Athletics Get No Support in Loss

Jason Ryan took a shutout into the seventh inning to earn his first major league victory and the Oakland Athletics’ playoff hopes faded some more Monday night with a 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins at Oakland.

Before only 6,512, Oakland’s second-smallest home crowd this season, the A’s dropped five games behind idle Boston in the wild-card race. Oakland has 13 games remaining.

Kevin Appier (15-13) gave up three runs and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings, dropping to 6-4 since the A’s acquired him from Kansas City on July 31. He struck out a season-high eight but matched his career high for losses in a season.

Ryan (1-2), a 23-year-old right-hander making his seventh start, gave up five hits in six-plus innings, struck out one and walked three.

Ron Coomer drove in three runs for the Twins, who have won consecutive games for the first time since Sept. 5-6 against Tampa Bay. Minnesota is 5-14 in September.

Ryan allowed just one runner past second base. John Jaha doubled leading off the second and was thrown out at the plate by Matt Lawton when he tried to score on Ben Grieve’s single to right.

Kansas City 10, Seattle 9--Ken Griffey Jr. hit his American League-leading 46th homer, but the Royals hit four home runs of their own at Seattle.

Rey Sanchez was four for four with four runs scored, and Mark Quinn homered twice. Carlos Beltran and Joe Vitiello also homered for the Royals, who outhit the Mariners, 15-9. Griffey was three for five with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Seattle overcame a 5-1 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the fifth, but the Royals went back ahead, 8-6, in the sixth.

Brett Hinchliffe (0-3) walked two with two out in the sixth and Sanchez hit a go-ahead, two-run double, then scored on Beltran’s RBI single.

Jose Santiago (3-4) pitched three innings for the win. Jeff Montgomery pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 19 chances.

The crowd of 33,254 was the smallest at Seattle since the Mariners moved from the Kingdome to Safeco Field on July 15.

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Detroit 4, Cleveland 3--Juan Encarnacion singled home the winning run with one out in the 10th inning at Detroit.

The AL Central champion Indians lost for the sixth time in seven games to fall a half-game behind idle New York in the race for the league’s best record.

David Riske (1-1), Cleveland’s sixth pitcher, walked Tony Clark to open the 10th. Riske then fielded Palmer’s bunt but threw high to second for an error.

One out later, Encarnacion lined a 1-and-1 pitch to right, scoring pinch-runner Gregg Jefferies.

Dean Palmer hit a two-run homer off Dwight Gooden for the Tigers.

Around the League

The deadline for the sale of the Oakland Athletics passed with the team’s future still undecided. Officials of the Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the publicly-owned sports complex where the A’s play, had asked team owners Steve Schott and Ken Hofmann to either extend the sales deadline or promise to keep the team in Oakland until at least 2004, three years beyond their current agreement. Schott and Hofmann said through their lawyers that they needed more time to respond to the requests. . . . Texas outfielder Rusty Greer was cleared to return for full duty after being hit in the eye by a ball last week. The Rangers also extended the contracts of General Manager Doug Melvin and Manager Johnny Oates for two years.