Griffey Powers the Mariners

Ken Griffey Jr. and Dave Hollins homered in a five-run first inning and Mark Whiten had five runs batted in as the Mariners held on to defeat the Boston Red Sox, 11-9, Tuesday night at Seattle.

Griffey hit his 42nd homer--a three-run drive--and added a single and double. He also saved two runs with a sensational diving catch on Mike Greenwell’s liner in the seventh.

Alex Rodriguez had three hits and extended his hitting streak to 19 games, the third longest in Seattle’s 20-year history. Rodriguez also tied Phil Bradley’s team record with his 192nd hit of the season.

Hollins hit a two-run homer, his 14th of the season and first with Seattle. Whiten, who has seven homers in 17 games since Seattle acquired him from Atlanta, also had three hits, including a a three-run homer in the seventh that made the score 11-4.

Salomon Torres (1-1) gave up three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings. After Boston scored five runs in the ninth, Norm Charlton got two outs for his 15th save.

Tom Gordon (10-7), who had won 10 consecutive decisions against Seattle, gave up eight runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Texas 9, Minnesota 7--Mickey Tettleton got a three-run double on a misplayed line drive in the first inning and later hit his first homer since Aug. 4 as the Rangers held on to defeat the Twins at Arlington, Texas.

Bobby Witt (14-9) gave up five runs and eight hits in five innings to earn his seventh victory in eight decisions.

Chicago 6, Detroit 4--Robin Ventura hit a go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning at Chicago, as the White Sox gained their fifth victory in six games.

Ventura’s 31st homer followed a single by Frank Thomas and a walk to Harold Baines. It gave the Sox a 5-3 lead and they added another run in the inning on singles by Danny Tartabull, Pat Borders and Ozzie Guillen. Brad Ausmus singled in Detroit’s final run in the seventh.

Milwaukee 8, Cleveland 2--Mike Matheny celebrated his return to the majors with a home run and Scott Karl won for the first time in more than a month for the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Matheny, recalled earlier in the day from triple-A New Orleans, hit a a two-out solo homer in the fourth inning and Karl (11-7) gave up two runs and 10 hits for his first victory since July 23.

Kansas City 5, Toronto 2--Jon Nunnally’s three-run home run in the eighth inning at Toronto sent Kevin Appier and the Royals to their fourth consecutive victory.

Appier (12-10) pitched a seven-hitter, striking out 12, for his fifth complete game. Nunnally also tied a career high with four runs batted in.

Oakland 10, New York 9--Tony Batista singled in Ernie Young with the decisive run in the seventh inning at Oakland.

The Yankees rallied from a 9-5 deficit in the top of the seventh on the strength of Tino Martinez’s 23rd homer.