Mesa Remains Shaky in Indians’ 6-5 Loss

Jose Mesa’s head snapped back to watch the Tony Phillips fly ball land in center fielder Kenny Lofton’s glove. Ray Durham tagged, raced home and slid in with the winning run, cutting Cleveland’s lead in the Central Division and extending Mesa’s misery as the second-place Chicago White Sox defeated the Indians, 6-5, in 10 innings at Cleveland.

It’s too early to tell what it did to Mesa’s confidence, which was already damaged after blowing four of his last eight save opportunities.

“Any player who goes into a slump loses a little confidence. I don’t care who you are,” catcher Sandy Alomar said. “I can tell you that every guy in here supports Jose 100%.”

So does Roberto Hernandez, the White Sox closer who pitched the 10th for his 25th save.

“I’ve got the same amount of blown saves as he has,” Hernandez said. “It’s just that he has them all in the last three or four weeks.”

It was a see-saw game that seemed to carry with it the beat of a pennant race. Chicago led, 1-0, then Cleveland led, 2-1. Then the score was tied, 5-5, before Chicago ended it in the 10th, trimming Cleveland’s lead to three games.

New York 4, Milwaukee 1--Andy Pettitte became the American League’s first 13-game winner and the Yankees stayed hot with the victory at New York.

Hours after the Yankees shook up their mix by re-signing outfielder Darryl Strawberry, Pettitte (13-4) showed why the team may not need any retooling at all.

Pettitte matched Jimmy Key’s 1994 performance as the third-fastest pitchers in Yankee history to win 13 games. Pettitte and Key got their 13th in the Yankees’ 82nd game. Whitey Ford achieved the feat in 70 games in 1961 and Ron Guidry did it in 78 games in 1978.

Baltimore 8, Boston 6--Mike Mussina gave up five hits through eight innings and the Orioles hit three home runs at Baltimore but had to survive a Red Sox rally in the ninth.

Cal Ripken Jr. homered in the first inning, and Mike Devereaux and Luis Polonia hit consecutive homers in the seventh to help the Orioles to their fourth victory in five games.

Mussina (11-5) retired 15 consecutive batters from the second inning to the seventh. But Baltimore Manager Davey Johnson went to his bullpen in the ninth.

With Baltimore ahead, 8-2, Roger McDowell gave up Jose Canseco’s 25th homer leading off the inning. After giving up a single and hitting a batter, McDowell then yielded a run-scoring double to Mike Stanley that made the score 8-4.

Randy Myers replaced McDowell and got one out before Jeff Frye hit a two-run double. Myers then walked Lee Tinsley before striking out John Valentin and getting Mo Vaughn on a fly ball to left for his 17th save.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 3--Kevin Young keyed a five-run sixth inning with a three-run homer at Minneapolis.

Jose Offerman went four for four with a double and a two-run triple. He also walked and stole a base as the Royals beat the Twins for only the second time in seven games this year. Offerman has 12 hits in his last 14 at-bats.

Young’s homer made the score 3-2. It came after Rich Robertson (3-9) walked Craig Paquette and Joe Vitiello to start the sixth.

Seattle 9, Texas 5--Paul Sorrento’s grand slam highlighted a five-run ninth inning as the Mariners rallied for the victory at Arlington, Texas.

Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner started the ninth with consecutive singles off Mike Henneman (0-7). After Brian Hunter’s sacrifice bunt, Dan Wilson was walked intentionally to load the bases.

Dennis Cook relieved and hit pinch-hitter John Marzano on an 0-2 pitch to bring home Martinez and tie the score at 5. Sorrento followed with his 15th home run.

Detroit 6, Toronto 1--Travis Fryman hit a three-run homer and left-hander C.J. Nitkowski survived a shaky return to the big leagues at Detroit.

Chad Curtis and Bobby Higginson added solo homers for the Tigers, who won their second consecutive after a five-game losing streak.