Yankees Play Long Ball Against Twins

Facing Mike Mussina and playing without three starters Sunday, the Minnesota Twins needed a strong outing from Rick Reed.

Instead, the New York Yankees teed off on Reed. They hit five home runs in a span of eight at-bats and Mussina was tough on the Twins again in a 10-4 victory to finish a three-game sweep at Minneapolis.

“They had their hitting shoes on,” Minnesota Manager Ron Gardenhire said. “Everybody knows it. These guys can play.”

Joe Torre became the 17th manager to win 1,500 games, and the Yankees had 18 hits to win their sixth in a row--all on the road. They swept their first series at the Metrodome since May 17-19, 1993.

Jorge Posada and Robin Ventura hit consecutive homers in the fourth and Nick Johnson and Derek Jeter hit solo homers in the fifth against Reed (4-2).

“Honestly, as crazy as it might sound, I thought Reed threw pretty well,” Gardenhire said. “Every time he made a mistake over the zone, they hit it.”

Jason Giambi hit the most impressive of the homers--a two-run blast in the fifth against Jack Cressend that landed in the upper deck in right field and gave the Yankees a 7-0 lead.

Texas 5, Detroit 1--Chan Ho Park finally pitched in Texas, working five innings in his first start since getting off the disabled list, to help the Rangers extend their winning streak to four games.

Park, the former Dodger right-hander signed by the Rangers during the off-season, gave up one run and four hits, and struck out four.

The Rangers (18-19) are within one game of .500 for the first time since Park lost the opener at Oakland on April 1. Park (1-1), who had been on the disabled list because of a pulled right hamstring, threw 53 of 78 pitches for strikes.

Kansas City 4, Cleveland 1--Paul Byrd won again as the Royals posted their first three-game sweep at home over the Indians in nearly 17 years.

Byrd (6-2) tied Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox for the league lead in victories and lowered his earned-run average to 2.77. He gave up five hits and struck out five in six innings.

The Royals’ last three-game sweep at home over Cleveland came July 26-28, 1985.

Toronto 11, Oakland 4--Carlos Delgado homered twice and Eric Hinske hit a two-run homer at Oakland to help the Blue Jays win for only the fourth time in their last 11 games.

Delgado hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning against Cory Lidle (1-5) and had a three-run drive in the ninth against former Toronto closer Billy Koch.

Tampa Bay 6, Baltimore 3--John Flaherty and Jared Sandberg had run-scoring doubles during a three-run fourth-inning at St. Petersburg, Fla., to help the Devil Rays win their second game in a row.

Tampa Bay ended a franchise-record 15-game losing streak Saturday. The Devil Rays have won consecutive games for the first time since winning three in a row April 21-24.

Boston 10, Seattle 4--Pedro Martinez struck out a season-high 12 at Seattle for the Red Sox, who began a long stretch without slugger Manny Ramirez.

Ramirez, batting .372 with nine homers and 35 runs batted in, will be out at least four to six weeks because of a broken left index finger that could require surgery.

Working on four days’ rest instead of five for the first time this season, Martinez (5-0) gave up one run and four hits in eight innings.