D’Amico Walks Tall After Pitching Slow

The New York Yankees expected heat from 6-foot-7 Milwaukee rookie Jeff D’Amico. Instead, they got hoodwinked.

D’Amico, at 20 the youngest player in the major leagues, outpitched Jimmy Key, and John Jaha hit a two-run homer Sunday to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-2 victory over the Yankees at Milwaukee.

D’Amico (3-2) gave up only four hits, struck out two and walked two. Ruben Sierra’s second-inning home run accounted for the Yankess’ runs.

“He’s a big guy, we figured he’d throw hard and he kept us off balance with off-speed stuff,” the Yankees’ Paul O’Neill said. “He pitched a quality game.”

Mike Fetters pitched a perfect ninth for his 18th save.

Oakland 11, Texas 8--Scott Brosius hit a three-run homer and broke a 7-7 tie with a sixth-inning single at Arlington, Texas.

Terry Steinbach homered twice, hitting his 21st in the seventh to extend Oakland’s lead to 9-7. Jason Giambi and Damon Mashore also homered for the A’s, who lead the majors with 161 and have a club-record homer streak of 17 games.

Lee Stevens’ solo homer, his first since Sept. 4, 1992 for the Angels, pulled the Rangers within 9-8. Stevens was three for four and is six for eight since being recalled from the minors.

Baltimore 10, Boston 6--Heathcliff Slocumb hit Mark Smith with a pitch with the bases loaded in the 10th inning, sparking a five-run burst that carried the Orioles past the Red Sox at Boston.

Bobby Bonilla drew a leadoff walk from Mike Stanton (4-3) and B.J. Surhoff singled. One out later, Slocumb relieved and walked Chris Hoiles. Smith was hit with an 0-2 pitch.

Boston shortstop Jeff Manto, whose two-run homer in the ninth tied the score at 5, then threw away Luis Polonia’s grounder, allowing three more runs to score. Jeff Huson followed with a run-scoring single.

Baltimore’s Cal Ripken returned to shortstop after playing six straight games at third base.

Toronto 5, Detroit 4--Jacob Brumfield bowled over Tiger catcher Brad Ausmus to score on a two-out single by Alex Gonzalez in the 12th inning as the Blue Jays won at Toronto.

Brumfield led off the 12th with a single off Jose Lima (0-5) and moved up on a sacrifice by Robert Perez. After Sandy Martinez popped out, Gonzalez lined a hard single to center field. Chad Curtis’ throw home arrived at the same time as Brumfield, who jarred the ball loose from Ausmus.

Chicago 6, Kansas City 3--Rookie Chris Snopek hit two home runs and drove in four runs and Robin Ventura added a two-run homer to lead the White Sox over the Royals at Chicago.

Wilson Alvarez (12-5) scattered six hits, struck out six and walked three over seven innings. Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his 29th save.

Cleveland 7, Minnesota 5--Jeromy Burnitz hit two homers to power the Indians at Cleveland.

The Indians trailed, 5-4, going into the fifth when Manny Ramirez led off with a pop-up to the right of the mound. First baseman Jeff Reboulet called for it, but tripped over pitcher Brad Radke (5-13) as the ball dropped on a play scored as a double.

Burnitz hit the next pitch into the right-field bullpen for his fifth home run. Burnitz added a solo shot in the sixth.