Griffey Keeps Up His Power Surge

Ken Griffey Jr. homered twice to raise his season total to 48 and narrowly missed two more to lead the Mariners to a 9-6 victory over the Twins at Minneapolis on Thursday.

Griffey hit a two-run drive to the right-field upper deck in the fifth inning and a solo shot to center in the seventh. He is on a pace to hit 55 and needs 14 in the final 22 games to eclipse Roger Maris’ 36-year-old record of 61 homers.

Griffey had his sixth multi-homer game of the season and his second in four nights. He is hitting .375 with 15 homers and 28 RBIs in his last 29 games, and leads the majors with 130 RBIs.

“What can you say?” was teammate Paul Sorrento’s reaction. “He’s done it all year.”

Baltimore 5, New York 2--Rick Krivda pitched six strong innings before the bullpen took over, and the visiting Orioles remained perfect against the Yankees, increasing their edge over New York to 7 1/2 games.

Jeffrey Hammonds hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and a solo homer in the ninth as the Orioles ended a five-game losing streak.

Texas 6, Toronto 2--Rick Helling struck out a career-high 12 in 8 1/3 innings, leading the Rangers at Toronto, sending the Blue Jays to their seventh consecutive loss.

Kansas City 7, Oakland 6--Felix Martinez, making his first start, singled off the leg of pitcher Don Wengert to drive in the winning run in the 12th inning at Kansas City, Mo., as the Royals completed a comeback from a 6-0 deficit.