Yankees’ Pettitte Notches 21st Win

Andy Pettitte tied for the major league lead with his 21st victory and Tim Raines broke a scoreless tie with a two-run double in the fifth inning as the New York Yankees beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-1, Friday night at Toronto.

It was the fourth win in a row for the Yankees, who maintained their 3 1/2-game lead over Baltimore in the American League East.

Pettitte (21-8), who joined Atlanta’s John Smoltz as the majors’ only 21-game winners, was hit in the left leg by a line drive from Tomas Perez in the third inning.

“I just missed it and everything went numb for a second,” Pettitte said. “The next thing I know I’m down on the ground.”

After being checked by trainers, he threw several warmup pitches, stayed in the game and retired nine of the next 10 batters.

John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his AL-leading 40th save. He became only the second player in Yankee history to get 40 saves in a season. Dave Righetti holds the record of 46, set in 1986.

Mariano Duncan started the fifth with a single and moved to second on Derek Jeter’s one-out single. Raines followed with a two-run double off the base of the center-field wall, and scored on Paul O’Neill’s two-out single for a 3-0 Yankees lead.

New York made it 4-0 in the seventh when Erik Hanson (12-17) walked Cecil Fielder with the bases loaded.

Pettitte lost his bid for his first career shutout in the seventh, giving up an RBI single to Robert Perez.

Baltimore 7, Detroit 4--Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla homered on consecutive pitches in the third inning at Detroit as the Orioles kept pace with the Yankees in the AL East.

The Tigers, who have lost seven in a row, have given up 228 home runs this season, breaking the major-league mark of 226 given up by the 1987 Orioles. Baltimore, meanwhile, needs just three more homers to match the season record of 240 hit by the 1961 New York Yankees.

Ruben Sierra, whose misplayed fly ball allowed two runs to score in New York’s 7-3 victory over the Tigers on Wednesday, will not play the outfield any more this season. Tiger Manager Buddy Bell said he’ll probably use Sierra only as the designated hitter against left-handed starters.

Scott Erickson (12-11) won for the seventh time in nine decisions, giving up nine hits in seven innings. Erickson, 12-2 in his career against Detroit, is 19-7 in his career during September.

Boston 9, Chicago 5--Roger Clemens pitched seven strong innings and Nomar Garciaparra delivered a two-run triple in a six-run third inning at Boston.

Clemens (9-12) gave up five runs and seven hits to win for the fifth time in his last seven starts. He is 6-0 in his last nine home starts against Chicago, and hasn’t lost to the White Sox at Fenway Park since 1988. Heathcliff Slocumb got four outs for his 27th save.

Boston trails Baltimore by five games in the AL wild-card race.

Frank Thomas hit his 32nd homer to become Chicago’s career home-run leader. Thomas’ homer in the fourth inning gave him 214, moving him past Carlton Fisk on the team’s homer list.

Seattle 13, Minnesota 7--Mark Whiten hit a tape-measure grand slam and Ken Griffey and Dan Wilson had three-run homers at Minneapolis.

Whiten’s home run traveled 461 feet and hit a curtain that covers part of the upper deck. It was the first ball to hit the curtain, which was put up this year. It was Seattle’s 11th grand slam this season, a major league record.

Alex Rodriguez became the first player in Mariner history to get 200 hits in a season with an RBI single in the first.

Minnesota’s Paul Molitor had two singles to pull within four hits of the 3,000 mark.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 3--Jose Valentin’s sixth-inning homer snapped a tie and rookie Jeff D’Amico pitched six strong innings at Arlington, Texas. The Rangers, who lead the AL West by seven games over Seattle, have lost three consecutive games for the first time since Aug. 1-3.

Valentin’s 23rd homer, off Bobby Witt (15-10), put the Brewers back in front after Texas had rallied from a 3-0 third-inning deficit.