Appier, Cone Switch Lots in A’s Win Over Yankees

Kevin Appier fared better this time against the New York Yankees.

David Cone fared much worse against Oakland.

Appier, who had his worst outing of the season in Yankee Stadium early this month, came back with one of his best on Friday night, leading the Athletics to an 8-1 victory at Oakland.

He gave up four hits and an unearned run in eight innings and struck out eight. Appier (12-9) won for the fourth time in five decisions. The only loss was to the Yankees on Aug. 9, when he gave up 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings.

“This certainly made it sweeter considering what happened last time,” Appier said. “That got really ugly. It was bad stuff and bad mechanics.”

He had good stuff and good mechanics Friday. He also had three RBIs each from Eric Chavez and Ben Grieve.

Chavez had a three-run double and Grieve a two-run single during a five-run third inning against Cone (3-11). Grieve homered off reliever Randy Choate.

“The offense was awesome and they scored early,” Appier said. “That was definitely helpful.”

Cone defeated the A’s on Aug. 10, ending his eight-game losing streak and a stretch in which he went 15 starts without a victory.

Kansas City 6, Boston 2--Jeff Suppan pitched a five-hitter and the Royals ended a five-game losing streak by winning at Kansas City.

Suppan (7-7) got off to a shaky start, giving up Carl Everett’s 30th homer in the first inning. But after giving up a double to Scott Hatteberg in the second and a single to Jose Offerman in the third, Suppan did not allow another hit until the ninth.

He struck out three and was the beneficiary of Mike Sweeney’s tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh inning.

Minnesota 8, Detroit 3--Jay Canizaro hit a grand slam and drove in five runs to give Brad Radke (10-13) all the support he needed in the Twins’ win at Minneapolis.

Canizaro broke a 3-3 tie in the fourth inning when he connected off Willie Blair for the Twins’ first grand slam of the season.

Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 3--Jerry Hairston homered and drove in all four Oriole runs in a victory at Baltimore.

Hairston hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to tie the game. Then, after Tampa Bay scored a run in the seventh, Hairston hit a two-out, two-run single in the bottom half.

The Orioles, who had at least one error in a franchise-record 16 consecutive games, finally ended the dubious streak.

Chicago 4, Seattle 1--Mike Sirotka (12-10) beat the Mariners for the second time this month and Herbert Perry had three RBIs for the White Sox at Seattle.

The Mariners lost their third in a row and 11th in 12 games.