Erickson Is a Roaring Success Once Again

It figured Scott Erickson would right himself in Tiger Stadium.

The Baltimore Oriole right-hander pitched a five-hit shutout to end a career-worst five-game losing streak with a 5-0 victory Sunday over the Detroit Tigers at Detroit.

“It took a while, unfortunately,” he said. “It’s been a struggle to get here. I’ve been working hard and it finally paid off. I finally threw some strikes.”

Charles Johnson homered for the third consecutive game and Brady Anderson and Harold Baines also hit homers for the Orioles, who won two of three game to win their third series in a row after losing their first seven.

Erickson (1-5) raised his record against the Tigers to 15-3, including 9-2 at Tiger Stadium. He won for the first time since Sept. 26 at Boston.

“Mechanically speaking, I was just a little bit more sound today,” he said. “I’ve been struggling really bad, falling off, not driving it home, all sorts of different things. Today I somewhat put it back together.”

Erickson had five walks, including three that loaded the bases in the first inning. But he got out of that jam and was never seriously threatened again.

The shutout, the 14th of Erickson’s career, was the Orioles’ first complete game this season. Baltimore has won six of seven after a 4-14 start.

The Tigers were shut out for the sixth time in 32 games this season.

Dave Mlicki (1-2) gave up only five hits in six innings, but two were solo homers by Anderson and Johnson. He walked four and struck out three.

Oakland 3, Chicago 0--Mike Oquist and Doug Jones combined on a four-hitter at Chicago as the Athletics avoided a three-game sweep.

Oquist (4-2) gave up all four hits in six-plus innings, struck out six and walked one. After Paul Konerko’s leadoff single in the seventh, Jones got Jeff Liefer to ground into a double play. Jones pitched hitless relief for his second save.

“This is what starting pitching can do for you,” Oakland Manager Art Howe said. “We went after the hitters and threw strikes.”

Texas 11, Toronto 6--Lee Stevens went four for five with three RBIs and the Rangers tied a team record with eight doubles, overcoming a pair of Pat Kelly homers at Toronto.

Texas had 20 hits, its most since April 2, 1998, when the Rangers had a franchise-record 23 against the Chicago White Sox. The Rangers reached 20 for the fourth time.

Stevens, Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez had two doubles each, and Rafael Palmeiro and Todd Zeile each had one. Texas also had eight doubles at Cleveland on May 17, 1996.

Peter Munro (0-1) gave up three consecutive hits starting the seventh, and wound up giving up four runs and five hits in two innings.

Cleveland 5, Tampa Bay 4--Manny Ramirez hit a three-run homer after a Tampa Bay error extended the Indians’ third inning at Cleveland.

Ramirez hit his ninth homer after shortstop Kevin Stocker committed a two-out error. The Devil Rays, who lead the American League in fielding percentage, had their second three-error game of the series.

Jaret Wright (4-0) gave up two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings. Steve Karsay got out of a jam with one pitch in the seventh, and Mike Jackson got his eighth save after giving up Jose Canseco’s two-run homer, his 11th, in the ninth.

Wilson Alvarez (1-2), victimized by Stocker’s error, has lost his last four starts against the Indians. He gave up one earned run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts.

Before Ramirez’s homer, the left-hander had not given up a run in 14 2/3 innings since coming off the disabled list April 29.

“If I had made a good pitch to Ramirez we might have won the game,” Alvarez said. “It was a fastball that was supposed to be outside and it just went back across the plate.”

Kansas City 7, Minnesota 2--Johnny Damon homered and drove in four runs at Minneapolis as the Royals sent the Twins to their fourth consecutive loss.

Meanwhile, Rey Sanchez had an RBI triple in the fourth, an RBI double in the sixth and a run-scoring single in the eighth.

With a win in today’s series finale, the Royals can complete their first four-game sweep since May 1996 against the Angels.

Damon hit a three-run homer against Mike Lincoln (1-5) in the first and an RBI double against Bob Wells in the seventh. He has matched his career high with a 13-game hitting streak. He has 16 RBIs during the streak, lifting his average from .169 to .263.