Yankees Top Rangers as Pettitte Wins 15th

The pitching of Andy Pettitte and the hitting of Bernie Williams put the Yankees in position to win at New York. But it was Tino Martinez’ three-run double off Damon Buford’s glove that turned the game.

Buford jumped at the fence and the ball hit the top of his glove, nicked the padding on the wall and fell to the ground.

Pettitte became the American League’s first 15-game winner Wednesday as the Yankees defeated the Rangers, 4-2, in a game between division leaders.

Williams went two for two with a solo homer and scored twice.

Seattle 8, Milwaukee 7--Dan Wilson homered in the sixth inning and had a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth to cap a come-from-behind victory at Seattle. A sacrifice fly by Darren Bragg scored Alex Rodriguez to tie the score.

Oakland 6, Chicago 5--Mark McGwire hit his 36th homer and Scott Brosius hit a go-ahead double in the eighth inning as the Athletics first wasted a 5-1 lead then recovered to complete their first-three game sweep at Chicago since 1970.

McGwire’s 31st homer in 56 games traveled an estimated 470 feet, 18 feet longer than the homer he hit Tuesday night, and is the longest ever by an opponent at new Comiskey Park.

Mike Bordick and Tony Batista also homered as Oakland extended its club record to 20 games in a row with a homer. The A’s have hit 170 this season.

Cleveland 10, Toronto 0--Dennis Martinez, who was activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, gave up three hits in five shutout innings, and Omar Vizquel and Carlos Baerga homered as the Indians shut out the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Martinez (9-5), who had a strained tendon in his right elbow, struck out two and walked two. Vizquel went two for five and gave the Indians a 10-0 lead with a three-run homer in the sixth, his career-high seventh of the season.

Minnesota 11, Baltimore 4--Eddie Murray hit the 493rd home run of his career, tying him with Lou Gehrig for 15th place on baseball’s all-time list, but it didn’t help the Orioles, who were trounced at Baltimore.

Minnesota’s Frankie Rodriguez (10-7) gave up five hits in seven innings for his fifth consecutive victory, and Dave Hollins doubled home two runs in a five-run fourth inning as the Twins swept the three-game series. It was their first sweep at Baltimore since 1983.

The Orioles have lost 11 of their last 15 and fallen 10 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East.

Boston 12, Kansas City 2--The Red Sox defeated the Royals at Fenway Park for the first time in six games and Jamie Moyer won his sixth consecutive game.

Moyer (7-1) gave up two runs, walked one and struck out four to win his third in a row. He has given up three earned runs in 20 2/3 innings during that stretch.

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THOSE FENCE-SWINGIN’ A’S . . .

A look at the Oakland Athletics ‘ top home run hitters, with their 1996 totals through Tuesday, their projected homers for this season and previous career highs.

Player: Mark McGwire

1996 HRs: 35

1966 Proj: 56

Prev High: 49

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Player: Geronimo Berroa

1996 HRs: 25

1966 Proj: 40

Prev High: 22

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Player: Terry Steinbach

1996 HRs: 24

1966 Proj: 38

Prev High: 16

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Player: Jason Giambi

1996 HRs: 19

1966 Proj: 30

Prev High: 6

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Player: Scott Brosius

1996 HRs: 16

1966 Proj: 26

Prev High: 17

. . . AND FENCE-SWINGIN’ TEAMS

The Athletics are also on pace to break the 1961 New York Yankees’ major league home run record of 240 . At their current pace, the Athletics, who hit 167 home runs through Tuesday, would finish with 268. The following are the top home-run hitting teams:

HR--Team, Year: 240--N.Y. (AL), 1961

Leaders: Maris 61, Mantle 54

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HR--Team, Year: 225--Minn., 1963

Leaders: Killebrew 45, Allison 35

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HR--Team, Year: 225--Detroit, 1987

Leaders: Evans 34, Nokes 32

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HR--Team, Year: 221--N.Y. (NL), 1947

Leaders: Mize 51, Marshall 36

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HR--Team, Year: 221--Cin., 1956

Leaders: Robinson 38, Post 36

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HR--Team, Year: 221--Minn., 1964

Leaders: Killebrew 49, Oliva 32

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HR--Team, Year: 216--Mil., 1982

Leaders: Thomas 39, Oglivie 34

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HR--Team, Year: 215--Toronto, 1987

Leaders: Bell 47, Barfield 28

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HR--Team, Year: 214--Balt., 1985

Leaders: Murray 31, Young 28