Rangers, Angels Suffer Setbacks

American League

Kansas City’s bullpen finally provided the Royals with some relief this weekend.

Randy Veres pitched 3-1/3 shutout innings for his first save, leading starter Jose Rosado and the Royals to a 6-2 win over the Texas Rangers.

“The bullpen gave us a semblance of order,” Royals manager Bob Boone said after his club took two of three from the Rangers.

Royals relievers combined to blank the Rangers on five hits over 6-1/3 innings in the three games. Entering the series, the bullpen had blown four of its last six save opportunities.

“We’re happy but we’re not content,” said Veres, who collected his third career save. “We still have some catching up to do. We’ve let the team down in some games. This is a start. The bullpen’s starting to gel. We hope this gets the ball rolling, where we come in and stop things where they’re at.”

Rosado (4-3) allowed two runs and four hits in 5-2/3 innings. He had lost his last three decisions, but was perfect over the first 4-2/3 innings to extend his string of no-hit innings to 11.

Twins 5, Angels 4

Anaheim, Calif.

Terry Steinbach hit two home runs and Minnesota relievers pitched 6-2/3 scoreless innings.

Steinbach hit a two-run homer that made it 3-0 in the third. He broke a 4-4 tie in the fifth with his fifth home run of the season.

Mike Trombley, Eddie Guardado and Rick Aguilera combined for two-hit relief. Aguilera pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Brewers 7, White Sox 4

Milwaukee

Jeff Cirillo and Jose Valentin each hit two-run homers to offset shots by Albert Belle and Frank Thomas as Milwaukee won its fourth straight.

Belle extended his hitting streak to 27 games by hitting his 12th homer and Thomas homered twice for Chicago. Belle’s streak is the longest in the majors this year and tied the club record set by Luke Appling in 1936.

Belle’s homer was his eighth during his hitting streak. He also has six doubles, one triple and 33 RBIs in the spurt.

Yanks 11, Red Sox 6 (15)

Boston

Mark Whiten, who failed with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, hit a tiebreaking homer in a six-run 15th.

Wade Boggs, hitless in his previous 15 at-bats, capped the burst with a three-run homer after RBI singles by Paul O’Neill and Scott Pose.

Whiten entered in the ninth as a pinch-hitter for Luis Sojo and singled during a three-run rally that gave New York a 5-4 lead. Boston tied it in the bottom of the ninth on Nomar Garciaparra’s run-scoring triple.

Athletics 8, Blue Jays 2

Oakland, Calif.

Mike Oquist came within one out of his first major league shutout, and Mark McGwire, Geronimo Berroa and Matt Stairs provided home-run support.

Oquist (1-1), signed as a free agent last November and promoted from Triple-A on May 17, made his second start since replacing slumping Willie Adams in the rotation.

Indians-Orioles, ppd

Baltimore

A steady rainshower postponed the game between Baltimore and Cleveland.

Clearing the bases

Rangers manager Johnny Oates rested Will Clark and kept the hot-hitting first baseman out of the starting lineup. Clark, who hit .394 in May, had a pinch-hit single in the seventh. … Minnesota’s Terry Steinbach had stranded a total of eight runners Saturday and Sunday before he finally connected with Paul Molitor on second in the third inning.

Chicago’s Harold Baines appeared in his 1,259th game as a designated hitter, moving him ahead of Don Baylor and into second place for games played as a DH. … Boston has a winning home record against every A.L. team except the Yankees, who are 454-451 in Boston.

Right-hander Mark Gubicza, already on Anaheim’s disabled list since April 7, will undergo shoulder surgery early next week and be out for at least two months. … Mark McGwire has homered eight times in his last 16 games.