Devil Rays’ Arrojo Shows Off for Family

It was a night the Arrojo brothers won’t forget.

With his older brother watching him pitch as a major leaguer for the first time since defecting from Cuba, Rolando Arrojo got his ninth win Wednesday night as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 2-1, at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Arrojo (9-4) was making his first home start since his brother, Roberto, his mother, Uvendolina, and several other family members fled the communist island earlier this month. Arrojo had left the team last week to join them in Miami.

“I was very happy my brother was here. I put everything into the game just to show him what I could do,” Arrojo said through a interpreter.

“It was a good experience for me. He knows a lot about baseball. He’s been a coach [in Cuba] all his life.”

Arrojo gave up seven hits, struck out four and walked two in eight innings. He became the fastest pitcher on an expansion team to reach nine wins. The right-hander got win No. 9 in Tampa Bay’s 69th game. Chris Hammond won his ninth game in Florida’s 74th game in 1993.

Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his 14th save and has not given up an earned run in his last 17 appearances.

Like the rest of the American League, the Blue Jays have seen how tough Arrojo can be.

“He has two pitches, but he throws them from three or four different angles,” Toronto first baseman Carlos Delgado said. “That makes it seem like six or eight pitches. He has a great understanding of what works for him and when to use it. That makes him nasty.”

New York 5, Baltimore 3--Darryl Strawberry hit a 465-foot homer off Mike Mussina as the Yankees averted a three-game sweep at Baltimore.

Strawberry’s 10th homer, a three-run shot to center in the first inning, was the longest in the seven-year history of Camden Yards.

The drive, which landed at the base of an ivy-covered wall far behind the playing field, was two feet longer than a blast by Oakland’s Pedro Munoz in 1996.

Joe Girardi also homered for the Yankees, who had not lost in 24 straight series before coming to Baltimore.

Andy Pettitte (8-5) gave up two runs and six hits in 7 1/3 innings.

He struck out three and walked two in improving to 6-0 lifetime at Camden Yards and 8-1 overall against Baltimore.

Mariano Rivera gave up a sacrifice fly in the ninth to Cal Ripken before getting his 14th save.

Rafael Palmeiro and Joe Carter hit homers for the Orioles, who were vying for their first three-game sweep of the Yankees since 1991. Mussina (5-4) gave up five runs and eight hits in six innings in falling to 3-8 lifetime against the Yankees.

Carter homered in the bottom of the sixth inning. All nine of his homers have been solo shots.

Kansas City 4, Cleveland 3--Jose Rosado won for the third time in four starts despite being knocked out by a liner off his pitching arm at Cleveland.

Rosado (3-5) was in his first serious jam in the seventh when David Bell hit a hard liner off his left forearm. Rosado picked up the ball and blooped a throw to first, but doubled over in pain before leaving the game because of a bruised muscle.

Matt Whisenant relieved with runners at second and third and served up Kenny Lofton’s three-run homer to right to cut the score to 4-3.

But the rally fell short for the Central-leading Indians, who lost two of three to the Royals and stagger into a four-game series against the Yankees starting tonight.

The teams were rained out twice in New York last weekend, and Cleveland has lost five of six.

Rosado, the winning pitcher for the AL in the 1997 All-Star game at Jacobs Field, handcuffed Cleveland with beguiling stuff en route to his second consecutive victory. Rosado, who started the season 0-5, was charged with two runs in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five, gave up eight hits and walked one.

Detroit 6, Minnesota 2--The Tigers’ Tony Clark homered from both sides of the plate at Detroit.

He hit a solo homer batting right-handed in the fourth inning and a three-run blast from the left side in the seventh for Detroit, which won for only the fifth time in its last 17 games.

Todd Walker had three hits for the Twins, who had won six of their previous nine.

Bryce Florie (5-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings for Detroit. He is 2-2 in four starts since joining the rotation after 24 relief appearances.

Eric Milton (3-6) gave up three runs (one earned) and seven hits in six innings. He has not won in six starts since beating the New York Yankees on May 15.

Two Minnesota errors resulted in five unearned runs.

Boston 12, Chicago 5--Mo Vaughn and Troy O’Leary each drove in three runs against the White Sox at Chicago.

The win was the 400th for Red Sox Manager Jimy Williams, who is in his second season with the Boston and earlier managed at Toronto for three years.

Vaughn had three hits, including a two-run homer in the third and a run-scoring single in the fifth for Boston, which won its sixth game in its last seven. O’Leary had two hits.

Nomar Garciaparra had three hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox.

Tim Wakefield (8-3) joined teammate Pedro Martinez as an eight-game winner. The knuckleballer gave up three hits, walked four and hit one batter over six innings, striking out seven.

Tom Gordon pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his 20th save.

Scott Eyre (1-7) took the loss, giving up six runs and eight hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings.

The Red Sox scored six runs in the ninth on Garciaparra’s RBI single, a two-run double by O’Leary and a three-run homer by Damon Buford.