Former Salt Lake Buzz hurler Travis Miller became the latest pitcher to find out why the Texas Rangers are among the highest-scoring teams in the majors.
Miller barely got through the first inning in his big league debut, giving up seven runs Sunday as the AL West leaders trounced the Minnesota Twins 13-2.
"He got us on the wrong day," said Kevin Elster, who hit a three-run double to key the outburst at the Metrodome.
Athletics 6, Yankees 4
On Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium, Mark McGwire showed the 50,808 fans how far the Hall of Famer used to hit the ball.
McGwire hit a 446-foot drive near Monument Park for his major league-leading 44th homer, and also doubled in driving in four runs for Oakland.
Before the game, Joe DiMaggio, Whitey Ford and Phil Rizzuto joined Mantle's family in seeing a monument unveiled in his memory. Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Miller Huggins are the only other Yankees so honored.
Angels 13, Orioles 0
Rookie knuckleballer Dennis Springer pitched his first career shutout and Randy Velarde hit his first grand slam, leading California at Camden Yards.
Baltimore, which had moved a half-game ahead of Chicago for the wild-card spot Saturday, fell a half-game behind the White Sox.
Red Sox 8, Mariners 5
Boston moved over .500 for the first time this season, winning for the 19th time in 25 games. The Red Sox now leave Fenway Park for a West Coast trip.
Ken Griffey hit his 40th home run, the third time he's reached that mark for Seattle. Alex Rodriguez hit his 32nd homer and Griffey followed with a drive in the eighth inning, marking the 18th time the Mariners have connected for consecutive home runs this season - a major league record.
White Sox 10, Blue Jays 9
Pat Borders singled home the winning run with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning, stopping Chicago's five-game losing streak.
Borders, the World Series MVP for Toronto in 1992, ended the Blue Jays' seven-game winning string.
Indians 8, Brewers 5
Albert Belle celebrated his 30th birthday with a key two-run single, spoiling Milwaukee's strategies at Jacobs Field.
Cleveland trailed 5-4 and had runners at second and third with one out in the seventh. The Brewers elected to intentionally walk Jim Thome, and also moved second baseman Fernando Vina up the middle as Belle came up with the bases loaded.
Belle hit Doug Jones' first pitch to the spot vacated by Vina - the player he flattened with a forearm earlier this season - to highlight the Indians' five-run rally.
Tigers 7, Royals 4
Todd Van Poppel (2-6) won for the first time since Detroit claimed him on waivers from Oakland on Aug. 6.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Yankee skipper remembers Mantle
NEW YORK (AP) - Like most people at Yankee Stadium, Joe Torre had his own Mickey Mantle stories to tell. The New York Yankees manager sat in the dugout before Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics and reminisced about the late Mantle, who became the fourth person in the Yankees' storied history to be immortalized with a red granite monument. Torre remembered seeing Mantle play center field for the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers. "I was sitting right up there," Torre said, pointing toward the upper deck down the left-field line. "I remember him running down and making that catch on Gil Hodges in the perfect game in 1956."