Wells’ Homer Makes Toronto Fans Happy

Fans turned out despite the SARS outbreak and the Toronto Blue Jays treated them to a victory.

Vernon Wells homered in the ninth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-5, Friday night at Toronto.

A crowd of 16,417, the largest since opening day, turned out at SkyDome two days after the World Health Organization warned against travel to Toronto because of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome.

A couple of fans were shown on the video scoreboard holding up a sign that read: “What SARS?”

“It’s good to see the fans come out,” Wells said. “They came out to Maple Leaf [NHL playoff] games, and they weren’t worried about SARS. I looked around and there were a few more people in the stands than before.”

After Toronto third baseman Eric Hinske allowed Brent Mayne to reach on a throwing error in the ninth, pinch-hitter Ken Harvey hit a run-scoring single off Kelvim Escobar (1-1) to tie it at 5-5.

Wells, who went three for four, led off the bottom half with a homer off D.J. Carrasco (1-1).

Michael Tucker, Angel Berroa and Mayne homered for the Royals, who had won five in a row.

New York 3, Texas 2 -- Mike Mussina became the first five-game winner in the majors, striking out nine over eight innings and giving up one run and five hits, and Nick Johnson hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth to lead the Yankees at Arlington, Texas. New York improved to 19-4, best in the major leagues.

Minnesota 6, Chicago 1 -- Joe Mays gave up four hits in seven innings and Bobby Kielty homered to help the Twins win at Chicago and end a six-game losing streak. Mays (3-2) retired the first 11 batters and didn’t give up a hit until Sandy Alomar Jr. singled with one out in the sixth.

Tampa Bay 2, Baltimore 1 -- Rookie Seth McClung gave up one run over six-plus innings and Rocco Baldelli had an RBI single in a two-run first for the Devil Rays at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Oakland 5, Cleveland 2 -- Mark Ellis went three for four with a home run and Ted Lilly pitched 7 2/3 strong innings for the Athletics at Oakland.

Seattle 6, Detroit 0 -- Randy Winn tripled, doubled and singled, and Bret Boone hit a three-run double as the Mariners won at Seattle for their season-high fifth consecutive victory.