Sanderson's shutout puts A's up by 6

Scott Sanderson pitched a three-hitter for his first shutoutsince 1986 and Doug Jennings hit his first home run since April,1988, as the Oakland Athletics defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox4-0 for their fifth consecutive victory.

The victory, coupled with the White Sox' 4-3 loss to the TorontoBlue Jays enabled the Athletics to open a six-game lead in theAmerican League West. The Red Sox, meanwhile, saw their lead in thethe American League East sliced to two games over the Blue Jays.

Sanderson (12-7) was 0-2 with three no-decisions since July 16.He worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first two innings, thenfaced just two batters more than the minimum during the last seven.

The last time Sanderson won 12 games in a season was when heplayed for the Montreal Expos in 1982. He walked five and struck outseven en route to his first shutout since he blanked the St. LouisCardinals as a member of the Cubs on April 23, 1986.

The Athletics scored all the runs they needed on RBI singles byDave Henderson and Ron Hassey in the third. Jennings added his homerun in the fourth, and Willie Randolph capped the scoring with arun-scoring single in the sixth. All of the runs were charged tolosing pitcher Greg Harris (9-5).

The Athletics again played without injured outfielders JoseCanseco (lower back pain) and Rickey Henderson (strained hamstring).The Red Sox were without third baseman Wade Boggs and shortstop JodyReed, both of whom fouled balls off their toes Sunday.

Tigers 6, Indians 5: Cecil Fielder's major-league-leading 36thhome run, a two-run shot, capped a three-run first inning and helpedvisiting Detroit edge Cleveland and avoid a four-game sweep.

Tony Phillips and Alan Trammell also drove in two runs insupport of Walt Terrell (1-1), who rejoined the Tigers after beingreleased last month by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Terrell was signed asa free agent July 28 after compiling a 2-7 mark for the Pirates.

In his first stint with the Tigers, Terrell compiled a 54-48mark from 1985-88. Against the Indians, he allowed three runs in sixinnings. Paul Gibson pitched the seventh before giving way to JerryDon Gleaton, who worked the last two innings for his seventh save.

The Indians' Dion James extended his hitting streak to 16 gameswith a third-inning single.

Royals 5, Rangers 3: Gerald Perry, who is batting .466 in hislast 10 games, had three hits and drove in two runs as host Kansas City defeated Texas Rangers for its eighthvictory in its last 10 games.

The Royals, who spent most of the season in the American LeagueWest cellar, are now fifth and trail the third-place Rangers by justthree games.

Winning pitcher Kevin Appier (8-4) all three of the Rangers' runin 6 2/3 innings. Jeff Montgomery got the last four outs for his17th save.

Losing pitcher Kevin Brown (12-9) was forced to leave the gamewith a hyperextended right elbow after giving up a leadoff double toBrian McRae in the second. He was charged with four hits and fourruns.

Orioles 3, Mariners 2: Unbeaten rookie Ben McDonald pitched afour-hitter over 8 2/3 innings to help visiting Baltimore nipslumping Seattle.

McDonald (5-0) struck out three and walked three. He has anearned-run average of 1.56 in 46 1/3 innings and is the first pitcherin Orioles history to win his first five major-league starts.

Gregg Olson retired Scott Bradley on a line drive to second withthe potential tying and go-ahead runs on base for his 27th save.

The loss was the Mariners' third in a row and sixth in theirlast seven games.

Angels 4, Yankees 2: Kirk McCaskill scattered six hits in seveninnings to lead host California to victory over punchless New York.

The victory was the first for McCaskill (8-8) against theYankees in his career. McCaskill, who had not won since June 24,gave up just one run in his stint.

The Yankees have scored just five runs in their last five games.