Devil Rays’ Perry Comes Back Strong

There have been two amazing comebacks the past two days at Jacobs Field--by the Cleveland Indians and Herbert Perry.

Perry, whose injured knees forced him out of baseball for nearly two years, drove in four runs Saturday as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays protected their lead this time in a 7-6 victory over the Indians at Cleveland.

Perry, recalled earlier this week when Wade Boggs went on the disabled list, is making the most of his return to the big leagues. And he’s doing it against Cleveland, where he played from 1994-96.

After getting three hits Friday night when the Devil Rays blew an eight-run lead and lost, 20-11, Perry had two run-scoring singles and a two-run double against Charles Nagy (3-3) as the Devil Rays won for the first time in Cleveland.

“To do it here is nice because I have a lot of people here who still like me,” Perry said. “I still get a little chill when I get a cheer here.”

Kevin Stocker had four hits for the Devil Rays.

Reliever Bryan Rekar (3-1) pitched 3 1/3 innings for the win and Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his major league-leading 12th save.

Pinch-hitter Sandy Alomar had a run-scoring grounder in the bottom of the ninth before Hernandez struck out Kenny Lofton with a runner on third to end it.

Stocker had two doubles and two singles and Danny Clyburn homered for the Devil Rays, who took a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

Cleveland got run-scoring singles from Roberto Alomar and Manny Ramirez, but Jim Thome lined out with two runners on to end the threat.

Detroit 7, Baltimore 6--Willie Blair earned his first victory despite giving up four home runs at Detroit as the Tigers ended the Orioles’ five-game winning streak.

Blair (1-4) struggled through five innings, giving up six runs and six hits.

The two teams combined for six homers, with Charles Johnson hitting two for the Orioles.

Johnson, Mike Bordick and Delino DeShields all homered in the third inning for the Orioles. Gregg Jefferies hit a leadoff home run for Detroit and Dean Palmer also homered.

The Tigers took a 6-0 lead after two innings, then held off the Orioles.

Four Tiger relievers gave up two hits in four innings, with Todd Jones pitching the ninth for his sixth save.

Tiger right fielder Bobby Higginson reached over the wall to rob Jeff Conine of a tying home run in the eighth, then shortstop Deivi Cruz made a diving stop of pinch-hitter Calvin Pickering’s grounder up the middle in the ninth.

Scott Kamieniecki (0-1), making his season debut, gave up six runs and three hits with three walks in 1 2/3 innings. Only 22 of his 53 pitches were strikes. At one point, he threw 13 consecutive balls.

Texas 4, Toronto 3--Mike Morgan (5-2) gave up five hits and three runs in six innings for the Rangers at Toronto.

Morgan struck out three and walked three in his first game against the Blue Jays since 1987.

Rusty Greer homered and drove in three runs and Rafael Palmeiro doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning.

Greer’s homer in the first made the score 2-0, and his run-scoring single in the fourth tied it at 3-3.

David Wells, who has given up 22 runs in his last four starts, gave up four runs and seven hits. He walked five and struck out seven in eight innings.

Chicago 5, Oakland 3--John Snyder (5-1) gave up two runs and five hits in six innings for the White Sox at Chicago.

Bobby Howry pitched the ninth for his eighth save in nine chances, despite giving up a home run to Ben Grieve.

Tony Phillips led off the game with his eighth homer for the A’s.

Oakland starter Jimmy Haynes (1-5) lasted only 1 1/3 innings--the shortest outing of his career--and gave up nine hits and five runs.

Kansas City 6, Minnesota 2--Jose Rosado gave up three hits in six innings and Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 12 games for the Royals at Minneapolis.

Rosado (2-1) did not give up a hit until Ron Coomer homered with one out in the fourth.

Damon, who had two singles and a walk, tied Oakland’s Scott Spiezio for the best streak in the American League. Spiezio did not play Saturday night in the Athletics’ game at Chicago.