Reminder: Never Challenge Juan Gonzalez

The New York Yankees challenged Juan Gonzalez to beat them. So he did.

After New York loaded the bases with an intentional walk, Gonzalez foiled the strategy with a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning that propelled the Texas Rangers to an 8-6 victory Wednesday night at Arlington, Texas.

Todd Zeile added a two-run double later in the inning as the Rangers ended the Yankees’ six-game winning streak.

“Juan came up with the big hit with the bases loaded and I fought one off and kind of dropped it in there,” said Zeile, who also homered.

The worst news of the night for New York was the resurfacing of an old left thigh injury for Orlando Hernandez. He told coaches of the pain during the fifth inning and Manager Don Zimmer pulled him after the sixth.

Hernandez insisted that with treatment he’d be fine by his next start, which could be a must for the Yankees if Roger Clemens doesn’t recover quickly from a strained left hamstring he aggravated Tuesday night.

Mike Stanton (1-2) replaced Hernandez in the seventh with New York ahead, 4-3, and the score was tied three batters later on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Roberto Kelly.

Kelly took second when left fielder Chad Curtis unsuccessfully tried throwing out Royce Clayton at third. After Mark McLemore grounded out, New York opted to give Rusty Greer first base in hopes of getting Gonzalez to hit into a double play.

“Greer wears us out anyhow, so we walked him,” Zimmer said.

Jeff Nelson replaced Stanton and Gonzalez greeted him with a two-run shot through the left side of the infield. Curtis overran the ball, allowing Kelly to score without a throw.

Kansas City 8, Baltimore 4--Jose Rosado pitched seven solid innings and Carlos Beltran homered and had four hits and three RBIs at Baltimore as the Royals denied the Orioles an elusive second straight win.

Rosado (1-1) gave up two runs and five hits to become the first Kansas City starter to record a win since April 16. He struck out seven and walked two.

Rosado came in with a 1.48 earned-run average, but was winless because the Royals scored only nine runs in his four starts. Offense wasn’t a problem this time, as Kansas City took a 6-0 lead in the fourth inning against Juan Guzman (0-3).

Harold Baines homered for the Orioles, who have yet to win successive games this season.

The Royals sent eight men to the plate in a three-run first inning. Damon singled in a run, Joe Randa came home on a balk and Larry Sutton hit an RBI single.

Jermaine Dye doubled in a run in the third and Beltran hit his second homer with a man on in the fourth to chase Guzman, whose ERA climbed to 8.10. He’s one reason why Baltimore starters have a 7.49 ERA this season.

Boston 9, Minnesota 4--Jose Offerman drove in three runs and Pat Rapp pitched six strong innings at Minneapolis.

Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Varitek each added two RBIs for Boston, which avoided being swept at the Metrodome for the first time since 1994. Trot Nixon, Boston’s No. 9 hitter, homered and scored four runs.

The Twins hurt themselves with three errors, two wild pitches and a passed ball, as they finished their homestand at 2-5. Minnesota pitchers issued six walks, including three to Nixon.

Rapp (1-1) gave up one run and six hits, while walking two and striking out one in his fourth start for the Red Sox. Both Rapp and Offerman were signed away from Kansas City as free agents this off-season.

Cleveland 4, Oakland 1--Manny Ramirez hit a two-run homer for the second straight night, giving him 30 RBIs in April, and Jaret Wright pitched seven strong innings at Oakland.

Ramirez, who is five RBIs behind the major league record for April set by Texas’ Juan Gonzalez last season, hit his seventh homer of the season in the third inning.

David Justice led off the ninth with his third homer and Omar Vizquel hit an RBI single as Cleveland improved its record to 15-5, best in the majors, by winning its third straight game against Oakland.

Wright (2-0) allowed one run and five hits. He retired 10 straight batters starting with the last out of the second inning, and worked out of a jam in the seventh by getting pinch-hitter Tim Raines to hit into an inning-ending double play.

Seattle 8, Detroit 6--John Mabry homered twice in a game for the first time in his major league career and rookie Freddy Garcia remained unbeaten as the Mariners won at Seattle.

Mabry put Seattle ahead with a solo homer in the first off Willie Blair (0-3). Ken Griffey Jr. stopped an 0-for-14 slump with a three-run homer in the third, and Mabry connected two batters later for a two-run shot that made the score 6-0.

Seattle, which leads the AL with 36 homers, had not hit any in 19 innings coming in.

The Mariners stopped Detroit’s three-game winning streak.

Garcia (3-0) gave up three runs and four hits in six innings. He has pitched at least five innings and given up no more than three runs in all five starts this year.

Blair gave up seven runs and eight hits in three-plus innings, raising his ERA to 6.07.

He has given up 17 runs and 25 hits in three away starts for a 12.75 ERA on the road.

Karim Garcia had an RBI groundout and Juan Encarnacion a run-scoring single as Detroit closed to 6-2 in the fourth.

David Bell hit a solo homer in the bottom half.