Yankees Defeat Orioles in 10th

It has been a season of big moments for the New York Yankees: Dwight Gooden’s no-hitter, Darryl Strawberry’s three-homer game and David Cone’s near no-hitter in his comeback.

But two plays from Ruben Rivera may turn out to mean more.

The rookie singled home the winning run in the 10th inning Wednesday night at New York, giving the Yankees a 3-2 victory over Baltimore and increasing the Yankees’ American League East lead to four games over the second-place Orioles.

“My heart won’t stop jumping,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “This baby was wonderful. It really is. It was terrific.”

The Yankees, who have won nine of 11 from Baltimore this season, assured themselves of the division lead at the end of the three-game showdown series, which concludes with a twi-night doubleheader today.

“This was huge,” said Andy Pettitte, who escaped a loss when the Yankees rallied.

Rivera, considered the Yankees’ prize prospect, and Derek Jeter, the probable AL rookie of the year, were right in the middle of the comeback. Jeter opened the 10th with a single and scored from third when Rivera got his game-winning hit.

Seattle 5, Texas 2--Jay Buhner hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs at Seattle as the Mariners shaved the Rangers’ AL West lead to three games.

Seattle has gained six games in the standings in seven days. The Mariners, two games behind Baltimore in the wild-card race, have won seven in a row.

Cleveland 4, Chicago 3--Geronimo Pena homered in the first as the Indians turned to their bench one day after clinching the AL Central and still beat the White Sox for a three-game sweep at Cleveland.

Pena’s first homer of the season, a two-run shot, was a historic one--it gave the Indians a club-record 208 for the season, breaking the mark they set last year.

Minnesota 7, Kansas City 4--At Kansas City, the Twins’ Chuck Knoblauch tripled twice to raise his league-leading total to 13, and Travis Miller got his first major league victory.

Milwaukee 2, Toronto 1--Pinch-hitter Turner Ward doubled home the tying run and scored on a single by Jeff Cirillo at Milwaukee as the Brewers rallied in the ninth inning to beat the Blue Jays.