Twins Rule on Prince’s Two Homers

Tom Prince doesn’t care about the home runs. He wants the victories, especially with the American League Central title on the line.

Prince hit two homers and Torii Hunter added an inside-the-park home run Thursday as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Oakland Athletics, 7-4, at Oakland.

Prince, the Twins’ catcher and No. 9 batter, doesn’t get to talk about multi-homer games very often. Any hit is fine, as long as the Twins win, he said.

“When I get three hits and we win, I’m the happiest guy in the locker room; if I get three hits and we lose, I’m the maddest guy in there,” Prince said. “It’s all about winning for me.”

Former Cal State Fullerton ace Adam Johnson (1-1), the No. 2 pick in the 1999 amateur draft, earned his first major league victory, pitching five innings as the Twins moved back into first place by one game over the Cleveland Indians.

Prince extended his hitting streak to a season-high seven games with a three-run shot in the fourth inning. He followed with a solo shot in the sixth. They were his fifth and sixth homers of the season.

“Every once in a while a blind squirrel finds an acorn,” Twin Manager Tom Kelly said.

Seattle 4, Kansas City 0--Joel Pineiro, making his third major league start, pitched one-hit ball for six innings at Seattle and the Mariners avoided getting swept for the first time this season.

The Mariners still have not lost three in a row.

Seattle relievers Jeff Nelson, Arthur Rhodes and Kazuhiro Sasaki each worked one inning to complete the two-hitter. It was the Mariners’ eighth shutout, while the Royals were blanked for the fifth time.

New York 14, Detroit 8--Shane Spencer had a career-high six runs batted in, hitting a three-run homer that capped a seven-run sixth inning at New York and sent the Yankees to their fifth consecutive victory.

Spencer, who went three for five, also had a run-scoring double in the second and a two-run double in the eighth.

Chuck Knoblauch broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth with a two-run homer off the right-field foul pole, and Scott Brosius also homered for the Yankees, who have been rolling after a four-game losing streak.

Texas 9, Baltimore 7--Ricky Ledee hit his first homer of the season, a three-run shot that capped a five-run sixth inning and helped the Rangers complete a four-game sweep at Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers have their first four-game winning streak this season. The Orioles have lost 18 of 21.

Ledee had gone 46 games without a homer--the second-longest drought in his career--before his towering 428-foot shot down the right-field line against Josh Towers (6-5).

Ledee started for only the 28th time this season after being sidelined the first 2 1/2 months because of an injured left knee.

“I’m glad to see Ricky get a big hit for us, he’s been working hard,” Ranger Manager Jerry Narron said.

Boston 6, Toronto 3--Hideo Nomo won his fifth consecutive start and Manny Ramirez hit his 32nd home run to lead the Red Sox at Boston.

Reliever Rod Beck escaped a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning to preserve the victory.

The Red Sox, who ended the season series against the Blue Jays with a 12-7 record, remained 2 1/2 games behind the division-leading Yankees in the American League East.

Chicago 5, Cleveland 4--Jose Canseco finally figured out Charles Nagy, going three for three with a three-run homer against the Indian starter at Cleveland.

Canseco came in batting only .089 (four for 45) with two homers and 13 strikeouts against Nagy (4-4) before hitting an RBI single in the second and his sixth homer in the fifth to make the score 5-1.

The homer was the 452nd of Canseco’s career, tying him with Carl Yastrzemski for 22nd on the all-time list.