Tigers Win Another Wild One, 15-12

The Detroit Tigers blew a big lead for the second consecutive day, but came back to win again, 15-12, at Chicago in a 4-hour 20-minute marathon that fell a minute shy of being the longest nine-inning game in major league history.

Tony Clark had two home runs in Detroit’s 19-hit attack. Brian Hunter also had four hits to go with three stolen bases, and Bobby Higginson and Damion Easley hit three-run homers in the highest-scoring game at Comiskey Park in nearly five years.

“No question it was long,” Tiger Manager Buddy Bell said. “To be quite honest, I didn’t pay much attention to the wind or anything. I was trying to get through with enough pitchers.”

The White Sox have been able to score runs too, but they’ve made nine errors in their first four games. They made four Saturday, and got shaky relief pitching from Tony Castillo, making the long game even longer.

Detroit, which squandered a six-run lead Friday before rallying to win, let a five-run advantage slip away Saturday. The Tigers trailed, 10-9, before scoring five times in the seventh when the White Sox made three of their errors.

Boston 8, Seattle 6--The victory was almost irrelevant to the Mariners. What mattered most was that Randy Johnson pitched and pitched well.

Boston rookie Nomar Garciaparra’s three-run homer in the ninth inning off Norm Charlton rallied the Red Sox to a victory at Seattle.

Garciaparra’s first homer of the season spoiled a night when 57,110 welcomed Johnson’s return to the Kingdome mound and saw Ken Griffey Jr. hit his fourth homer.

Johnson, pitching for the first time since May, struck out eight in six strong innings. The left-hander, whose 1996 season was ended because of back surgery, gave up five hits, four for extra bases.

Milwaukee 5, Toronto 2--Gerald Williams hit a home run, then doubled to break a sixth-inning tie as the Brewers defeated the Blue Jays at Toronto, giving Jamie McAndrew his first victory in two years.

Williams, who pulled the Brewers even at 2-2 in the fourth with his first home run, doubled to left-center off Woody Williams (0-1) for a 3-2 lead in the sixth.

McAndrew (1-0), making his first start since undergoing major knee surgery in April 1996, gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings. He struck out one and walked two.

Minnesota 7, Kansas City 5--Chuck Knoblauch broke out of an early season slump with three hits, and Terry Steinbach had three runs batted in to lead the Twins at Minneapolis.

The Royals fought back from 4-1 and 5-4 deficits to tie the score, 5-5, before Steinbach’s run-scoring single in the fifth inning put the Twins ahead for good.

Rich Robertson won his first decision, giving up four runs on seven hits in five innings for Minnesota, which won for the fourth time in five games.

Rick Aguilera worked the ninth to get his second save for the Twins.

Baltimore 9, Texas 7--Lenny Webster’s two-run double keyed a five-run first inning, and the Orioles remained the only unbeaten team in the majors with the victory at Arlington, Texas.

Webster and Cal Ripken Jr., who had a two-run homer in a three-run ninth, drove in three runs apiece for the Orioles. Eric Davis went three for five and scored three runs.

Arthur Rhodes (2-0) threw three innings of one-hit relief. Randy Myers picked up his third save despite giving up a two-run single to Ivan Rodriguez in the ninth. Meyers retired Mike Simms on a bases-loaded popup.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

*--*

Player Team Performance Result Brian Hunter Detroit 4 for 5, 3 RBI, 3 runs Win Chris Snopek Chicago 3 for 4, 3 RBI, 2 runs Loss Paul O’Neill New York 2 for 3, 4 RBI, grand slam Win Chuck Knoblauch Minnesota 3 for 4, 2 RBI Win

*--*

PITCHING

*--*

Player Team Performance Result Jamie McAndrew Milwaukee first victory in two years Win

*--*