Fullmer Rocks as Blue Jays Continue to Roll, 12-3

Brad Fullmer, who went four for four with a walk and four runs batted in, lacked only a double for the cycle as the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 12-3, on Thursday at St. Petersburg, Fla.

“The biggest thing is I’ve hit for the cycle twice, and I didn’t want anybody else to do it,” joked Toronto Manager Jim Fregosi.

Fullmer homered, tripled and singled twice in his third career four-hit game.

It looked like Fullmer might get the elusive double in the seventh inning. He hit a liner to left that appeared headed to the fence, but Tampa Bay’s Bubba Trammell cut the ball off and Fullmer stopped at first.

“If it was meant to happen, that ball goes to the wall,” Fullmer said. “I stand by my decision [not to go for second]. You can’t make a mockery of the game for a little glory.”

Fullmer and Jose Cruz Jr. hit three-run homers as Toronto went deep four times in winning its seventh consecutive series.

Frank Castillo (5-5) won his fourth consecutive start for the Blue Jays, who have won seven of eight and taken over first place in the AL East.

Raul Mondesi and Tony Batista hit two-run homers as Toronto took two of three at Tampa Bay, the first stop on a 13-game trip.

The Blue Jays have homered in 65 of 79 games and have 133 for the season. Toronto had a team-best streak of home runs in 23 consecutive games end Tuesday.

Toronto’s Carlos Delgado extended his career-best hitting streak to 22 games with a first-inning RBI double.

New York 8, Detroit 0--The Yankees scored eight runs on eight hits in the fourth inning against Dave Mlicki (2-9) at Detroit as Andy Pettitte earned his second career shutout.

Pettitte (8-4) evened his career record for pitching on three days’ rest to 2-2 by giving up only six hits. He struck out five and walked two in his first shutout since July 5, 1997, at Toronto.

Kansas City 6, Cleveland 1--Carlos Beltran homered from both sides of the plate, and Chad Durbin gave up five hits in 8 2/3 innings as the Royals won at Kansas City, Mo.

Cleveland’s Bartolo Colon became only the fourth pitcher in history to walk the first four batters in a game, tying the major league record.

The last time a pitcher began a game by walking the first four hitters was April 18, 1997, by Roger Pavlik of Texas.

Boston 12, Baltimore 4--Brian Daubach broke out of a slump with two homers and six RBIs, and Tim Wakefield pitched seven strong innings at Boston as the Red Sox ended a five-game losing streak.

Minnesota 10, Chicago 1--Eric Milton gave up five hits in seven innings, and Jay Canizaro had a career-high four hits, including a solo homer for the Twins at Chicago.

Texas 3, Oakland 1--Esteban Loaiza gave up one run in 7 1/3 innings at Oakland as the Rangers became the first team to win a series from the Athletics since mid-May.