Ramirez Rockets to 90 RBIs

One day after being elected an All-Star starter for the first time, Manny Ramirez showed why he deserves the honor.

Ramirez homered for the third time in four games to reach the 90-RBI mark, and Jaret Wright pitched six strong innings as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Twins, 3-1, Tuesday night at Minneapolis.

“Manny’s just a special player,” said Cleveland Manager Mike Hargrove. “If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best right-fielders in the game.”

Ramirez’s two-run homer in the first inning was his 23rd this season, giving him 90 RBIs through Cleveland’s first 82 games. Hack Wilson holds the major league record with 191 RBIs for the Chicago Cubs in 1930.

“He has as many RBIs as most people have in a year,” Hargrove said. “Special players do special things.”

Ramirez is hitting .335 and has moved into eighth place on the Indians’ all-time homer list with 177. He has more RBIs than he had in 150 games in 1997, when he hit .328 and drove in 88 runs.

Ramirez’s ninth homer in 20 games was all the offense Wright (7-5) would need. He gave up one run and four hits, struck out five and walked three. Minnesota’s only run came on Jacque Jones’ leadoff homer in the first.

Wright was helped an unusual play in the sixth inning and by two double plays.

Denny Hocking and Todd Walker singled to lead off the sixth before Ron Coomer hit a ball that seemed headed into the stands behind the plate. But the ball hit a speaker and was caught by catcher Einar Diaz in foul territory.

Eric Milton (4-7) gave up two runs and three hits in four innings before leaving because of a stiff left elbow. Team physician Dan Buss said Milton felt some stiffness before the game and took himself out.

Kansas City 8, Chicago 7--Chris Singleton of the White Sox became the first AL rookie to hit for the cycle since 1985, but Carlos Beltran’s arm and bat led the Royals at Chicago.

Beltran threw out the potential winning run at the plate in the ninth, then singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th. Joe Randa homered twice for the Royals.

Mike Sweeney, who had tied an AL record with an RBI in 13 consecutive games, went one for five for the Royals and failed to break the mark set by Chicago’s Taffy Wright in 1941. Sweeney grounded into a double play with two runners on base in the first inning.

Singleton went five for six and drove in four runs, matching his personal best. He singled in the first, hit a run-scoring triple in the fourth, had a two-run double in the fifth and hit a solo home run in the seventh.

Singleton got a standing ovation when he came to the plate in the ninth and singled for his first five-hit game in the majors. He later flied out to end the game.

New York 9, Detroit 8--Chili Davis had a run-scoring single in the 10th inning at Detroit as the Yankees overcame Mariano Rivera’s second blown save.

Bobby Higginson’s solo homer with two outs in the ninth against Rivera tied it, 8-8, for the Tigers.

But Bernie Williams reached on a one-out infield single against Todd Jones (1-3) in the 10th, went to third on a single by Tino Martinez and scored when Davis singled up the middle.

Higginson hit the first homer against Rivera (2-1) this season. Rivera had converted his last 17 save opportunities. Ramiro Mendoza pitched the 10th for his third save.

Toronto 4, Baltimore 3--Rob Butler singled in the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning for the Blue Jays at Baltimore.

Homer Bush led off the 10th with a single against Mike Timlin (3-8), who was making his first appearance since losing in Toronto on July 1. After a pop-up, Bush stole second and scored on a single to left field by Butler, who entered the game as a pinch-runner in the eighth.

Timlin has a major league-leading eight blown saves, and his eight losses are tied for high on the Orioles, who have lost 11 of their last 13 games.

Oakland 4, Texas 0--Jimmy Haynes and three relievers teamed on a four-hitter and John Jaha hit a two-run homer for the Athletics at Oakland.

Ranger outfielder Juan Gonzalez, who said he did not want to play in the All-Star game unless fans elected him to start, was booed all night by the crowd of 8,221. He went one for four and was thrown out trying to stretch a double.

Haynes (6-6) gave up three hits in seven innings to beat Texas for the fifth consecutive time. He walked two and struck out six.

Relievers Tim Worrell, Buddy Groom and Billy Taylor completed the combined shutout.

Tampa Bay 6, Boston 4--Paul Sorrento hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning for the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

The Devil Rays won for the second time in 42 tries this season when trailing after seven innings.

Mike Stanley hit a three-run homer during a four-run third inning for Boston.

Wilson Alvarez went 7 1/3 innings, giving up two singles after Stanley’s home run. Alvarez left with runners on first and second and one out in the eighth inning.