The Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers set a major league record with 12 homers and combined for an American League record 21 extra-base hits Sunday in Detroit in Chicago's 14-12 victory.
Cecil Fielder, Chad Curtis and Kirk Gibson each homered twice for the Tigers, while Ron Karkovice hit two for the White Sox. The four players with at least two homers set an AL record and tied the major league mark set in 1947 by Pittsburgh and St. Louis.Ten of the home runs were solos, another major league record. Ray Durham went 4-for-5, including a homer, and drove in three runs for Chicago.
Durham, Karkovice and Craig Grebeck hit consecutive homers for Chicago in the fourth inning. Frank Thomas also homered for the White Sox, while Lou Whitaker got the other homer for the Tigers.
The 12 homers broke the major league record of 11 for one game, which had previously been done four times in each league.
Indians 5, Blue Jays 4
In Toronto, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Tony Pena homered as Cleveland beat Toronto.
Cleveland starter Charles Nagy (3-1) went six innings, giving up one run on six hits. Jose Mesa, the fifth Indians pitcher, got his eighth save despite giving up an RBI single to Joe Carter in the ninth. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam by getting Ed Sprague to hit into an inning-ending double play.
Toronto starter Danny Darwin (1-4) allowed only three hits in six innings, but two were homers by Ramirez and Pena.
Rangers 4, Twins 2
At Minneapolis, Rusty Greer drove in three runs and Roger Pavlik pitched seven strong innings as Texas won its fourth straight.
Pavlik (3-1), who retired the first 10 batters, allowed six hits, struck out six and walked one before being relieved in the eighth by Ed Vosberg. Roger McDowell pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his first save.
Texas, which has won 10 of its last 12, opened the scoring in the second inning when Greer followed Mark McLemore's single with his third home run of the season. The Rangers got their third run of the inning on Jeff Frye's RBI single.
Royals 7, Brewers 4
At Milwaukee, Wally Joyner hit a pair of RBI doubles as Kansas City handed Milwaukee its seventh straight home defeat.
The Brewers, who have dropped 11 of their last 14, haven't won at County Stadium since May 12. The skid is one short of the franchise mark of eight straight home losses, set in 1987.
The Royals won their fourth straight game and third in a row over the Brewers, whom they swept for the first time since 1991.
Mark Gubicza (2-4) went 7 2-3 innings, giving up eight hits and three earned runs for his first victory since May 2. Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Yankees 4, Athletics 1
At Oakland, Calif., Bernie Williams homered and Jim Leyritz had three singles as the New York Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak.
Mariano Rivera (1-1), making his second major-league start, allowed one run on seven hits in 5 1-3 innings for New York. Bob Wickman pitched 2 2-3 scoreless innings, and John Wetteland struck out the side in the ninth for his sixth save.
Williams broke an 0-for-15 slump with his two-run homer off Mike Harkey (1-3) in the second. The Yankees scored two in the first on Paul O'Neill's RBI double and a run-scoring single by Leyritz.
Angels 8, Red Sox 3
At Anaheim, Calif., Chili Davis, J.T. Snow and Greg Myers each drove in two runs as California defeated Boston.
Snow singled home a run in the first inning and led off the third with his sixth homer, giving him eight RBIs in his last six games.
Chuck Finley (2-4) threw 122 pitches in 5 2-3 innings, but picked up his second straight victory after opening the season with four consecutive losses. He allowed six hits and three runs.
Boston starter Tim VanEgmond (0-1) gave up seven hits and five runs in 2 1-3 innings.
National League
Braves 3, Astros 1
At Houston, Greg Maddux pitched the best game of his career Sunday, throwing a one-hitter to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 3-1 victory over the Houston Astros.
The only hit off Maddux was Jeff Bagwell's homer leading off the eighth inning. Maddux had retired 20 consecutive batters at that point and had allowed only one baserunner on an error in the second inning.
Maddux (4-1) threw only 97 pitches, including 68 strikes, and had seven strikeouts. His only walk was in the ninth.
Houston starter Darryl Kile (1-4) left in the seventh after holding the Braves to a pair of singles. He struck out five, walked six and was replaced by Dean Hartgraves after walking Jeff Blauser and Chipper Jones with two outs in the seventh. Fred McGriff followed with a triple to the gap in right-center, breaking a scoreless tie.
Rockies 6, Pirates 3
At Pittsburgh, Mike Kingery and Vinny Castilla hit home runs and Marvin Freeman stayed undefeated in his career against Pittsburgh as Colorado ended its four-game losing streak.
Kingery led off the third inning with his third home run and Castilla's sixth followed Dante Bichette's single. Bichette also had an RBI single in the first against Rick White (0-1).
Freeman (1-2), who improved his career record against the Pirates to 4-0, had a career-high eight strikeouts in six innings as he dealt the Pirates their third loss in 11 games. Bruce Ruffin relieved with the bases loaded and none out in the ninth and picked up his seventh save.
Giants 5, Mets 1
At New York, Matt Williams, Barry Bonds and Steve Scarsone hit home runs as San Francisco beat New York.
Williams and Scarsone hit two-run homers in the eighth inning and Bonds broke a scoreless tie with a solo shot in the sixth.
Mark Portugal (3-1) allowed five hits in eight innings, striking out three and walking two. He lost his shutout bid in the eighth when pinch-hitter Chris Jones hit a one-out homer, his second of the year.
Dave Mlicki (2-1), who gave up four runs on eight hits while striking out five and walking one in seven-plus innings, was the loser.
Reds 9, Cardinals 2
At St. Louis, the Cincinnati Reds became the latest team to beat up on Danny Jackson, getting homers from Reggie Sanders and Brian Hunter to stretch their winning streak to seven games.
The Reds added seven doubles, including one by pitcher Tim Pugh that drove in two runs, and finished with 14 hits. Cincinnati has won 19 of its last 22 games; the Cardinals have lost 10 of 13.
Pugh (2-0), making his second start of the season, worked seven innings and allowed two runs on seven hits.
Jackson, who signed a three-year, $10.8-million deal with St. Louis in December, is 0-6 with a 7.39 ERA in seven starts after going 14-6 with a 3.26 ERA last year for Philadelphia. He lasted four innings and allowed six runs on nine hits.
Padres 13, Phillies 5, 10 innings
At Philadelphia, the San Diego Padres rallied against Healthcliff Slocumb in the ninth inning and then tied the National League record for most runs in the 10th inning.
The Padres sent 14 batters to the plate in the 10th and scored nine runs, matching the record set by Cincinnati against Philadelphia in 1947.
Eddie Williams' bases-loaded single snapped a 4-4 tie, reliever Trevor Hoffman (3-0) had a two-run double, Tony Gwynn drove in two runs with a single and Ken Caminiti and Melvin Nieves drove in one run each. Another run scored on a wild pitch.
Gene Harris (2-1) took the loss, allowing two hits, two walks and four earned runs in one-third of an inning.
Cubs 13, Marlins 8
At Chicago, Howard Johnson broke out of a slump with two homers and a single and Chicago had eight hits in a six-run fifth inning to beat Florida.
Shawon Dunston had three hits and three RBIs in Chicago's 18-hit attack.
Johnson's first homer, a three-run shot in the fourth, snapped an 0-for-21 slump dating back to April 30. It was his first homer since last July 5 when he hit one for Colorado against the Cubs at Wrigley.
With the score tied 3-3 in the fifth, Brian McRae, Rey Sanchez and Sammy Sosa singled to make it 4-3 and Mark Grace followed with a sacrifice fly.
Rick Wilkins singled to chase David Weathers (1-2) and Dunston greeted reliever Terry Matthews with an RBI double. Steve Buechele then delivered a two-run single and winning pitcher Kevin Foster (4-2) lined another run-scoring hit to make it 9-3.
Pacific Coast League
Tacoma 6, Las Vegas 3
First baseman Greg Pirkl hit a home run in the fourth inning to put the Tacoma Rainiers ahead for good Sunday as they beat the Las Vegas Stars, 6-3, in Pacific Coast League play at Las Vegas.
Pirkl went 2-for-5 and drove in two runs. Teammate J.D. Noland hit a two-out triple to score two runs in the fifth inning for the Rainiers, who improved to 24-25.
Salomon Torres went six strong innings for Tacoma, giving up three hits and three walks, striking out two and allowing only one run. Ron Villone came in during the eighth inning with two men on and one out and shut down the Stars for the remainder of the game to pick up his eighth save.
Albuquerque 10, Calgary 0
At Albuquerque, Mike Busch singled, doubled and hit a home run, driving in two runs as Albuquerque recorded its first shutout of the Pacific Coast League season with a 10-0 defeat of Calgary on Sunday.
Busch's third-inning double gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead. Busch singled in the fourth, hit a homer in the sixth - his ninth of the season - and walked and scored in the eighth.
Eddie Pye had three singles as the Dukes knocked out 18 hits. Ron Coomer hit his fourth home run of the season.