Red Sox Prevail as Lofton Hurt

Another late-inning comeback was a fitting ending to an incredible homestand by the Boston Red Sox.

Mo Vaughn drove in his third run of the game with a two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning Monday as the Red Sox came from behind for a 6-5 Patriots Day victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The victory completed Boston’s homestand at 9-1, and was the team’s sixth victory in its last at-bat. During the stretch, the Red Sox batted .317, scored 55 runs and hit 16 homers.

The Indians, however were more concerned about an injury to outfielder Kenny Lofton than the loss. Lofton strained his left Achilles’ tendon when he apparently caught a spike on the wet grass chasing Troy O’Leary’s triple in the seventh inning.

Lofton will undergo an MRI exam today.

Meanwhile, with two out in the 11th inning, Jim Leyritz, who tied the game with a homer in the ninth, singled to left and Damon Buford walked on four pitches against reliever Eric Plunk (1-1). Vaughn, who weakly fouled off the first two pitches, then delivered the winning run.

Tom Gordon (3-1) got the victory.

New York 3, Toronto 2--Second baseman Tony Fernandez made a two-out error in the 11th inning that scored the go-ahead run and the Yankees, taking advantage of Randy Myers’ first blown save in nearly a year, beat the Blue Jays at Toronto.

The Yankees rallied for two runs in the ninth against Myers, who had converted 37 straight save chances since last blowing one on May 3. New York won for the ninth time in 10 games and stopped the Blue Jays’ three-game winning streak.

In the 11th, Chuck Knoblauch tripled with two outs and Derek Jeter followed with a routine grounder to Fernandez. But the ball rolled off the glove of Fernandez, who had no play at first.

Willie Banks (1-0) was the winner. Bill Risley (0-2) took the loss.

Seattle 8, Kansas City 7--Ken Griffey Jr. hit his AL-leading eighth home run and drove in the winning run with a sacrifice fly at Seattle as the Mariners won their sixth consecutive game.

The Mariners came back from a 6-1 deficit after 3 1/2 innings to help Randy Johnson avoid his second loss of the season. Johnson gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings, boosting his earned-run average to 7.46.

Felipe Lira (1-0) earned his first victory of the season after replacing Johnson. Danny Rios (0-1) was the loser.

Oakland 3, Minnesota 2--Rookie Ben Grieve hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot off reliever Greg Swindell that gave the Athletics a victory over the slumping Twins at Oakland.

Trailing, 2-1, in the eighth inning, the A’s rallied off Swindell (0-1). Jason Giambi singled with one out and, after Matt Stairs struck out, Grieve homered on an 0-1 pitch for a 3-2 lead.

Buddy Groom (1-0) pitched one inning for the win.