AL ROUNDUP : Canseco Homer First Since July

Returning after sitting out four games because of a sore right hand, Jose Canseco made an immediate impact.

Canseco hit a three-run homer Thursday night as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-3, at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“I was happy to help the team . . . I was happy to pull the ball,” Canseco said of his 390-foot blast. “The timing is not quite there, but much better.”

Canseco, who developed a sore ligament in his right hand while working out after back surgery in July, broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth inning with his 32nd homer and first since July 8.

It was Canseco’s first extra-base hit since coming off the 15-day disabled list on Aug. 20 after the surgery. All 12 of his hits since then had been singles.

“I think he’s got a chance to get things going,” Tampa Bay Manager Larry Rothschild said.

While Canseco was back, the Devil Rays lost two players to leg injuries in the second inning.

Fred McGriff reported tightness in his left quadriceps after a leadoff double and Bubba Trammell left because of a sprained left ankle after being doubled off first base. Both players were listed as day-to-day, although Rothschild said McGriff would not play tonight and Trammell was questionable.

Baltimore 6, Minnesota 5--Brady Anderson and Jerry Hairston homered and Albert Belle reached 100 RBIs for the eighth consecutive season as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep at Minneapolis.

Hairston hit a solo shot in the first inning and Anderson had a leadoff homer in the fifth. Both also singled and scored in the Orioles’ three-run rally in the seventh inning.

Belle has at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs in eight consecutive seasons, matching Babe Ruth. Only Jimmie Foxx (12) and Lou Gehrig (nine) have more consecutive 30-homer, 100-RBI seasons.