Surhoff On Tear For Baltimore

B.J. Surhoff had a two-run homer and a two-run double, giving him 11 RBIs in his last three games, as the visiting Baltimore Orioles defeated the Oakland Athletics 7-3 Tuesday.

Surhoff bunted for a single in the second, had a bases-loaded double in the third and hit his fourth homer of the season in the fifth. He has two or more hits in eight of his last 13 games.

Surhoff, who went 3 for 4, is hitting .421 in his last 20 games to raise his average from .172 to .352. After getting one RBI in his first 11 games this season, he has 23 RBIs in his last 17 games.

Yankees 11, Twins 2

Minneapolis

Tino Martinez became only the third Yankees player to hit 15 homers in the first 40 games, hitting a two-run shot in New York’s victory over Minnesota.

Martinez joined Babe Ruth (four times) and Mickey Mantle (1956) as the only Yankees sluggers to start a season so quickly.

Royals 9, Red Sox 0

Kansas City, Mo.

Tim Belcher retired the first 15 batters and finished with a two-hitter as Kansas City routed slumping Boston.

Belcher (5-3) lowered his ERA to an A.L.-best 1.72 and stretched his scoreless innings streak to 19.

Tigers 4, Blue Jays 0

Detroit

Felipe Lira pitched a four-hitter and Bob Hamelin homered twice, leading Detroit over Toronto.

Toronto also lost starter Juan Guzman, who left without retiring a batter in the first inning with a sore right shoulder.

Indians 7, Rangers 3

Arlington, Texas

Matt Williams hit a tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning as Cleveland stopped a three-game losing skid with a win over Texas.

Angels 8, White Sox 7

Anaheim, Calif.

The Angels, who scored a club-record 13 runs in one inning Monday night, scored seven in the third inning to beat Chicago.

The first nine Anaheim batters reached base during the rally.

Clearing the bases

Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove, whose team has the best record in baseball the last three-plus seasons, got a long-awaited contract extension of two years and an option for 2000 despite the team’s early struggles this year. … Eddie Murray, one of only three players in baseball history with 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, became the sixth player to appear in 3,000 games. … Reliever Mitch Williams was given his unconditional release Kansas City.