Yankees Get Back in the Swing of Things

The longest nine-inning game in Tropicana Field history--three hours 50 minutes--didn’t end nearly fast enough for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Tino Martinez hit two homers and drove in four runs Wednesday night as the New York Yankees overcame a shaky start by Roger Clemens in a 12-4 victory over the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Paul O’Neill also had four RBIs and Bernie Williams had his second consecutive four-hit game as the Yankees had a season-high 19 hits.

“I haven’t been swinging the bat well. Paul hasn’t been swinging the bat well either,” said Martinez, who has 12 home runs for the season. “Today, we got going. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

A struggling Clemens (7-2) threw 112 pitches in five innings, allowing four runs and 10 hits.

“His rhythm was messed up,” Yankee Manager Joe Torre said of Clemens, who struck out a season-high 13 in losing to the Texas Rangers last week. “When he needed to get some outs, he was able to get some outs. But it wasn’t the same smooth rhythm that we saw the last time.”

Tampa Bay, which has lost 10 consecutive home games, scored twice in the second and once in the third for a 3-0 lead.

After allowing RBI singles to Miguel Cairo and Randy Winn in the second, Clemens struck out major league home run leader Jose Canseco with the bases loaded to end the inning.

But Devil Ray starter Dave Eiland (0-3) was lifted in the fifth inning after loading the bases, which O’Neill cleared with a double off reliever Scott Aldred. Eiland, who allowed four runs and eight hits, has not won a major league game in four years.

Minnesota 12, Chicago 10--Marty Cordova had a home run and drove in a career-high five runs for the Twins in a game at Chicago that was delayed one hour 31 minutes because of rain.

Ron Coomer hit a two-run homer, and Denny Hocking and Chad Allen each had three hits for Minnesota, which ended a losing streak at four games.

Rookie Benj Sampson (3-0) earned the victory with five innings of relief as rookie starter Mike Lincoln couldn’t get out of the first, giving up three runs.

Mike Sirotka (6-7) had his winning streak end at four games, giving up seven runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings. Sirotka’s earned-run average, which had been second in the American League to Boston’s Pedro Martinez, rose from 2.54 to 2.93.

Rookie Chris Singleton had a career high four hits and drove in three runs for the White Sox.

Cleveland 9, Toronto 6--Richie Sexson hit a homer and drove in four runs at Toronto as the Indians ended the Blue Jays’ winning streak at four games. Sexson has batted .367 (18 for 49) since ending an 0-for-24 slump on June 9.

Cleveland starter Charles Nagy (9-4) gave up four runs in the first, but then pitched six scoreless innings. Nagy gave up four runs and eight hits in seven innings.

Toronto starter Pat Hentgen left the game after the third inning after being hit in the right arm by Roberto Alomar’s line drive.

Hentgen continued a season-long tendency to get hit hard in the first inning, giving up a run-scoring double to David Justice, an RBI single to Sexson and run-producing single to Jim Thome.

Opponents are hitting .451 (37 for 82) against Hentgen in the first.

The Blue Jays’ Jose Cruz Jr. suffered a broken finger on his left hand after being hit by a pitch and will be sidelined two weeks.

Boston 5, Baltimore 0--Bret Saberhagen allowed seven hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings at Baltimore to earn his first victory in five starts since April 13 to help end the Orioles’ win streak at four games. Saberhagen (3-2) was activated from the disabled list before the game.

John Valentin hit a two-run homer and Reggie Jefferson had a solo shot for Boston.

For Baltimore, Mike Bordick got his 1,000th career hit and Jesse Orosco made his 1,050th relief appearance, tying the major-league record held by Kent Tekulve.

Kansas City 10, Detroit 1--Jay Witasick overcame a blister on his pitching hand to allow only five hits in a career-high eight innings at Kansas City, Mo.

Witasick (3-5) had gone 13 innings without allowing an earned run before giving up a home run in the eighth inning to Gabe Kapler, who leads all American League rookies with 11. Witasick’s previous longest outing was 6 2/3 innings.

“I didn’t think after the Toronto start [last Friday] that I was going to be able to pitch [because of the blister],” said Witasick. “Today, we started putting some trainer stuff on there, magic stuff. They rubbed some stuff on and said go get ‘em.”