NEW YORK, 15 September 2004 — Lew Ford homered and drove in a pair of runs and Brad Radke pitched seven strong innings to lead the streaking Minnesota Twins to a 5-3 road win over the Detroit Tigers in American League action on Monday.
The Twins swept the four-game series with the Tigers and have won six straight and 11 of their last 13 as they cruise to their third consecutive AL Central Division title. Minnesota now leads the Chicago White Sox by 10 1/2 games and reduced its magic number to clinch another division crown to 10 with the win.
Radke (11-7) allowed one run on seven hits over seven innings with two strikeouts and no walks. He’s now 17-6 lifetime against the Tigers. Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless eighth and Joe Roa allowed two runs in the ninth before Joe Nathan came on to get the last two outs for his 43rd save.
Augie Ojeda also homered for the Twins, while Jacque Jones also had two hits in the Twins 11-hit attack.
Jason Johnson (8-14) allowed four runs — three earned — on 10 hits over seven innings to take the loss. He struck out two and walked three. Jason Smith drove in two runs for the Tigers.
In other games, Bruce Chen pitched his first complete game to win for the first time in more than two years as the Baltimore Orioles buried the Toronto Blue Jays 9-1.
Chen (1-0) allowed one run on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Rafael Palmeiro homered to key a five-run first inning and Jay Gibbons had three hits and drove in two runs. Justin Miller (3-4) got just three outs and allowed five runs on six hits with one strikeout and a walk.
In Kansas City, John Buck hit a three-run home run and Angel Berroa highlighted a 10-run fifth inning with two hits and two runs scored, leading the Royals to a 17-8 pasting of the New York Yankees.
Berroa had five hits and scored five runs for the Royals, while Buck also had five RBI.
Brian Anderson (4-11) allowed three runs on nine hits in six innings for the win. Brad Halsey (1-3) allowed four runs on six hits in four innings and was the loser. Alex Rodriguez and Miguel Cairo both had three hits and an RBI for the Yankees, who scored five runs in the ninth.
Eric Chavez hit a bases-loaded single in the 10th inning to give the Oakland Athletics a 7-6 win over the Texas Rangers in a game marred by an altercation between Ranger pitchers and some fans.
Bobby Crosby homered for Oakland. Justin Duchscherer (6-6) allowed one run on one hit in one inning to get the win.
Mark Teixeira homered and had four hits and Alfonso Soriano hit two home runs for Texas. Francisco Cordero (3-2) allowed the winning runs in the ninth and took the loss.
The game was delayed in the ninth inning when fans behind the Texas bullpen got involved with a shoving match with several Ranger players. A chair was tossed into the stands during the melee and stadium security had to be called in to restore order before the game resumed.
In Seattle, Garret Anderson hit a three-run homer, powering the Anaheim Angels to a 5-1 win over the Mariners. Kelvim Escobar (10-10) allowed one run on six hits over seven innings for the win, striking out seven and walking one.
Francisco Rodriguez got four outs for his 12th save. Jose Lopez homered for Seattle. Cha Seung Baek (1-3) allowed five runs on eight hits over seven innings to take the loss.
