Johnson Leaves Early, but Wins 17th

Randy Johnson gave up two hits and struck out eight before leaving the game in the seventh inning because of a bruised middle finger on his left hand as the Seattle Mariners edged the Cleveland Indians, 1-0, Wednesday night at the Kingdome.

Johnson (17-4) re-aggravated an injury that he sustained a couple of starts ago. There was no immediate report on the severity of the injury. Johnson, bidding to win his second AL Cy Young Award in three seasons, outpitched Charles Nagy (12-9).

Edgar Martinez hit his 22nd home run in the fourth inning for the game’s only run.

Johnson leads the majors with 264 strikeouts. He gave up a double by Matt Williams in the fifth and an infield single by Tony Fernandez to start the seventh.

After Fernandez’s single, Johnson went 2-0 on the next hitter, Kevin Seitzer, before Manager Lou Piniella took him out and brought in Mike Timlin, who completed the inning.

Norm Charlton and Heathcliff Slocumb finished the combined two-hitter. Slocumb got his 20th save, and his third since being sent to Seattle just before the trading deadline July 31.

Nagy pitched 7 1/3 innings, giving up one run on eight hits. He struck out six and walked one.

Chicago 12, Toronto 6--After taking the blame for the White Sox struggles earlier this week, Albert Belle homered, doubled twice and matched his season high with five RBIs at Chicago.

Belle hit a run-scoring double in the third, a two-run double in the fourth and a two-run homer in the fifth.

“I’m happy for Albert,” teammate Frank Thomas said. “He’s really scuffling and he made it public that he was scuffling. He’s a very, very talented man. A few nights like this and he’ll be back on pace.”

Minnesota 11, Detroit 1--Brad Radke (17-7) gave up one run and three hits in eight innings, and Denny Hocking, Terry Steinbach and Matt Lawton homered as the Twins ended a 10-game losing streak with a victory at Detroit.

Radke won a club-record 12 consecutive starts between June 7 and Aug. 4 but lost his previous two outings. He was back in command Wednesday with seven strikeouts and one walk, pitching to only three batters over the minimum.

“He’s been good all year long except for maybe his first three or four starts,” said Steinbach, who has caught most of Radke’s games. “I think back then we were getting used to each other, and he’s been solid ever since.”

Minnesota--outscored, 77-26, during the losing streak--had 14 hits off five pitchers.

Scott Sanders (4-11) gave up five runs and five hits in 2 1/3 innings. He is 1-5 with a 6.95 earned-run average in seven starts since the Tigers acquired him from Seattle on July 18.

Baltimore 4, Kansas City 2--Rafael Palmeiro had four hits and drove in four runs with two homers, and Jimmy Key (14-7) got his first victory since July 21.

Palmeiro, who also homered in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday night, hit a solo homer in the fourth off Glendon Rusch (5-9).

“Sometimes luck’s on your side. I was lucky tonight,” said Palmeiro, who has 27 runs batted in over his last 29 games. “I was just looking for the ball and I was able to stay back on the breaking ball. It’s the best I’ve felt all year.”

Baltimore has won eight of 11, and 16 of its last 21 road games. At 79-44, the Orioles are 35 games over .500 for the first time since Sept. 29, 1983.

Randy Myers pitched the ninth for his 37th save this season and the 311th of his career, tying Tom Henke for sixth place on the career list.

Milwaukee 6, Texas 2--Bryce Florie (4-4) held the Rangers hitless for 5 1/3 innings and Jeromy Burnitz had three hits and two runs batted in to lead the Brewers at Arlington, Tex.

Texas was without its top home run producer, injured right fielder Juan Gonzalez. Also injured and missing from the starting lineup were Tom Goodwin, Will Clark and Mark McLemore.

“They’ve got key guys out, so we needed to take advantage and beat [them],” Milwaukee Manager Phil Garner said after the Brewers took three games in the four-game series with the Rangers. “We played a little better in each game of this series. We’re starting to play better as a team. There’s a little more enthusiasm and a little more fire.”

Fernando Vina homered and drove in two runs and Jeff Cirillo added a two-run single. Doug Jones got the final out for his 27th save.

Terry Clark (1-5) gave up six runs and nine hits in six innings.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Albert Belle Chicago 3 for 3, 5 RBIs, 2 doubles, home run Win Rafael Palmeiro Baltimore 4 for 4, 4 RBIs, 2 home runs Win Matt Lawton Minnesota 2 for 5, 3 RBIs, 2 runs, home run Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Brad Radke Minnesota 8 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 7 strikeouts Win Randy Johnson Seattle 6 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 8 strikeouts Win Charles Nagy Cleveland 7 1/3 innings, 8 hits, 1 run, 6 strikeouts Loss

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