Jefferson, Bragg Flex Muscles, Beat A’s

Reggie Jefferson’s second homer of the game ignited a seven-run seventh inning that Darren Bragg capped with a grand slam as Boston rallied past the Athletics, 13-7, Tuesday night in Oakland.

Bragg, who had an RBI single earlier, finished with five RBIs and Jefferson hit two two-run homers.

Jose Canseco had four hits for Oakland, including a solo homer and two RBI doubles. But with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, Rick Trlicek (2-1) came on and got him to pop out. Canseco was the only batter Trlicek faced in picking up the win.

Butch Henry pitched three innings for his second save.

Boston trailed, 6-4, when Mo Vaughn singled to open the seventh and Jefferson then connected off Don Wengert. Tim Naehring and Troy O’Leary both singled, chasing Wengert (0-2) and bringing on Richie Lewis, who threw a wild pitch that allowed Naehring to score from third.

Wil Cordero, who has reached base via walk or base hit in all seven Boston games, walked and Bill Haselman singled to load the bases, and Bragg drove a 1-and-0 offering from Lewis into the right-field bleachers for the second grand slam of his career as Boston took an 11-6 lead before the first out in the inning was recorded.

Boston added two more runs in the eighth inning on Cordero’s run-scoring double and Haselman’s RBI single.

Damon Mashore, making his first start of the season, hit a run-scoring double and an RBI single for Oakland.

Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield lasted only 2 2/3 innings, surrendering a solo homer to Canseco and an RBI single to Mashore in the third inning after Boston had rallied from a 4-1 deficit to tie it.

With his knuckleball ineffective, Wakefield was tagged for six runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out one.

He gave up four of the runs in the first inning, including two when his errant pickoff throw to second bounced off Canseco’s elbow and rolled into right field, allowing Canseco and Dave Magadan to score. Mashore and Canseco each added run-scoring doubles.

Wakefield’s Oakland counterpart, Willie Adams, also had an abbreviated outing, failing to hold a 4-1 lead when the Red Sox struck for three runs in the third, including Jefferson’s first homer, a two-run shot.

The A’s remain the only team in the American League without a win from a starting pitcher.

Bragg’s two-out single scored Cordero with the tying run and one out later, Adams’ night was done. He gave up four runs and seven hits in three innings while walking two and striking out two.

Toronto at Chicago--The game at Comiskey Park was postponed because of cold weather, and the White Sox changed the starting time of today’s game to 11:05 a.m. from 5:05 p.m. because of a forecast or more cold.

Tuesday’s game will be made up as part of a doubleheader Aug. 19.

Cold winds have dropped temperatures to nearly 20 degrees below normal in the Chicago area, and fans bundled up like they were going to a football game for Tuesday’s Chicago Cubs game on the North Side, at Wrigley Field.

Today, Roger Clemens (1-0), who beat the White Sox last week in Toronto in his first start for the Blue Jays since coming over from the Boston Red Sox in a megadollar free agent deal, will face Chicago’s Wilson Alvarez (0-1).

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Sandy Alomar Cleveland Homered for 5th game in a row Darren Bragg Boston Grand Slam keys 7-run 7th Reggie Jefferson Boston 2 r-run homers Ken Griffey Jr Seattle Hit league-leading sixth homer, 4 RBI Jose Canseco Oakland 4 for 5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI

Team’s Player Result Sandy Alomar Win Darren Bragg Win Reggie Jefferson Win Ken Griffey Jr Win Jose Canseco Loss

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PITCHING

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Team’s Player Team Performance Result Chris Hammond Boston 3 scoreless innings in relief Win

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