Sele Invokes Policy of Zero Tolerance

Scoring against Aaron Sele hasn’t been easy lately.

Sele gave up four hits over seven innings Friday night in the Seattle Mariners’ 4-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Minneapolis to extend his shutout streak to 17 innings.

“He struggled a bit in June, but now he’s got the rhythm going again,” Mariner Manager Lou Piniella said.

Sele (12-1), who threw a two-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Sunday, struck out five and walked one to win his fourth consecutive start.

“I don’t know if they’re ever easy,” Sele said. “It seems like I remember baseballs raining out of the roof each time I come in here.”

Jeff Nelson and Arthur Rhodes combined with Sele on the five-hitter in the opener of a four-game series between the majors’ top two teams.

Seattle relievers haven’t surrendered a run in 27 innings since the All-Star break.

The victory was Piniella’s 700th with the Mariners, making him the fourth active manager to reach that mark with his current club.

“It’s a lot of wins, and I’m proud of that,” Piniella said. “I don’t think I’ll get 700 more, I’ll tell you that.”

Boston 7, Chicago 2--Manny Ramirez hit two home runs and drove in four runs, and Jose Offerman hit a three-run homer for the Red Sox at Chicago.

Ramirez reached the 30-homer mark for the fourth consecutive season and sixth time in his career, helping Hideo Nomo (10-4) win his fourth consecutive start.

The Red Sox moved into a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the American League East.

Oakland 14, Kansas City 3--Eric Chavez hit two home runs and drove in six runs, and the A’s hit four consecutive doubles in a five-run seventh inning at Kansas City, Mo.

Chavez also had a single and a double and scored four runs. Johnny Damon, Jeremy Giambi and Billy McMillon each had three hits. Terrence Long had two hits and two runs batted in.

Texas 4, Tampa Bay 1--Ivan Rodriguez and Ruben Sierra hit consecutive homers for the Rangers at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Rodriguez and Sierra, without a run batted in in his previous nine games, hit solo homers in the sixth inning to give the Rangers a 3-1 lead. It was the 12th time this season the Rangers have had consecutive homers.

Rodriguez went two for four. He is hitting .412 in his career against the Devil Rays, his highest average against one club.

Toronto 10, New York 4--Jose Cruz Jr. homered on the second pitch of Brett Jodie’s major league career and hit another homer against the rookie in the second inning to lead the Blue Jay rout at New York.

Jodie, brought up from the minors to fill a shortage in the Yankee staff, also gave up a third-inning homer to Raul Mondesi and lasted only 13 batters, giving up six runs and seven hits in two-plus innings.

The 24-year-old right-hander, who kept kicking dirt in disgust as his debut disintegrated, received a mixture of boos and cheers when he walked to the dugout after Manager Joe Torre removed him.

Detroit 7, Cleveland 3--Chris Holt won for the first time in a month to lead the Tigers at Cleveland.

Holt (7-7) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings to earn his first victory in five starts since June 20. The right-hander had been 0-2 with a 7.30 earned-run average in three outings this season against the Indians.

The Tigers have won eight of 11.