a three-run home run and drove in four runs to lead the Orioles at Toronto.

“I’m just trying to help the team win,” said Palmeiro, who has 21 home runs and leads Baltimore with 76 runs batted in. “But maybe now somebody will notice that I’m second in the league in RBIs.”

Brady Anderson extended his major league home-run lead with his 29th of the season and Scott Erickson gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings, striking out a season-high seven and walking two.

Milwaukee 2, Detroit 1--Jeff Cirillo tripled home the winning run in the 11th inning to give the Brewers a victory over the Tigers at Detroit.

Cirillo’s triple scored John Jaha, who led off the 11th with a double off Detroit reliever A.J. Sager.

The Brewers, after setting a club record with homers in 19 consecutive games, did not homer for the second consecutive night, but still handed the Tigers their fifth loss in a row.

“We didn’t really strike the ball well tonight, so let’s give credit to the pitchers,” Milwaukee Manager Phil Garner said.

Oakland 11, Seattle 6--Scott Brosius hit a two-run single and Terry Steinbach followed with his second home run of the game to break a tie in the ninth inning to lead the Athletics over the Mariners at Seattle.

Mike Mohler (4-0), who worked the eighth inning, got the victory on a night when Oakland hit four homers to extend its major league-lead to 130 and win for the ninth time in 10 road games.