Griffey Keeps Up Chase With Maris

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 54th and 55th homers, overtaking Mark McGwire for the major league lead, as Seattle clinched a tie for the AL West title by defeating the Oakland Athletics, 4-2, Monday night at Oakland.

Griffey now has the seventh-highest homer total in major league history, trailing only Roger Maris (61 in 1961), Babe Ruth (60 in 1927), Ruth (59 in 1921), Jimmie Foxx (58 in 1932), Hank Greenberg (58 in 1938) and Hack Wilson (56 in 1930).

Griffey has five games left, all at Seattle’s Kingdome, to match Maris’ mark.

Griffey has five homers and nine RBIs in his last seven games.

Joey Cora added a two-run homer as the Mariners increased their division lead to 5 1/2 games over the Angels. Any Seattle win or Angel loss will give the Mariners their second division title in three years.

The three homers also gave Seattle 257 this season, tying the major league mark set by Baltimore last year. The Mariners, who hit 245 homers in 1996, became the first team to top 500 homers in consecutive seasons.

Griffey’s two RBIs increased his major league-leading total to 145.

Jeff Fassero (16-9) gave up two runs and nine hits in 6 1/3 innings, with six strikeouts. The 16 wins are a career high.

New York 8, Toronto 1--David Wells, trying to secure a spot in the Yankees’ postseason rotation, won for the first time in nearly six weeks, as the Yankees beat the Blue Jays at New York.

Wells (15-10), 0-5 in his last six starts, gave up seven hits in eight innings with seven strikeouts and one walk.

If the current AL standings hold, the Yankees would win the wild card and face Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. Because of off-days, New York might need only three starters against the Indians--David Cone and Andy Pettitte are likely to pitch the first two games, with Wells, Dwight Gooden and Ramiro Mendoza competing for the start in Game 3.

Detroit 5, Baltimore 4--Bob Hamelin hit a two-run homer to cap a four-run eighth inning at Baltimore as the Tigers reached the .500 mark for the first time since April 15.

The Orioles’ magic number to clinch the AL East remained at three. Baltimore leads the Yankees by three games, with six games left for both teams.

Minnesota 5, Milwaukee 2--Damian Miller hit his first career grand slam and Travis Miller earned his first win of the season as the Twins beat the Brewers at Minneapolis.

Damian Miller, a rookie whose only previous homer came Aug. 19 at Detroit, hit a second-inning home run off Jeff D’Amico.

Travis Miller (1-4) gave up four hits, including Jose Valentin’s two-run homer, in seven innings.

Notes

Second baseman Chuck Knoblauch of the Minnesota Twins said he’d like to be traded because he wants to play for a contending team next season.

“Why would somebody want to stay here to play?” Knoblauch said of the Twins, who have had five consecutive losing seasons. “Because it comes all the way back to winning. Believe me, there’s nothing fun about losing 90 games.”

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Pitcher Mike Mussina will start the Baltimore Orioles’ playoff opener with Scott Erickson and Jimmy Key next in the rotation.

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NEXT SERIES FOR ANGELS

WHO: Seattle Mariners

WHERE: at Seattle

WHEN: Today: 7 p.m.; Wednesday: 7:30 p.m.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Ken Griffey Jr. Seattle 2 home runs, 2 RBIs Win Brian Hunter Detroit 3 hits, 72nd stolen base Win Damian Miller Minnesota Grand Slam Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Travis Miller Minnesota 7 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 5 strikeouts, 2 walks Win David Wells New York 8 innings, 1 run, 7 hits, 7 strikeouts, 1 walk Win Jeff Fassero Seattle 6 1/3 innings, 2 runs, 9 hits, 6 strikeouts Win

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