Fernandez and Green Are a Hit for Blue Jays

While Tony Fernandez has been moving well past the .400 mark the last two weeks, Shawn Green has been struggling to regain his power and confidence.

After Green homered twice Monday night, they’re back.

“I didn’t think I’d hit another home run again this year with the way I’ve been swinging,” Green said after hitting his first home runs since May 26 and tying a career high with five runs batted in as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Kansas City Royals, 11-4, at Toronto for their seventh victory in eight games.

Fernandez continued to put .400 in his rear-view mirror, going two for three to raise his major league-leading average to .414 and extend his hitting streak to 11 games.

Green’s first home run, a three-run shot off Chris Fussell, was part of a five-run third. Green’s home run was sandwiched between Homer Bush’s first homer of the season and Fernandez’s solo shot.

Green added a two-run homer in the sixth off Tim Byrdak. He had been hitting only .235 since returning June 11 from a broken bone in his left wrist.

“I’ve been self conscience about it, so tonight I just relaxed and let things happen,” said Green, who admitted the wrist is still sore.

Tampa Bay 3, Minnesota 2--Jose Canseco singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Devil Rays stretched their winning streak to three by defeating the Twins at Minneapolis.

Ryan Rupe (3-3) gave up two runs, only one earned, and four hits in seven innings.

Norm Charlton pitched a hitless eighth, and Roberto Hernandez finished the five-hitter for his 20th save in 22 chances.

Detroit 13, Oakland 11--Tony Clark hit a three-run home run in the eighth as the Tigers rallied from blowing a six-run lead to defeat the Athletics at Detroit.

Dean Palmer also homered for the Tigers, who led, 9-3, in the third but fell behind, 10-9, in the fifth.

Jason Giambi homered twice for Oakland, and Eric Chavez also connected for the Athletics.

After Detroit broke a 3-3 tie with six in the third, Tony Phillips hit a two-run double and Miguel Tejada had an RBI groundout as Oakland pulled to 9-6 in the fourth. In the fifth, Giambi’s two-run homer made the score 9-8 before Chavez’s go-ahead, two-run homer.

Boston 5, Texas 4--Ivan Rodriguez’s seventh-inning throwing error led to the winning run, and Nomar Garciaparra went four for four as the Red Sox defeated the Rangers at Boston for their third consecutive victory.

Garciaparra, 7,931 votes behind New York’s Derek Jeter in fan balloting for the All-Star starting spot at shortstop, had two doubles, two singles and a stolen base, giving him a .382 career average against Texas.

Texas, which lost for the eighth time in its last 10 games against Boston, has only three wins in its last 10 games overall. The Rangers have not scored more than four runs in nine games since an 8-7 loss to Colorado on June 12.