American League roundup

<br>One pitcher got a win without throwing a single pitch. Another lost despite throwing seven no-hit innings. <br><br>Two unusual feats led to an all-too-usual occurrence: two more losses for the Detroit

Friday, May 2nd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

One pitcher got a win without throwing a single pitch. Another lost despite throwing seven no-hit innings.

Two unusual feats led to an all-too-usual occurrence: two more losses for the Detroit Tigers.

Jay Gibbons broke up Mike Maroth's no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the eighth and the Baltimore Orioles went on to score six runs with two outs to sweep a doubleheader against Detroit with a 6-4 win Thursday.

Gibbons hit a go-ahead two-run single and Tony Batista drove in another run in the eighth as visiting Baltimore rallied to win the opener 5-2.

``It really is unbelievable,'' Tigers manager Alan Trammell said. ``We've all said it, if you've been in this game, you've never seen it all. But my gosh, what happened is tough to swallow.''

The Tigers dropped to 3-23 after losing their fourth straight game.

B.J. Ryan (3-0) earned the first win without throwing a pitch after he picked off Omar Infante on first base when he relived Pat Hentgen with two outs in the seventh.

``What a country,'' Baltimore manager Mike Hargrove said. ``I've seen a guy get beat in a no-hitter, but I've never seen that.''

In other AL games, it was Boston 6, Kansas City 5; New York 2, Seattle 1; Chicago 7, Oakland 5; Toronto 7, Texas 6; and Minnesota 6, Tampa Bay 5. The Anaheim at Cleveland game was rained out.

Fewer than 1,000 fans appeared to be at Comerica Park during the late-afternoon contest. By the time a heavy rain fell in the eighth inning, there didn't seem to be more than 100 people at the ballpark.

``What made the day worse was nobody was in the stands,'' Detroit's Dmitri Young said. ``Nobody is behind us. These people don't care about us. I'd rather be on the road.''

In the second game, Tony Batista followed Gibbons' hit with a single to put runners on first and second. Maroth (0-7) retired the next two batters before throwing a run-scoring wild pitch to make it 3-1.

Geronimo Gil followed with an RBI single and Jerry Hairston's bunt single chased Maroth. Matt Anderson came in then walked Melvin Mora to load the bases.

Gary Matthews followed with a two-run infield single, and Jeff Conine and Gibbons added RBI singles to make it 6-3.

``I went from a feeling I've never had on the mound to being dazed and stunned,'' Maroth said. ``For everything to happen as quick as it did is the toughest part.''

The Orioles (15-12) are three games above .500 for the first time since May 4, 2000.

Red Sox 6, Royals 5

At Boston, Todd Walker's RBI double off Jason Grimsley (1-2) in the eighth sent the Red Sox to a three-game sweep of Kansas City.

The Royals have dropped four straight and five of six after getting off to a franchise-best 17-4 start. Mike Sweeney, Carlos Beltran and Raul Ibanez homered for Kansas City.

Trot Nixon homered for the Red Sox, who won their fourth consecutive game and second in a row in their last at-bat. Boston improved to 10-1 at home after losing the opener at Fenway Park.

Yankees 2, Mariners 1

At New York, Mike Mussina matched a career high with his eighth straight win, backed by home runs from Alfonso Soriano and Jorge Posada off Joel Pineiro (2-2), and the Yankees won for the 11th time in 14 games.

Mussina (6-0) became the first Yankees pitcher to win his first six starts since Bob Turley won seven straight in 1958 in his Cy Young Award season.

Mussina leads the majors in victories and his nine strikeouts boosted his AL-leading total to 51.

Blue Jays 7, Rangers 6

At Toronto, Roy Halladay (1-2) won his first game of the season and Toronto overcame four Texas homers, including Rafael Palmeiro's 498th.

Juan Gonzalez hit two homers, giving him a major league-leading 11 on the season, and Carl Everett hit his 10th for the Rangers.

Former Ranger Frank Catalanotto homered off Colby Lewis (3-2) as a part of a six-run second inning for the Blue Jays.

White Sox 7, Athletics 5

At Chicago, Magglio Ordonez went 3-for-5 with a home run, and Miguel Olivo also hit a solo homer as the White Sox avoided a sweep.

Paul Konerko had a pair of RBIs, and Frank Thomas, Carlos Lee and Tony Graffanino also drove in runs for Chicago, which won for just the fourth time in the last 11 games.

Twins 6, Devil Rays 5, 13 innings

At Minneapolis, Cristian Guzman's one-out double off Travis Harper (0-2) in the 13th inning scored Jacque Jones and lifted Minnesota.

Tony Fiore (1-0) worked two innings for the win as the Twins overcame a 4-0 deficit to complete their three-game sweep.