Rolando and Roberto Arrojo shared baseball dreams growing up in Cuba, and Wednesday night the brothers were once again united by the game they love.
Rolando Arrojo, pitching for the first time since members of his family defected from the communist island, won his ninth game in helping the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 2-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.Roberto watched from the stands at Tropicana Field as his younger brother continued his remarkable first season in the major leagues.
"I was very happy my brother was here . . . I put everything into the game just to show him what I could do," Arrojo (9-4) said through an interpreter. "It was a good experience for me. He knows a lot about baseball. He's been a coach (in Cuba) all his life."
Arrojo, who defected in 1996, was granted permission by the Devil Rays to leave the team last week so he could be with family members who fled Cuba on a boat and had just arrived in south Florida.
Arrojo gave up seven hits in eight innings, becoming the fastest pitcher on an expansion team to reach nine wins.
Bobby Smith and Mike DiFelice drove in runs in the sixth inning as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep.
YANKEES 5, ORIOLES 3: At Baltimore, Darryl Strawberry hit a 465-foot homer off Mike Mussina (5-4) as New York averted a three-game sweep.
Strawberry's 10th homer, a three-run shot to center in the first, was the longest in the seven-year history of Camden Yards.
ROYALS 4, INDIANS 3: At Cleveland, Jose Rosado won for the third time in four starts despite being knocked out by a liner off his pitching arm.
Rosado (3-5) had to leave the game in the seventh inning with a bruised biceps muscle after being struck by David Bell's shot through the middle.
TIGERS 6, TWINS 2: At Detroit, Tony Clark homered from both sides of the plate as the Tigers won for just the fifth time in 17 games.
Todd Walker had three hits for Minnesota.
RED SOX 12, WHITE SOX 5: At Chicago, Mo Vaughn and Troy O'Leary each drove in three runs as Boston won for the sixth time in seven games.
Vaughn had three hits, including a two-run homer. Nomar Garciaparra had three hits and two RBIs for the Red Sox.
ATHLETICS 3, RANGERS 2: At Arlington, Texas, Kenny Rogers pitched 71/3 innings to beat his former team and Oakland took advantage of two errors by Texas first baseman Will Clark to win its fourth straight.
Rogers (7-3) won for the first time since May 9.
ANGELS 4, MARINERS 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Darin Erstad brought Anaheim from behind with a two-run homer in the seventh, and Omar Olivares (5-2) pitched eight strong innings.
The victory, coming in Anaheim manager Terry Collins' first game back from an eight-game suspension, moved the Angels 11/2 games ahead of Texas in the AL West.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BRAVES 6, MARLINS 2: At Atlanta, Greg Maddux tossed a four-hitter to become the major's first 10-game winner, while Chipper Jones hit a two-run homer and Gerald Williams had a two-run double as the Braves handed the Marlins their 11th straight road loss.
By limiting Florida to a pair of unearned runs, Maddux (10-2) dropped his ERA to 1.62, second-best in the NL.
ASTROS 6, CARDINALS 5: At Houston, Mark McGwire hit his major league-leading 32nd homer and drove in his NL-leading 81st run, but his St. Louis Cardinals gave up four runs in the ninth and lost to the Houston Astros 6-5.
Many of the 37,147 fans at the Astrodome headed for the exits after McGwire completed a 3-for-5 night by flying out in the eighth. So they missed Houston's ninth-inning rally, which included Jeff Bagwell's tying two-run homer and Brad Ausmus' winning RBI single.
BREWERS 6, CUBS 5: At Chicago, John Jaha hit a three-run homer in the seventh as Milwaukee overcame another homer by Sammy Sosa and a pair of two-run shots from Jose Hernandez.
Sosa's homer in the fourth was his 16th in 18 games and 25th this year.
PHILLIES 3, PIRATES 1: At Philadelphia, Curt Schilling pitched a two-hitter and struck out 10 as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep with their fourth straight win.
GIANTS 6, ROCKIES 3: At San Francisco, Kirk Rueter pitched six strong innings and Rich Aurilia hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth.
Darryl Kile (5-10) lost his seventh straight game for the Rockies, giving up six runs and 10 hits in six innings.
DIAMONDBACKS 4, REDS 1: At Cincinnati, Jay Bell homered and drove in two runs and Devon White hit his first right-handed homer of the season for Arizona.
EXPOS 5, METS 4: At Montreal, Brad Fullmer won it with a two-out RBI single in the ninth as the Expos snapped a three-game losing streak.
Fullmer's sinking liner fell in front of diving center fielder Brian McRae and scored Shane An-drews.
PADRES 3, DODGERS 2, 12 INNINGS: At San Diego, Wally Joyner's bloop single in the 12th got past center fielder Roger Cedeno, allowing Greg Vaughn to score from first and give the Padres their ninth straight win.