He Has a Fielder Day Against His Old Team

Cecil Fielder had seen plenty of blowouts involving the Detroit Tigers this season. Only this time, he got to enjoy one of them as the Yankees defeated Detroit, 12-0, Sunday at New York.

“I’ve been on the other side of a lot of these games,” said Fielder, who hit his 30th home run of the season. “I’m just happy to get this series out of the way.”

Fielder, traded July 31 for Ruben Sierra and a minor league pitcher, homered Friday night in his first game against the Tigers since the deal.

Sunday, Fielder doubled in his first at-bat and hit a three-run homer, which highlighted a five-run third inning.

Kenny Rogers (10-5) pitched his first shutout of the season as he helped the Yankees end the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.

“The luxury was having a big lead,” said Rogers, who won his fourth consecutive start. “The last few games, they’ve been scoring a lot of runs for me.”

Paul O’Neill, Derek Jeter and Tino Martinez each had three of the Yankees’ 15 hits.

Minnesota 6, Seattle 3--Brad Radke overcame consecutive home runs by Ken Griffey Jr. and Jay Buhner to help the Twins win their sixth consecutive game with a victory over the Mariners atSeattle.

Radke (8-13) gave up eight hits over eight-plus innings as the Twins swept the Mariners inSeattle for the first time since August 1983.

“I kept my poise and didn’t hang anymore pitches after the sixth,” said Radke, who struck out eight and walked one. “I’m always around the plate so big hitters are always swinging, which is both good and bad for me.”

Frankie Rodriguez got three outs for his second save.

Oakland 9, Cleveland 3--Scott Brosius hit his 19th homer and had four runs batted in and Terry Steinbach had two two-run doubles in the Athletics victory over the Indians at Oakland.

John Wasdin (7-5) gave up a leadoff home run to Kenny Lofton but recovered for his first victory since July 5.

“Once the home run happened, and then everything else, we just minimized what could have happened,” said Wasdin, who gave up five hits and three runs--two earned--in seven innings. “We minimized the damage, and that was positive. And when we score runs, it’s easier.”

Texas 6, Toronto 0--John Burkett pitched a six-hitter in his American League debut as the Rangers completed their first road sweep this season with a victory over the Blue Jays at Toronto.

Burkett (1-0), acquired from the Florida Marlins last Thursday, struck out eight and walked one in his second shutout this season and fourth of his career.

“Today I was as excited as my first game in the big leagues,” Burkett said. “I was able to throw it where I wanted to today. But that’s what I have to do to be successful. I don’t think there’s any real difference between pitching in this league or the other. If you throw strikes, you’re going to win.”

The Rangers have defeated the Blue Jays six consecutive times and are 8-1 against Toronto this year.

Boston 2, Milwaukee 0--Roger Clemens (5-11) gave up six hits over seven innings to pick up his first victory since July 11 as the Red Sox completed their first four-game sweep ever over the Brewers at Milwaukee.

“Everyone seems to be turning the corner,” Clemens said. “I woke up today and knew I had to step up and get a win for this team. We need to stay focused and keep getting things done.”

Boston, 10-2 in its last 12 games, is within four games of .500 for the first time since April 11, when the Red Sox were 2-6.

“It would be a breath of fresh air to get to .500 and then we’ll take it from there,” said Clemens, who struck out eight to raise his career total to 2,509 and move past Christy Mathewson (2,506) into 19th on the all-time list.

Milwaukee’s Ben McDonald (10-7) lost his fourth consecutive start though he gave up only six hits in seven innings. Tony Rodriguez had an RBI single in the second and Bill Haselman had a two-out, run-scoring single the fourth.

Chicago 8, Baltimore 5--Harold Baines broke a tie with a two-run single in the seventh inning, to lead the White Sox to a victory over the Orioles at Chicago.

Trailing, 5-3, in the seventh, Ray Durham hit a sacrifice fly and Dave Martinez added a run-scoring double to tie the game. With the bases loaded, Baines singled to center off Jesse Orosco.

Kevin Tapani (11-6) gave up seven hits over eight innings, walking three and striking out five for the White Sox, who had 19 hits, nine walks and stranded 17 runners.

Baltimore has hit two or more home runs in its last nine games to tie the major-league record set by the 1962 Indians and 1987 Orioles. B.J. Surhoff hit his 19th home run and Cal Ripken his 20th.

The Orioles finished their 13-game road trip, the longest of the season, at 9-4. They failed to gain ground on the White Sox in the wild-card race.

Baltimore has two or more home runs in each of its last nine games to tie the major-league record set by the 1962 Cleveland Indians and also matched by the 1987 Orioles.