Griffey Takes Texas Deep With Nos. 38, 39

Ken Griffey Jr. is more than halfway to reaching one milestone and only one home run away from catching Mark McGwire.

Griffey hit his American League-leading 38th and 39th homers--his 1,500th and 1,501st career hits--as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Texas Rangers, 6-3, Tuesday night at Seattle.

Manager Lou Piniella said Griffey is having a better season than 1997, when he won the AL MVP with a league-leading 56 homers and 147 runs batted in.

“Basically, he is,” Piniella said. “Very quietly. He’s an incredible player.”

Added Texas Manager Johnny Oates: “Griffey did what he is supposed to do.”

With his first two-homer game since June 2, Griffey moved within one homer of the Cardinals’ McGwire and four ahead of Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs.

“If I was a betting man, I’d have to bet on Junior,” Mariner hitting coach Jesse Barfield said of the McGwire-Griffey-Sosa home run duel. “McGwire and Sammy have to contend with a lot of stuff going away from them. This game is made for lefties, my friend.”

Griffey, homering for the first time in four games, hit a 370-foot homer to right field in the third inning off John Burkett (5-10) to give Seattle a 2-0 lead.

In the seventh, he hit a two-run homer off Scott Bailes to put the Mariners ahead, 6-3.

Bailes said Griffey benefits from playing in the cozy Kingdome. Twenty-one of Griffey’s homers have been in Seattle. “I jammed him inside and he hit it over the 312 sign anyway,” he said. “If that’s a home run, he should hit 80 this year.”

Texas’ Juan Gonzalez, who leads the majors with 101 RBIs, did not drive in a run for the sixth consecutive game.

Jeff Fassero (9-5) got his fourth win in a row. He lost his bid for his first shutout of the season when Kevin Elster hit a three-run homer in the seventh. The left-hander pitched eight innings, giving up three runs and five hits.

“I got out of my bad month,” said Fassero, who was 1-3 in June.

Mike Timlin pitched the ninth for his third save.

New York 7, Cleveland 1--Andy Pettitte breezed through the Cleveland lineup for a six-hitter as the Yankees defeated the Indians at Cleveland.

With a split in the playoff-like two-game series, the Yankees improved to 66-21 and kept pace with the 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates for the best start this century.

Pettitte (12-5) won his fourth consecutive start, allowing one run and and retiring 12 straight at one point. He walked two and failed to strike out a batter for the first time this season.

The Yankees’ left-hander pitched his second complete game in four starts with a 1.39 ERA in that span.

Chuck Knoblauch hit his sixth homer, a solo shot leading off the seventh that made it 4-1 against Dave Burba (10-7), who gave up four runs and seven hits in seven innings.

Former Indians’ reserve Chad Curtis made two brilliant catches in center field, walked twice, stole two bases and scored two runs. Seven different Yankees each drove in a run.

Curtis made a leaping catch against the wall on Manny Ramirez’s drive in the third, then tracked down Shawon Dunston’s deep liner in the left-center alley to end the sixth.

With the Yankees leading 2-1 in the sixth, former Yankee Mark Whiten made a bad decision charging Darryl Strawberry’s liner to left. It got past him and rolled to the wall for a double, scoring Tino Martinez to make it 3-1.

Curtis sparked a two-run eighth against Eric Plunk. He drew a one-out walk, stole second and third and scored on Scott Brosius’ RBI single. Joe Girardi made it 6-1 with a triple to center.

Pettitte snuffed out a rally in the sixth with his 42nd career pickoff and fifth of the year.

Detroit 8, Kansas City 3--Justin Thompson got his first victory at home this season and Tony Clark hit a long three-run homer as the Tigers defeated the Royals at Detroit.

Thompson went six-plus innings, allowing three runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

Luis Gonzalez and Deivi Cruz also homered and Damion Easley added a two-run double to support Thompson’s first Tiger Stadium win since Sept. 5 against Anaheim.

Jose Offerman had a pair of RBI singles for the Royals, who won four of six at Detroit this year. Tim Belcher (8-8) suffered both losses, his only setbacks in his last eight decisions.

Belcher gave up eight runs on 12 hits, including three home runs, in six-plus innings. He struck out four and left after Clark’s seventh-inning homer over the 440-foot mark in center. He is 5-8 at Tiger Stadium during his career.

Belcher had won three straight since a 4-3 loss to the Tigers on June 20.

The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the third on Offerman’s RBI single after Mendy Lopez hit a leadoff double and moved up on Jermaine Allensworth’s bunt.

Gonzalez started a four-run fourth for the Tigers with his 12th home run. Brian Hunter had a two-out RBI single, and Easley followed with a two-run double.

Shane Mack added an RBI double in the fifth.

Cruz gave the Tigers a 5-2 lead in the sixth with a two-out solo home run, his third.

Offerman’s second RBI single came off reliever Matt Anderson, who then loaded the bases with one out before getting Dean Palmer on a popup and Jeff King on a fly ball.

Baltimore 11, Toronto 5--Chris Hoiles hit a grand slam to cap a six-run first inning that lifted the Orioles to a seven-run victory over the Blue Jays at Baltimore. It was the Orioles’ sixth consecutive victory.

Rafael Palmeiro, B.J. Surhoff and Joe Carter added solo homers for the Orioles, who completed their most successful homestand in five years. Baltimore took four from Boston and a pair from Toronto to match a 6-0 home stand in June 1993.

Surhoff went four for four and is 10 for 13 over his last three games, including hits in each of his last seven at-bats. The four hits matched his career high.

Mike Mussina (7-5) pitched a seven-hitter, striking out six and walking one, in his third complete game of the season. He was 0-1 with two no-decisions in his three previous starts.

Hoiles’ sixth career grand slam came off Woody Williams (8-4) after Eric Davis hit a two-out RBI single and Carter drew a bases-loaded walk.

The Blue Jays closed to 7-4 but lost for the fifth time in six games since the All-Star break.

Williams (8-4) allowed eight runs and 10 hits over five innings in losing for only the second time since May 8. His only other loss in that span was June 20 in Baltimore, when he yielded nine runs and 11 hits in seven innings.

Williams threw 52 of his 119 pitches in the first inning, walking two and allowing four hits, including Hoiles’ fifth homer of the season.

Chicago 8, Minnesota 5--Frank Thomas hit a three-run homer with two outs, capping a four-run ninth inning that lifted the White Sox to a victory over the Twins at Chicago.

Thomas’ 15th homer came after Chicago’s bullpen had allowed the Twins to score two runs in the top of the ninth for a 5-4 lead.

Albert Belle homered for the seventh time in six games for the White Sox, who have won four of five.

Keith Foulke (2-1) got the win.