Yankees Finally Able to Hold a Lead

There was no blown lead this time for the New York Yankees.

They built a nine-run cushion after three innings and defeated the White Sox, 10-4, on Friday night at Chicago to end a five-game losing streak.

“The pressure is still going to be on us. There is a sense of urgency to win every game game we play,” said Bernie Williams, who drove in four runs.

Eight of New York’s 10 losses this season have come after they held a lead. But against the White Sox, who at 4-11 have the worst record in the American League, the Yankees’ early advantage was insurmountable.

“This is what makes a manager smart when you get a lot of runs. It’s easier to make decisions,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “We swung the bats in the first inning and that’s something we haven’t been doing.”

The first four Yankee hitters singled and New York went on to score five in the first off Jaime Navarro (1-1), who lasted only three innings.

The Yankees benefited from five hits, a sacrifice fly and a throwing error by Chicago third baseman Chris Snopek to take the 5-0 lead.

Milwaukee 10, Cleveland 2--Fernando Vina hit his first grand slam in the majors and drove in a career-high five runs, leading Ben McDonald and the Brewers over the Indians at Milwaukee.

Vina’s slam made it 7-0 in the fourth. Jack McDowell (0-2) loaded the bases on a single and two walks before Vina hit his first home run of the season to right.

Milwaukee took a 3-0 lead in the third on four hits, one walk, one wild pitch and one passed ball--all with none out.

Minnesota 10, Seattle 3--Roberto Kelly hit a three-run double that capped a five-run fifth inning and the Twins won their third consecutive game, at Seattle.

Rich Becker and Greg Colbrunn hit Minnesota’s first home runs in six games as the Twins won their sixth consecutive in the Kingdome, dating to May 6, 1996. The Twins were 5-1 in Seattle last season.

Frankie Rodriguez (1-2), a 13-game winner for the Twins last season, got into the victory column in his fourth start of the year.

Seattle’s Scott Sanders (0-4) didn’t make it through the fifth inning.

Oakland 9, Detroit 5--The Athletics ended a four-game losing streak when Dave Magadan’s pinch-hit, run-scoring single and two bases-loaded walks keyed a six-run eighth inning at Detroit.

The loss was the third consecutive for the Tigers, who led, 4-0, after two innings.

Oakland trailed, 5-3, when Detroit’s bullpen failed in the eighth.

Magadan hit a pinch single off Mike Myers (0-1) before Todd Jones came in and gave up three consecutive walks--the last two with the bases loaded--putting the Athletics ahead, 6-5.

Toronto 6, Texas 5--Roger Pavlik of the Rangers became the first AL pitcher ever to walk to first four batters of the game, and the Blue Jays went on to win at Arlington, Texas.

Pavlik (1-2) walked Otis Nixon, Carlos Garcia, Orlando Merced and Joe Carter on just 19 pitches, and two of those were bunt attempts Garcia fouled off.

Pavlik, who walked 81 in 201 innings last year, lasted just one-third of an inning. After the walks, he gave up a two-run double to Ed Sprague, an RBI groundout to Carlos Delgado and an RBI single to Charlie O’Brien.

Baltimore at Boston--The Red Sox-Orioles game scheduled for Friday at Fenway Park was rained out. The game will be made up June 12.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Fernando Vina Milwaukee 5 RBI, grand slam, 2 runs Win Bernie Williams New York 3 for 5, 4 RBI, double, stolen base Win Dave Magadan Oakland pinch-hit single in 8th keys rally Win Greg Colbrunn Minnesota 2 for 5, 2 runs, 3 RBI, homer, double Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Ben McDonald Milwaukee 7 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 5 strikeouts Win F. Rodriguez Minnesota 6 1/3 innings, 8 hits, 3 runs, 3 strikeouts Win

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