Hunter hit two-run homers to lead Twins victory

<br>CLEVELAND (AP) _ Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and Luis Rivas drove in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning as the Minnesota Twins rallied for an 8-6 win over the Indians. <br><br>Hunter left

Friday, July 19th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CLEVELAND (AP) _ Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer and Luis Rivas drove in the go-ahead runs in the seventh inning as the Minnesota Twins rallied for an 8-6 win over the Indians.

Hunter left the pitching to others this time Thursday, using his bat to get back at the Indians as the Twins erased a 6-2 deficit and swept the two-game series.

Rivas broke a 6-6 tie with a two-run single when the Twins rallied against Ricardo Rincon (1-4) and posted their 28th come-from-behind win this season.

Milton Bradley hit a grand slam and Ellis Burks homered for the Indians.

Tony Fiore (8-2) pitched two innings for the win, and Eddie Guardado put two on in the ninth before getting his AL-leading 31st save.

Yankees 6, Tigers 5

In New York, Shane Spencer hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the eighth inning as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers.

Alfonso Soriano hit a leadoff homer and Raul Mondesi also hit a solo shot for the Yankees, who have won 11 of 15 and lead the Red Sox by three games in the AL East.

Jason Giambi's sacrifice fly off Fernando Rodney (1-3) tied the game in the seventh and the Yankees won it in the eighth.

Ramiro Mendoza (7-2) got two outs for the win. Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his 24th save in 28 chances.

Red Sox 4, Devil Rays 3

In St. Petersburg, Florida, Rickey Henderson and Lou Merloni hit solo home runs and Trot Nixon hit a go-ahead single in the eighth inning as the Boston Red Sox rallied to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Tim Wakefield (3-3) pitched three hitless innings in relief of Frank Castillo as Boston won its third straight following a four-game losing streak. Ugueth Urbina finished the five-hitter with a scoreless ninth for his 23rd save in 25 chances.

With the score 3-all, Brian Daubach began Boston's go-ahead rally with a two-out infield single off Esteban Yan (5-5). Pinch-hitter Jason Varitek singled, and Nixon drove in pinch-runner Jose Offerman with a single.

Royals 5, White Sox 3

In Kansas City, Missouri, Michael Tucker capped a ninth-inning rally with a two-run homer, and the Royals stretched a winning streak to seven for the first time in seven years by defeating the Chicago White Sox.

Kansas City trailed 3-2 before Carlos Beltran homered leading off the ninth against Mark Buehrle, who allowed five hits in the first eight innings.

Damaso Marte (1-1) relieved and gave up a single to Raul Ibanez and Tucker's third homer in two games.

Paul Byrd (13-6) tied Derek Lowe for the AL lead in wins, allowing 10 hits in his third complete game of the season. Byrd retired his final 15 batters, finishing with three strikeouts and no walks.

Blue Jays 5, Orioles 4

In Toronto, Jose Cruz Jr. homered in Toronto's four-run third inning and the Blue Jays held to beat the Baltimore Orioles.

The Blue Jays swept the two-game series and have won six of seven overall.

Cruz's 15th homer, a two-run shot off Travis Driskill (6-3), gave Toronto a 3-0 lead.

Gary Matthews Jr. went 2-for-2 with a walk and had two RBIs for the Orioles. Matthews' RBI single in the seventh cut Toronto's lead to 5-4.

Chris Carpenter (3-1) won his second straight start. Carpenter allowed four runs on eight hits in seven innings. He struck out two and walked one.

Cliff Politte pitched the eighth and Kelvim Escobar pitched the ninth for his 16th save in 21 chances.

Mariners 5, Rangers 3

In Arlington, Texas, Charles Gipson Jr.'s suicide squeeze bunt brought home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning as the Seattle Mariners rallied to beat the Texas Rangers.

Ben Davis, who had reached on a one-out single, scored when Gipson bunted to the first-base side of the mound. Juan Alvarez (0-2) fielded the ball cleanly, but his only play was to first base.

Ichiro Suzuki added an RBI single with two outs.

The Mariners, who have won nine straight games in Texas, scored two runs in the eighth to tie the game.

Shigetoshi Hasegawa (5-1) pitched a perfect eighth, retiring the top of the Texas lineup. Kazuhiro Sasaki worked the ninth for his 24th save in 28 chances.

Athletics 2, Angels 0

In Oakland, California, Barry Zito won his team-record 16th straight at home, and Miguel Tejada hit his fourth homer in six games as the Athletics beat the Anaheim Angels.

Eric Chavez snapped a career-worst 0-for-26 slump with two hits, and Terrence Long ended an 0-for-18 skid as the A's pulled back into a tie with Anaheim for second place in the AL West by winning for the ninth time in 12 games.

Zito (13-3) allowed four hits in 7 1-3 innings to tie Boston's Derek Lowe and Kansas City's Paul Byrd for the AL lead in victories.

Billy Koch finished the six-hitter for his 24th save in 28 chances. Oakland has 10 shutouts this year _ four since the All-Star break.

Tejada hit his 19th homer in the first off Aaron Sele (7-7), who went seven innings. Sele has won just once in seven starts since June 7.