AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Key Makes 100th Victory Count for Blue Jays

Jimmy Key knew he would eventually win his 100th game. He’s just glad it came at a time when the Blue Jays really needed it.

On his fourth try, Key got victory No. 100, and Toronto retained a share of first place in the American League East by beating the Orioles 5-2 at Baltimore Monday night.

Devon White homered for Toronto, which is tied with Detroit.

Key (13-9) gave up seven hits and two runs in six innings, walking one and striking out two. The 30-year-old left-hander ended a three-game losing streak and joined Dave Stieb and Jim Clancy as Blue Jay pitchers with 100 victories. He is 100-65.

Mike Timlin struck out five in two innings, and Tom Henke pitched the ninth for his 30th save.

Minnesota 5, Cleveland 3--Manager Tom Kelly warned the Twins against swinging for the fences in the expanded dimensions of Cleveland Stadium.

Apparently they weren’t paying attention.

“I told the boys to hit some line drives, because it’s Death Valley out there. But they didn’t listen to me,” Kelly said after the Twins hit three home runs during their victory over the Indians.

Kevin Tapani won his seventh consecutive decision, keeping the Twins undefeated in eight games against Cleveland this season. Shane Mack, Brian Harper and Kirby Puckett homered, and the Indians’ defense robbed the Twins of a fourth.

Tapani (12-7) gave up two runs and six hits in eight innings, improving to 10-1 in his last 16 starts. He struck out three and walked one while lowering his earned-run average to 2.94.

Rick Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 34th save, allowing an RBI single by pinch-hitter Luis Lopez.

Boston 3, Oakland 0--Roger Clemens pitched a three-hitter at Oakland for only his second victory since the All-Star break as the Red Sox handed the Athletics their fourth loss in a row.

Jack Clark and Phil Plantier hit home runs as the Red Sox ended a three-game losing streak.

Clemens (13-8) allowed just tworunners to reach second base in his second shutout this season. He beat the A’s for the second time in as many starts this season. Clemens was 3-9 against Oakland before 1991.

Clemens struck out Jose Canseco with a fourth-inning, full-count fastball on the outside corner for the 1,600th strikeout of his career. Clemens finished with 10 strikeouts and walked one, beating Mike Moore (12-8) for the fifth time in five meetings.

In nine previous post-All-Star game starts, Clemens was 1-2 with a 3.73 ERA. He left three of those games with leads.

Clark hit a solo homer off Moore with one out in the fourth. Clark injured himself on the swing and needed nearly a minute to limp around the bases.

Texas 10, New York 2--Rafael Palmeiro, Kevin Reimer, Geno Petralli and Julio Franco hit home runs at New York to lead the Rangers to their fourth victory in five games.

Franco hit an RBI single in the third inning and Palmeiro followed with his 22nd homer of the season off Eric Plunk (2-3).

Reimer hit his 14th home run, a solo shot, in the fourth. Petralli hit his first home run since June 20, 1989, a span of 223 games and 544 at-bats, in the sixth. Petralli’s three-run drive came after singles by Reimer and Steve Buechele for a 7-0 lead.

Texas scored three times off reliever Rich Monteleone in the eighth on Brian Downing’s sacrifice fly and Franco’s 12th homer.

Seattle 5, Milwaukee 4--Greg Briley hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the 14th inning at Seattle as the Mariners ended a six-game losing streak.

Seattle loaded the bases with one out against Doug Henry (2-1) on a walk to Edgar Martinez, a double by Omar Vizquel and an intentional walk to Scott Bradley. Briley then hit a fly ball to left fielder Greg Vaughn for the run that stopped Milwaukee’s five-game winning streak.