Loss to Mariners Least of Giants’ Problems

Although their 11-game winning streak had just ended, the San Francisco Giants were relieved and relaxed. They knew things could have been a lot worse.

David Segui drove in three runs as Seattle beat the Giants, 4-1, at San Francisco on Wednesday, snapping the Mariners’ four-game losing streak and ending San Francisco’s winning streak--the longest in the majors this season.

The Giants feared they had lost much more than a game. Right-hander Orel Hershiser left the game after being hit on the right wrist by a line drive, and Barry Bonds left with tightness in his left calf.

But X-rays on Hershiser were negative and Bonds, who was hit in the calf by a pitch earlier in the game, apparently was fine.

Hershiser (6-4), who had a six-game winning streak stopped, left the game in the fifth when he was hit on the wrist by a line drive off the bat of Alex Rodriguez.

“When it hit me, it felt like somebody cut my hand off,” Hershiser said after the game, his wrist wrapped in tape. “The feeling came back when we put the ice on, it hurt a lot. I was in a lot of pain.”

Hershiser, who said he saw the liner coming at him and threw up his hand to protect himself, will find out in the next couple of days whether he’ll have to miss a start.

“It didn’t get my face, it got the second-worst place, my pitching hand,” he said. “It gives me a built-in excuse for my next two starts.”

Bonds was not available after the game, but Manager Dusty Baker said the calf problem did not appear to be significant. Bonds left the game in the sixth, five innings after being hit by the pitch.

Bill Swift (6-3) yielded one run and five hits in seven innings for Seattle. Swift, who pitched for the Giants in 1992-94, struck out seven as he won his fourth straight start.

Boston 10, Atlanta 6--Pedro Martinez struggled for his fourth consecutive start, but John Valentin helped him out with two two-run homers as the Red Sox held off the Braves at Atlanta.

In his three previous starts, Martinez gave up 17 earned runs, 28 hits and eight homers in 17 1/3 innings.

Martinez (7-2) gave up four homers, including Andres Galarraga’s 24th and 25th of the season. In all, he gave up nine hits and six earned runs in 6 2/3 innings.

New York Yankees 6, Montreal 2--Hideki Irabu pitched six strong innings and Tino Martinez hit a two-run homer at Montreal to help the Yankees win their season-high ninth straight game. The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 46-13.

Irabu (6-1) leads the majors with a 1.59 earned-run average. He also became the first Yankee pitcher to get a hit in a regular-season game since Larry Gowell on Oct. 4, 1972.

Minnesota 5, Chicago Cubs 1-- The Twins put together six straight two-out hits in a five-run first inning at Minneapolis, enabling Mike Morgan to win for the third time in his last four decisions.

The crowd of 15,086 was the smallest of the interleague series, which drew 58,969 for the three games.

New York Mets 3, Tampa Bay 2--The Mets took advantage of Devil Ray starter Rick White’s wildness at Shea Stadium to help Al Leiter win his fourth consecutive start.

The Mets batted for 22 minutes in the first inning, spending most of the time walking around the bases: White (0-3) walked three of the first four batters to load the bases, then walked Butch Huskey and Rich Becker to force in two runs.

Huskey had one of the Mets’ four hits, a sixth-inning homer, as they won for the 12th time in their last 14 home games.

Chicago White Sox 10, St. Louis 8--Robin Ventura hit a tying home run with two out in the ninth inning, then hit a two-run homer in the 11th to give the White Sox the victory at Cominsky Park.

Mark McGwire hit his major league-leading 30th homer in helping the Cardinals take a 7-0 lead. Albert Belle hit two three-run homers for the White Sox, tying his career high with six RBIs.

Toronto 4, Florida 3--Jose Canseco hit two home runs, including a solo homer with one out in the 10th inning, to give the Blue Jays the victory at Miami.

Canseco hit a 439-foot homer in the first inning after Shawn Green singled. The RBIs were Canseco’s first since May 25. He struck out with the score tied and the bases loaded in the eighth, but he homered in the 10th on a 1-1 pitch from Jay Powell.

Pittsburgh 4, Cleveland 3--Jermaine Allensworth doubled home Lou Collier in the top of the 11th inning at Cleveland.

Collier lined a one-out single off Jose Mesa (3-2) and went to third on Tony Womack’s infield hit. With the infield in, Allensworth lined a double down the left-field line past a diving third baseman Travis Fryman.

Houston 10, Detroit 3--Moises Alou and Carl Everett each had three RBIs and Pete Schourek pitched seven solid innings as the Astros completed a three-game sweep at Tiger Stadium

Joe Oliver homered for the Tigers, who have lost nine of 11 to fall a season-worst 15 games under .500 (23-38).

Baltimore 5, Philadelphia 2--Rafael Palmeiro hit a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning at Philadelphia, lifting the Orioles over the Phillies.

Jeff Reboulet led off the 10th with a double off Mark Leiter (2-2). Brady Anderson followed with an infield single and Palmeiro singled with one out. With two out, B.J. Surhoff hit a two-run single.

Milwaukee 9, Kansas City 6--Jeromy Burnitz and Mark Loretta hit run-scoring singles in the 15th inning in a game delayed by rain for 59 minutes at Kansas City.