Williams Rings Belle for Indian Fans

Matt Williams, hired to do an Albert Belle imitation--at least with the bat--had a virtuoso performance Tuesday night at Cleveland.

Dealing with two-on, two-out, tie-game, late-inning situations was Belle’s forte with the Indians, who let him go to Chicago after last season for reasons other than his performance on the field.

Williams, Cleveland’s new cleanup hitter, had a three-run homer to snap a seventh-inning tie and lead the Indians to a 10-4 victory over Oakland.

It was Williams’ seventh homer of the season and sixth in four days, but his first in Jacobs Field. The ball landed in the left field bleachers, where so many of Belle’s homers used to go. After touring the bases, he came out for a curtain call, unlike Belle.

“That was nice,” said Williams, who has his average up to .287 after a slow start. “It’s a wonderful place to play.”

Sandy added his eighth homer, a two-run shot in the eighth inning.

Brian Giles and Julio Franco also homered for Cleveland, which leads the majors with 47 homers. Boston is second with 36.

Charles Nagy (4-1) gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings, retiring nine in a row after Jose Canseco’s solo homer in the first inning. The right-hander is 10-1 after an Indians’ loss since September, 1995.

Williams flied out in the fifth with two runners on against Ariel Prieto (2-1). He made up for it in the seventh with a line drive into the seats that scored Omar Vizquel and Tony Fernandez, who had singled.

“I think he’s started to relax and feel a little bit at home and at ease,” Manager Mike Hargrove said. “He’s starting to understand that he doesn’t have to impress anyone. He just has to be Matt Williams.”

Added Williams: “Sometimes in this game, you have to try easier.”

“He’s a great hitter, now matter where you put it,” said Prieto, who failed to sneak a 2-0 slider past the four-time NL All-Star.

Seattle 7, New York 5--The Yankees’ Tino Martinez had a two-run single in the ninth inning to break Barry Bonds’ record for RBIs in April with 33, but Russ Davis drove in four runs for the Mariners in a victory in New York.

Seattle held off Joe Torre’s 1,000th win as a manager for at least another day.

New York led, 2-0, on Bernie Williams’ two-run homer, but Davis tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth inning off Ramiro Mendoza and a sacrifice fly in the seventh off Brian Boehringer.

The Mariners scored five runs in the eighth against Jim Mecir (0-1), who gave up four hits and walked two in only two-thirds of an inning. A day earlier, Mecir pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings against the Mariners.

Kansas City 6, Toronto 5--Chili Davis hit his 300th home run leading off the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Royals a victory at Kansas City.

Davis connected on a 3-and-2 pitch from Paul Quantrill (3-2) for his second homer of the season.

Hipolito Pichardo (1-0) pitched one scoreless inning for the win. He has not given up a run in 11 2/3 innings in 11 games this season.

Ed Sprague homered twice for the Blue Jays.

His second homer, in the sixth inning, tied the game, 5-5.

Milwaukee 2, Detroit 1--Jeff Cirillo hit a tie-breaking RBI single and Doug Jones picked up the Brewers’ first save in more than two weeks in a victory at Detroit.

The win was the fourth in a row after six consecutive losses for Milwaukee, which continues to lead the AL Central.

Detroit lost for the fifth time in six games.

Cal Eldred (3-2) gave up one run and five hits in six innings for his second win of the year over Detroit. He struck out six and walked four.

The Brewers’ bullpen has converted all five of its save chances this year, but Tuesday’s was its first since April 16 against New York.

Baltimore 6, Minnesota 4--Brady Anderson’s two-run triple keyed a four-run sixth inning that sent the Orioles to a victory at Minneapolis,

The Twins dropped their sixth game in a row.

Anderson went two for five with two runs scored, and Roberto Alomar had three hits for the Orioles.

Shawn Boskie (1-1) picked up the win in relief, and Randy Myers, Baltimore’s sixth pitcher, got three outs for his 10th save in as many tries.

Minnesota stranded 10 runners in the first six innings, leaving the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: Russ Davis

Team: Seattle

Performance: 3 for 3, 4 RBI

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Matt Williams

Team: Cleveland

Performance: 2 for 4, 3-run HR

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Johnny Damon

Team: Kansas City

Performance: 3 for 4, played all 3 OF positions

Team’s Result: Win

PITCHING

Player: Jaime Navarro

Team: Chicago

Performance: 9 innings, 6 hits, 1 run, 7 strikeouts

Team’s Result: Win

*

Player: Roger Pavlik

Team: Texas

Performance: 7 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 1 runs

Team’s Result: Loss

*

Player: Mark Langston

Team: Angels

Performance: 6 innings, 7 hits, 1 earned run

Team’s Result: Win