Cone’s Five-Hitter Keys Yanks’ Win

American League

David Cone returned from the first missed start of his career to pitch a five-hitter and Ruben Sierra homered twice Thursday night in New York, leading the New York Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 5-1 for their fourth straight win.

Jim Leyritz and Paul O’Neill also homered as New York made quick work of the White Sox, winning in 2 hours, 11 minutes. New York’s last two games, including Wednesday’s 15-inning affair in Baltimore, took a total of 9:55.

Cone (4-1) pitched for the first time since April 22 after being sidelined by a circulation problem in his right index finger. He had been having trouble gripping the ball, which limited him to five innings in his last game, but a blood thinner helped him regain his touch.

Cone allowed only five singles and an unearned run, striking out eight and walking one in his first complete game of the year. He also remained perfect at Yankee Stadium since New York acquired him last July in a trade with Toronto, raising his record to 9-0 in that span.

Tigers 5, Rangers 2

Detroit

Detroit won for just the second time in 15 games, beating Texas on John Flaherty’s three-run homer.

Felipe Lira (2-3) allowed four hits in seven innings, including Rusty Greer’s two-run homer. Lira struck out five and walked two.

Brian Williams pitched the ninth for his second save, finishing the four-hitter.

Bobby Witt (3-2), seeking his 100th career win, gave up all four runs and four hits in six-plus innings. He walked six, hit a batter and struck out four.

Blue Jays 7, Brewers 5

Toronto

Charlie O’Brien hit a two-run home run and Joe Carter tripled, doubled and drove in a run, leading Toronto to a victory and a three-game series sweep of Milwaukee.

After Jose Valentin hit his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot to right for a 4-3 Brewers’ lead in the top of the sixth, Carter doubled with one out in the bottom of the sixth and scored on Juan Samuel’s two-out triple.

Robert Perez followed with a soft liner to left to score Samuel and O’Brien walked to chase loser Scott Karl (2-2). Alex Gonzalez singled off Marshall Boze to score Perez for a 6-4 Blue Jays lead.

Angels 3, Athletics 1

Oakland, Calif.

Rex Hudler’s leadoff homer in the eighth gave Jim Abbott his first victory of the season as California swept a three-game series with a win over Oakland.

The Angels have won 10 of their last 14 games. It was the seventh straight win by California over the Athletics, tying a club record against Oakland set in 1978-79.

Hudler, who homered for the second straight game, broke a 1-1 tie with his fourth of the season into a construction area in left field at the Oakland Coliseum, where renovation work continues during A’s games.

National League

Phillies 2, Marlins 0

Miami

Unbeaten rookie Mike Grace allowed five hits over eight innings for his fifth victory to lead Philadelphia past Florida.

Grace, 25, has the best record in the majors. Atlanta’s John Smoltz and San Diego’s Joey Hamilton are 5-1.

Ricky Bottalico pitched a hitless ninth for his league-leading 10th save. The game was delayed by rain for one hour, 35 minutes with no outs in the bottom of the ninth, and only about 200 fans remained at the end.

Clearing the bases

Oakland A’s manager Art Howe moved Todd Van Poppel out of the starting rotation and replaced him with Don Wengert before Thursday’s game. … The Philadelphia Phillies acquired first baseman J.R. Phillips from the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later and cash.

A first-inning walk to Texas’ Will Clark extended his on-base streak to all 28 games this season and 37 over two seasons. … After 27 games, the Blue Jays have drawn 471,295, down from 607,652 a year ago. … The Philadelphia pitching staff has thrown just three wild pitches, the fewest in the National League. That’s compared with 17 for league-leading Houston.