Two Homers Put Mariners’ Griffey in Elite Company

Ken Griffey Jr. hit two home runs and joined Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig as baseball’s all-time great RBI men in the Seattle Mariners’ 7-6 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night at Seattle.

Griffey, the American League home run leader with 55, hit solo shots in the third and fifth innings which gave him 140 RBIs. He joined Ruth and Gehrig as the only players to drive in 140 or more runs in three consecutive seasons.

Griffey overshadowed Alex Rodriguez’s achievement of becoming the AL leader in home runs hit by a shortstop. His 41st homer in the third broke the record he shared with Rico Petrocelli, who hit 40 home runs in 1969.

Rico Rossey’s ground-rule double that bounced over the center field fence in the fifth capped a three-run Mariners rally and made a winner of Jamie Moyer (15-9).

Moyer pitched six innings, gave up nine hits and four earned runs. He struck out nine before Jose Paniagua came on in relief in the seventh. Mike Timlin pitched the ninth for his 18th save, giving up a sacrifice fly to Jason Giambi for the final run.

Loser Jay Witasick (1-2) lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up five earned runs while walking two and striking out three.

The A’s ended a string of 19 consecutive scoreless innings against Moyer with two runs in the second. Matt Stairs’ hit a solo home run on a 3-2 pitch. Mike Blowers doubled and scored on an RBI single by Ben Grieve. But Moyer stopped the rally by striking out the next three batters.

The Athletics made it 3-0 in the third on an RBI single by Blowers.

Griffey and Rodriguez hit back-to-back homers in the third inning to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Griffey’s 54th home run was a 438-foot line shot to center field. His 55th was a line shot in the lower deck in the fifth inning that carried 347 feet and tied the score, 4-4.

The Mariners took a 7-4 lead in the sixth. Griffey walked, moved to third on Edgar Martinez’s single and scored when Raul Ibanez hit into a double play.

Toronto 7, Baltimore 3--Jose Canseco set a career high with his 45th and 46th home runs as the Blue Jays won at Toronto.

Canseco surpassed his previous career best of 44 in 1991 when he hit a two-run homer in the first. Canseco’s 428-foot shot in the seventh bounced off a SkyDome restaurant in center field.

Canseco, 34, has five multi-homer games this season and 32 in his career.

Toronto’s Chris Carpenter (12-7) improved to 6-1 over his last nine starts. Mike Mussina (13-9) gave up seven earned runs on eight hits in seven innings.

New York 10-5, Cleveland 4-1--The Yankees matched the second-highest victory total in team history by completing a sweep of a day-night doubleheader at New York.

In the first game between the AL division champions, rookie Shane Spencer hit two home runs. Spencer got two more hits in the second game as the Yankees improved to 109-48. New York tied the win total of the 1961 team, leaving them behind only the club mark of 110 by the 1927 Yankees.

The AL record for wins is 111 by the 1954 Indians. The Yankees have five games left to top that total.

In the second game, Hideki Irabu (13-9) gave up three singles and a fifth-inning double by Jeff Branson. He struck out seven and walked two.

Chicago 4, Minnesota 1--James Baldwin came within three outs of his first career shutout and the White Sox won their fifth in a row.

Baldwin (12-6) allowed only one runner to second base before he was relieved by Bob Howry after walking Chris Latham leading off the ninth at Minneapolis.

Baldwin struck out three and walked one as he won for the fifth time in six starts. David Ortiz hit an RBI double with two outs off Howry.

Detroit 14, Kansas City 4--Luis Gonzalez homered and drove in four runs to lead the Tigers at Kansas City, Mo.

Gonzalez capped a four-run fourth inning with a three-run homer and added an RBI single in a four-run ninth. Rookie Rob Fick also homered as Detroit won a season-high fourth consecutive road game.

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Next Series For Angels

WHO: Oakland A’s

WHERE: at Oakland

WHEN: Thursday, 7 p.m.; Friday, 7 p.m.; Saturday, 1 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.