Jose Canseco scored the winning run with one out in the 10th inning when right fielder Tony Phillips lost Mark McGwire's fly ball in the sun as the A's defeated the Tigers 9-8 in a game that took four hours, 51 minutes to complete.
In the 10th, Canseco drew a leadoff walk and reached second when John Cerutti (2-6) threw wildly to second after fielding Scott Brosius' bunt.After Dave Henderson struck out, McGwire hit a routine fly to right that Phillips obviously could not see. Canseco hesitated, then came home beating Phillips' throw without a slide, finishing off Oakland's comeback from a 6-0 deficit in the sixth inning, and an 8-7 deficit in the eighth.
McGwire's gift single produced an unearned run that ended a game that would not end. It took 4:22 to finish nine innings; the record for the longest nine-inning game is 4:18, set on Oct. 2, 1962, in a game between the Giants and Dodgers.
The A's and Tigers used a total of 12 pitchers who combined to walk 22 hitters, hit another one, while mixing in four wild pitches as they gave up 22 hits - the two teams stranded 25 men on base - before a sellout crowd of 43,726 at the Oakland Coliseum.
Dennis Eckersley (3-2) pitched the 10th inning for the win.
After needing less than an hour to complete the first three innings, the next 31/2 innings, including Oakland's seven-run sixth, took nearly 21/2 hours to get through. By game's end, the stadium was less than half filled.
Detroit squandered a 6-0 lead when four pitchers allowed the A's to score seven runs in the sixth inning. The A's combined four singles, two doubles, two base on balls and a hit batsman.
The Tigers promptly tied the score at 7 on Pete Incaviglia's one-out, run-scoring double off Rick Honeycutt (2-4) in the seventh, and went ahead 8-7 when Milt Cuyler blooped an opposite field double.
The A's pulled even again on McGwire's bases-loaded sacrifice fly with one out in the eighth.
The A's began their comeback with Harold Baines' hit-and-run double off Walt Terrell, which drove in the first two runs. McGwire's run-scoring single chased Terrell. Terry Steinbach then pinch hit an RBI single off Paul Gibson, and Mike Gallego's opposite-field, run-scoring double pulled the A's within 6-5.
After Rickey Henderson was walked intentionally loading the bases, Kevin Ritz relieved Gibson, and promptly hit Brook Jacoby, forcing in Steinbach to tie the score at 6. Canseco's sacrifice fly scored Gallego easily to give the A's a 7-6 lead.
The Tigers led 6-0 after scoring three times in the third and three more in the six.
Cuyler doubled in two runs and Fryman doubled in another in the third. Lou Whitaker hit a two-run double in the sixth, and Alan Trammell added an RBI single.
Blue Jays 5, Yankees 0
At New York, Jimmy Key and two relievers combined on a three-hitter to lead the Blue Jays to victory over the Yankees, giving first-place Toronto its sixth win in seven games.
Key (14-9) allowed fifth-inning singles to Mel Hall and Bob Geren before departing after that inning with a slight stiffness on the left side of his neck. Mike Timlin and Duane Ward finished up.
Ward pitched 1 2-3 of innings of one-hit relief to earn his 17th save. Key issued one walk and struck out two over the first five innings.
Pat Tabler and Pat Borders hit successive pinch-hit doubles to produce the Blue Jays' first run in the sixth against Yankee reliever Greg Cadaret (6-5).
Eric Plunk allowed five hits and four walks over the first five innings, but the Blue Jays stranded eight runners as Cadaret struck out six.
After doubling home Tabler, Borders moved to third on a sacrifice by Manuel Lee and was thrown out trying to score on Devon White's fly to right.
Television replays seemed to indicate Borders was safe, and the Blue Jays hotly disputed homeplate umpire Chuck Meriweather's call.
Toronto added a run in the eighth off John Habyan when Tabler beat out a two-out, infield single and scored on Borders' double.
Toronto scored three more times in the ninth on John Olerud's sacrifice fly and Kelly Gruber's two-run double.
Twins 5, Orioles 2
At Minneapolis, rookie Chuck Knoblauch's first major league home run broke a 1-1 tie and the Twins' Kevin Tapani went on to his eighth straight victory with a decision over the Orioles.
Tapani allowed five hits over seven innings to help the Twins stay seven games ahead of the Oakland A's in the AL West. Rick Aguilera gained his 36th save in 43 opportunities with 1 1-3 innings of no-hit relief.
Knoblauch's homer, a solo shot in the sixth, came in his 453rd major league at-bat. In 801 at-bats in two minor-league seasons, Knoblauch totaled four homers.
The ball barely cleared the wall in left field to give Tapani (13-7), Minnesota's hottest starter since the All-Star break, the victory over Baltimore's Mike Mussina (2-4).
Tapani, whose eight-decision winning streak spans nine starts dating back to July 21, is 11-1 with a 2.35 earned run average in his last 18 starts.
White Sox 10, Indians 5
At Chicago, Scott Fletcher and Robin Ventura each drove in three runs and Frank Thomas hit his 28th home run, leading the White Sox over the Indians for just their second win in 12 games.
Albert Belle and Jose Gonzalez homered in the second inning as Cleveland took a 5-1 lead against Charlie Hough. But Ventura hit an RBI double during Chicago's two-run second, and Fletcher hit a three-run double in the third for a 6-5 lead.
Donn Pall (6-2) pitched five innings for the first time in his career, shutting out the Indians on two hits. Scott Radinsky finished for his fifth save.
Ventura had a sacrifice fly in the sixth for a 7-5 lead. Ventura added an RBI single and Thomas hit a two-run homer in the eighth.
The White Sox went ahead 1-0 in the first against Dave Otto (1-5) on walks to Ventura and Thomas and Craig Grebeck's two-out single.
Belle opened the Cleveland second with his 24th home run. Mike Aldrete hit an RBI double, Carlos Martinez singled and Gonzalez, acquired from Pittsburgh on waivers on Aug. 15, hit his first home run for the Indians.
National League
Giants 6, Cardinals 1
At San Francisco, left-hander Bryan Hickerson pitched seven shutout innings in his first major league start and Matt Williams and Kevin Mitchell hit their 25th homers to power the Giants to victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
Hickerson (1-0) made his first start following 11 relief appearances this season, striking out five and walking none. The Cardinals, managing only five hits off three San Francisco pitchers, lost their fourth straight game.
The Giants opened the scoring in the third inning off Bryn Smith (11-8) on a two-out single by Darren Lewis and a run-scoring double by Willie McGee, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games.
Mitchell led off the fourth with a single and Williams followed with his first home run since August 10.
Phillies 5, Braves 0
At Philadelphia, Jose DeJesus pitched three-hit ball over eight innings and struck out a career-high 13 in the Phillies victory over the Braves, ending Atlanta's five-game win streak.
DeJesus (10-4) walked six but pitched his way out of two bases-loaded jams to win his fifth straight decision. He did not allow a hit after the fourth inning.
Joe Boever got the final three outs after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth. He struck out two as Philadelphia finished with a season-high 15 strikeouts.
The Phillies scored twice in the first inning despite having two runners picked off. Dickie Thon reached on a force play, but was picked off by starter Armando Reynoso (2-1).
Wes Chamberlain then walked and scored on a double by John Kruk, who came in on Ricky Jordan's single.
Jordan went to second on the throw home, but was also picked off by Reynoso.
In the third, Thon singled to drive in Mickey Morandini, who tripled with one out.
Darren Daulton led off the fourth with his 11th homer and Dickie Thon added an RBI single off Braves reliever Alejando Pena, making his first appearance since being traded from the Mets this week.
Mets 8, Reds 7
At Cincinnati, Keith Miller's 10th-inning homer off Rob Dibble gave the Mets an victory over the Reds.
John Franco (4-7) was the winner after he threw a wild pitch in the ninth inning which scored Herm Winningham and tied the game at 7.
It was only the fourth homer in 56 relief appearances for Dibble (3-3).
Howard Johnson homered once from each side of the plate and Kevin Elster had a pinch-hit single in the seventh to rally New York after Cincinnati lead 5-0.
Johnson, with a left-handed solo homer in the fourth and a right-handed two-run homer in the seventh, became just the second Met to accomplish the feat. Lee Mazzilli did it against the Dodgers in 1978.
Johnson, with 28 homers, moved into a tie with Ron Gant of the Braves for the NL lead.
All three Mets runs in the seventh came of Norm Charlton.
Paul O'Neill doubled in two runs in a four-run second inning for the Reds as Cincinnati knocked out starter Pete Pete Schourek.