Helling Strong in Ranger Win

Texas Ranger starter Rick Helling wasn’t sure of where his pitches were going. It didn’t matter because the Seattle Mariners had a hard time hitting them.

Helling pitched six shutout innings Monday night, four after being hit on his throwing hand by a comebacker, as the Rangers defeated the Mariners, 10-1, at Arlington, Texas.

“By far I didn’t have really anything out there after getting hit. I just ended up getting by,” Helling said. “I changed my total style of pitching and my approach to the game tonight, kind of make things up as you go out there.”

After throwing out Tom Lampkin on the comebacker that ended the second, Helling (4-1) showed no obvious ill effects until he began warming up prior to the seventh. He had retired the Mariners 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings.

Helling gave up only three singles before he left with a 6-0 lead.

Boston 3, Chicago 2--Brian Rose, who failed to get out of the second in two of his other four starts, pitched six strong innings and Carl Everett homered for the Red Sox at Boston.

Rose (2-2) started with three perfect innings and left after six with a 3-2 lead after giving up four hits and no walks. He began the game with a 9.20 earned-run average after his appearance last Tuesday, when he gave up four runs in 1 2/3 innings against Detroit.

Kansas City 4, Detroit 1--Jermaine Dye hit a two-run double in the 11th inning at Detroit as the Royals ended a nine-game road losing streak.

The Royals’ Johnny Damon had a streak of 10 consecutive games with a leadoff hit in the first inning end when he grounded out.

The Tigers’ Juan Encarnacion had a hitting streak end at 19.

Toronto 6, Baltimore 5--Darrin Fletcher hit a grand slam in the fourth inning at Toronto as the Blue Jays won their 11th in a row over the Orioles.

Tony Batista also homered for the Blue Jays, who have hit 48 homers in 19 home games and are on pace to finish with 207, which would shatter the major league home record of 149 set by the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in 1996.

Cleveland 3, Minnesota 2--Manny Ramirez’s RBI single against Bob Wells (0-3) with two out in the 10th inning lifted the Indians at Minneapolis.

New York 6, Tampa Bay 3--Dwight Gooden, who spent the first 13 years of his career with the Yankees and Mets, allowed six runs and three homers before leaving in the fifth inning of his first road game at New York.