Williams Honors Babe in Ruthian Fashion

On a day the New York Yankees honored Babe Ruth, Bernie Williams found a perfect way to pay tribute.

Williams hit a solo home run into the upper deck with one out in the ninth inning and the Yankees won their 90th game, defeating the Texas Rangers, 6-5, Sunday at New York.

The afternoon at The House That Ruth Built began with a remembrance on the 50th anniversary of the Bambino’s death. It finished with Williams hitting the Yankees’ first game-ending homer of the season.

“It’s a good way to end a game and a great tribute to his memory,” said Williams, who has 18 homers this season.

At 90-30, the Yankees joined the 1944 St. Louis Cardinals as the only teams in major league history to reach that victory total in their first 120 games.

“Yes, it does stagger me when you think of 90 wins by the middle of August,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said. “It’s not that easy to do.”

The Yankees increased their lead to 19 1/2 games over Boston, their largest margin since Sept. 12, 1941, when they also were 19 1/2 games ahead of the Red Sox. The Yankees finished 10-1 on their homestand and improved to 48-9 at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees also prevented Texas--which won, 16-5, Saturday--from matching the Red Sox as the only clubs to win two consecutive games at Yankee Stadium this season.

Williams’ fourth hit came against Xavier Hernandez (5-2), spoiling the reliever’s 33rd birthday. In a season full of victories, Williams came up with yet a new way for the Yankees to win.

Darryl Strawberry and Derek Jeter also homered for the Yankees. Roberto Kelly hit two homers and Royce Clayton hit a solo shot for the Rangers.

Cleveland 5, Baltimore 3--Oriole designated hitter Eric Davis was zero for three with a walk and three strikeouts at Cleveland, ending his hitting streak at 30 games.

Sandy Alomar shook off a season-long slump with a game-tying double, and David Bell put the Indians ahead with a sacrifice fly.

The Orioles missed a chance to pick up a game in the AL wild-card race following Boston’s loss to Minnesota. The Orioles remained seven games behind the Red Sox and 6 1/2 behind Texas.

Travis Fryman of the Indians hit his career-high 23rd homer, and Manny Ramirez hit his 28th. Harold Baines hit a two-run homer for the Orioles, whose 27-8 record in the second half is the best in baseball.

Minnesota 6, Boston 3--Matt Lawton had four hits and Eric Milton started with five hitless innings, leading the Twins at Boston.

After giving up 21 runs in one-run losses in the first two games of the series, the Twins held down Boston’s lineup for the second consecutive game, building a 6-0 lead with two runs in the first, second and fourth innings.

Lawton had a run-scoring double-play grounder in the second and an RBI double in the fourth.

Tampa Bay 8, Kansas City 3--Wade Boggs and John Flaherty each drove in two runs as the Devil Rays won at Kansas City, Mo., but still became the first team eliminated from division-title contention.

The expansion Devil Rays, who won two games in a row for the first time since July 29-31, are 48-73 and trail the Yankees by 42 1/2 games with 41 to play.

Detroit 6, Oakland 4--Bryce Florie struck out a career-high 10 and gave up five hits in 8 1/3 innings to lead the Tigers at Detroit.

Florie yielded a home run to A.J. Hinch in the sixth and walked only one in the longest outing of his career. He left after giving up one-out singles in the ninth to pinch-hitter Bip Roberts and Jason Giambi.

Sean Runyan came in and gave up a three-run homer to Matt Stairs that hit the facing of the roof in right field before Todd Jones got the final two outs for his 20th save.