AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mariners Sweep Back Into Contention, 8-6

Manager Jim Lefebvre insists that his Seattle Mariners are still in the pennant race. They have picked a good time to prove him right.

Jay Buhner hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the seventh inning and the Mariners completed their first four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics, 8-6, Thursday at Seattle.

The Mariners moved to within 5 1/2 games of the AL West-leading Minnesota Twins, while the A’s remained four games back.

“When you have a bad week, you have to have a good week to make up for it,” Lefebvre said after the Mariners completed the first four-game home sweep in franchise history.

“It’s tough to sweep anybody, especially these guys.”

Ken Griffey Jr. homered and doubled twice as Seattle won the season series, 7-6, with the home team winning every game.

Ron Darling, who pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings in his first two starts for Oakland, left after five innings with a 6-3 lead, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it.

With the score tied, 6-6, Griffey led off the seventh with a double against Steve Chitren (1-4). Pete O’Brien followed with a double off the right-field wall, but Griffey had to stop at third because he was unsure if the ball would be caught.

After Alvin Davis was intentionally walked, Buhner hit a sacrifice fly and Tracy Jones added a run-scoring single.

Calvin Jones (1-1) got the victory with 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief. Mike Schooler got the last out for his fifth save.

Rickey Henderson led off the game with his 10th home run, the 49th time he has opened a game that way, but O’Brien’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the inning got Seattle even.

Oakland scored four times in the fourth, one on rookie Scott Brosius’ second homer, to take a 5-1 lead.

Scott Bradley’s sacrifice fly gave Seattle a run in the fourth, and Oakland made it 6-3 on Mark McGwire’s RBI single in the fifth.

Griffey hit his 17th home run in the fifth and the Mariners tied the score with three runs off reliever Joe Klink in the sixth.

Detroit 6, Chicago 4--Lou Whitaker and Alan Trammell drove in three runs each as the Tigers beat the White Sox at Detroit and remained two games behind the Toronto in the East.

The Tigers and Blue Jays open a three-game series tonight in Tiger Stadium.

Chicago remained 1 1/2 games behind the Twins in the West.

Whitaker hit two home runs for the eighth time in his career and Trammell got his 2,000th hit. Detroit’s Mark Leiter (5-2) gave up three runs and six hits in five innings and Mike Henneman got five outs for his 19th save.

Detroit went ahead on Whitaker’s two-run homer in the first. Trammell’s 2,000th hit was a three-run double in the second that made it 5-0.

After Chicago closed to 5-3, Whitaker hit his 18th homer in the seventh.

Toronto 4, Milwaukee 1--Todd Stottlemyre pitched seven strong innings and Kelly Gruber hit a two-run homer as the Blue Jays ended their longest losing streak in four years at seven games by beating the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Gruber hit his 13th home run of the year in the fourth inning off Dan Plesac (1-5), putting the Blue Jays ahead, 3-0. Plesac, a three-time All-Star as a reliever, was making the second start of his major league career.

Stottlemyre (11-5) gave up four hits in seven innings for his second victory in eight starts and first since July 19. Duane Ward pitched the eighth, and Tom Henke pitched the ninth for his 26th save in 27 chances.

New York 5, Kansas City 1--Scott Sanderson pitched four-hit ball over seven innings at New York and the Yankees ended the Royals’ four-game winning streak.

The Royals have won 22 of 28 games, including three of four from the Yankees, to get back into the race in the West.

Sanderson (12-8) struck out five and walked one before Greg Cadaret finished.

Matt Nokes and Bernie Williams each drove in two runs against Kansas City’s Mark Gubicza (7-6).

Boston 6, Cleveland 2--Ellis Burks hit a two-run triple and rookie Mike Gardiner pitched six strong innings as the Red Sox beat the Indians at Cleveland for their seventh victory in eight games.

Gardiner (5-6) gave up one run and five hits, struck out four and walked one.

Dave Otto (1-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in 7 1/3 innings, struck out four and walked one.

Baltimore 9, Texas 2--Jose Mesa celebrated his return from the minors with a three-hitter and rookie Chito Martinez drove in four runs as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers at Baltimore.

Mesa (5-8), recalled from Rochester earlier in the day, struck out nine in his first big league victory in 96 days. He went nine starts without a victory before being sent to the minors on June 30.

Kevin Reimer homered off Mesa in the second. Dean Palmer led off the eighth with a single and later scored on Jose Hernandez’s single.

Baltimore built a 9-1 lead after four innings against Oil Can Boyd (0-4). Martinez hit his third homer in two days and Leo Gomez had a three-run homer.