With a Little Help, Elster Beats the Blue Jays

With winds gusting up to 40 mph, Kevin Elster was just hoping to hit a fly ball to right field.

He did, and his 382-foot, two-out homer in the bottom of the ninth gave the Texas Rangers a 3-1 victory Sunday over the Toronto Blue Jays at Arlington, Texas.

“I was trying to get under it. A single wasn’t really going to help us, and the winds were [blowing] all day long. Anything hit in the air to right was going to go out today,” Elster said.

Elster’s shot came off reliever Paul Quantrill, who got the first two outs of the inning before he walked Lee Stevens. Quantrill had shut down a Texas rally in the eighth by retiring Juan Gonzalez with the potential go-ahead run at third.

Closer John Wetteland (1-0) struck out the side in the ninth for the win.

Erik Hanson came off the disabled list for Toronto before the game to start in place of Roger Clemens, who is sidelined with a groin injury. Hanson, starting for the first time since April 22, 1997, struck out three while giving up seven hits and two walks.

Clemens, who left an April 7 start against Minnesota after seven pitches, said he hopes return to the rotation Friday against Seattle.

Texas starter John Burkett gave up seven hits in eight innings.

Baltimore 6, Detroit 3--Scott Erickson stayed undefeated with another victory over the Tigers at Detroit.

“I can’t explain it. I don’t do anything differently against them,” said Erickson (3-0), who gave up 11 hits--including Damion Easley’s third homer--with two walks in 7 1/3 innings.

“I’ve just been lucky against the Tigers. You know, there are some teams I almost never beat, too. There’s no accounting for it.”

Erickson (3-0), who is 14-3 in 21 starts against the Tigers, gave up 11 hits and walked two in 7 1/3 innings.

Armando Benitez got his fourth save for the Orioles, whose 9-3 start matches the third-best in club history.

Minnesota 7, Kansas City 2--Pat Meares hit two home runs and Bob Tewksbury yielded four hits in seven innings at Kansas City.

Meares hit solo shots in the seventh and ninth innings for his second multi-homer game of his career. He also hit two homers on June 19, 1994 at Baltimore.

Tewksbury (2-1), who improved to 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium, yielded one earned run and one walk. Rick Aguilera struck out Dean Palmer with the bases loaded in the ninth for his second save.

Boston 8, Seattle 7--Jim Leyritz’s second home run tied the score in the ninth inning and pinch-hitter Reggie Jefferson singled in the game-winner as the Red Sox roughed up the Mariners’ bullpen again at Boston.

Bobby Ayala blew a 5-4 lead in the seventh and Tony Fossas gave up a double to the only batter he faced. In all, Seattle blew leads of 1-0, 3-1, 5-4 and 7-6, wasting two homers by Alex Rodriguez and one by Ken Griffey Jr. to extend its losing streak to five games.

Left-hander Jeff Fassero, making his 1998 debut because to arm troubles, pitched well but yielded Leyritz’s two-run homer that tied the score, 3-3, in the sixth. The next batter, Troy O’Leary, homered off of Paul Spoljaric, who had given up Mo Vaughn’s ninth-inning grand slam to blow Friday’s series opener.

Tampa Bay 4, Chicago 1--Wilson Alvarez pitched eight strong innings, Dave Martinez homered and Roberto Hernandez got a save as the three former White Sox players led the Devil Rays at Chicago.

The victory improved Tampa Bay’s record to 6-4, the best record for a first-year expansion team after 10 games. No expansion team has ever been over .500 after 10 games.

Alvarez, who gave up four hits, had not given up a run to Chicago in 14 innings over two consecutive starts when pinch-hitter Jeff Abbott homered in the eighth. The left-hander walked one and struck out seven.