TONIGHT IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Texas (22-18) at Baltimore (14-26) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- A pair of .500 pitchers open a three-game series at Camden Yards tonight when the Texas Rangers visit the Baltimore Orioles. Rick Helling (4-4, 5.54 ERA) has won four of his last five starts for Texas, including a solid effort against Baltimore last Saturday. He allowed just one run and six hits over eight innings in an 8-1 triumph and improved to 2-2 against the Orioles. In his last five starts since opening 0-3, Helling has allowed 14 runs and 35 hits over 33 innings. Sidney Ponson (3-3, 5.12) started against Texas last Sunday and surrendered three runs and eight hits over seven innings in a 16-5 rout for his third win in four starts. Ponson improved to 2-1 against the Rangers lifetime. Ponson has been remarkable in his last two starts at home, allowing just two runs and nine hits over 14 innings. Rafael Palmeiro homered twice and knocked in three runs and Tom Goodwin laced the go-ahead single in the eighth inning helping Texas snap a three-game skid with a 7-6 triumph over Tampa Bay on Wednesday. Palmeiro left the Orioles to sign a five-year, $45 million deal with the Rangers in the offseason. Despite a pair of RBI from Cal Ripken, Baltimore suffered its eight loss in 10 games with a 6-4 setback on Thursday against Anaheim. Texas captured three of four games from the Orioles last weekend in Arlington. Toronto (21-22) at Boston (23-17) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- BOSTON (Ticker) -- For the second time in less than a week, Pat Rapp opposes Kelvim Escobar when the Boston Red Sox host the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a three-game series. Rapp (1-2, 7.24 ERA) allowed two runs and four hits over five innings for Boston and did not receive a decision in Sunday's 9-6 loss to Toronto. He lost his only career decision against the Jays. In three starts since his last win on April 28, Rapp has surrendered nine runs and 13 hits with nine walks over 7 1/3 innings. Escobar (3-1, 5.48) also did not receive a decision on Sunday. He tossed 4 2/3 innings and gave up four runs and five hits with four strikeouts. Escobar is 0-1 versus the Red Sox lifetime. Boston captured two of three games against the New York Yankees this week and moved one-half game ahead of the defending World Series champions in the American League East. On Thursday, the Red Sox were unable to pull off a sweep, managing just three hits in a 3-1 loss to New York. Toronto received a seven-hit shutout from Roy Halladay and won for the third time in five games with a 7-0 triumph over Detroit on Thursday. Shawn Green went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Boston won three of four games from the Jays last weekend at Skydome. Detroit (17-23) at Cleveland (29-10) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Fresh off scoring 13 runs in each of their last three games, the Cleveland Indians open a nine-game homestand tonight when they host the Detroit Tigers to begin a weekend series. The Indians, winners of nine of their last 10, will attempt to become the first team to score 13 runs in four straight games since the 1901 Pittsburgh Pirates. Dave Burba (4-1, 4.30 ERA) starts for the Indians. During a two-game winning streak, he has 12 strikeouts over 13 2/3 innings and has given up eight runs and 11 hits. Cleveland is 6-2 in games started by Burba. Burba struck out eight against Detroit over 6 2/3 innings last Saturday while surrendering four runs and five hits. The win improved Burba's career mark against the Tigers to 3-0. One cog in the Indians machine that will be missing is catcher Sandy Alomar, who will have to undergo surgery to repair two bone chips in his left knee. The surgery will sideline Alomar for four to five weeks, an Indians spokesman said. Willie Blair (1-4, 8.21) has not pitched since May 8 due to off days in the Tigers schedule. He notched his only win that day, allowing six runs and as many hits over five innings in a 7-6 triumph over Baltimore. Blair is 0-4 on the road this season with a 15.07 ERA, but is 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA in four games against the Indians in his career. Richie Sexson hit his second career grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs as the Indians pounded the Chicago White Sox, 13-7, on Wednesday. Detroit was shut out by Roy Halladay in a 7-0 loss against Toronto on Thursday, its seventh defeat in nine games. There have been three complete-game shutouts in the American League this season and the Tigers have been the victims each time. Cleveland took two of three meetings from Detroit last weekend. Anaheim (19-22) at Tampa Bay (21-20) 7:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- After having their four-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays are expected to have Wade Boggs back in the lineup when they host the Anaheim Angels in the opener of a three-game series. Boggs, sidelined since May 5 with a strained left hamstring, was activated from the disabled list today. The 40-year-old Boggs is hitting .276 (21-for-76) with nine RBI and needs just 57 hits to join the exclusive 3,000-hit club. The Devil Rays hit three home runs in Wednesday's 7-6 loss at Texas. Paul Sorrento launched a 491-foot blast in the second inning, the longest home run ever hit at The Ballpark of Arlington. Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff also homered for the Devil Rays. Canseco and Ken Griffey are tied for the major league lead with 16 home runs. Lefthander Tony Saunders (3-3, 6.69 ERA) has allowed two earned runs in his three wins and 21 runs in his three losses. He also has a no-decision in which he was shelled for six runs and eight hits over three innings. Saunders is coming off a sterling eight-inning effort against the Angels on Saturday. He allowed one unearned run and three hits, striking out seven and walking two in a 3-1 Devil Rays win. Tampa Bay took two of three in that series and Saunders outdueled Ken Hill in the middle game. Hill (1-3, 3.94) has suffered back-to-back losses and is winless in his last three starts. The Angels have failed to score more than four runs in all but two of Hill's eight starts. The Angels improved to 5-1 in their last six road games with a 6-4 victory over Baltimore on Thursday. Todd Greene's leadoff homer in the sixth held up as the Angels benefited from a baserunning gaffe by the Orioles en route to a a 6-4 victory on Thursday. NY Yankees (22-17) at Chi White Sox (18-19) 8:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Roger Clemens, making his first start this month, can establish a new American League record for consecutive wins tonight when the New York Yankees meet the Chicago White Sox in the opener of a three-game set. Clemens (2-0, 5.47 ERA) will be activated today after spending more than three weeks on the disabled list with a strained hamstring. He left his last start on April 27 at Texas due to the injury. Clemens yielded five runs in that outing but his teammates got him off the hook with a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over the Rangers. The defending two-time Cy Young winner has not lost a decision since May 29, 1998 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. His 17 consecutive wins ties him with Baltimore's Dave McNally from 1968-69 and Cleveland's Johnny Allen from 1936-37 for the AL mark. Orlando Hernandez pitched eight solid innings and Bernie Williams drove in a pair of runs as the Yankees salvaged the finale of a three-game set with Boston, 3-1, on Thurday. New York has dropped eight of its last 11 games and enters tonight's game one-half game behind the Red Sox for the top spot in the AL East. The White Sox, who are below the .500 mark for the first time since April 18, have lost four in a row including a three-game sweep against Cleveland. Chicago was outscored, 39-16 by the Indians. Chicago ace John Snyder (6-1, 2.00) has won six straight starts and although he is no immediate threat to Clemens' streak, pitched six solid innings in a 12-4 victory at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Chicago took two of three games in that series, outscoring the Yankees, 20-6 in winning the first two. Rookie Carlos Lee has three homers and 11 RBI in his first nine games with Chicago. Seattle (19-21) at Kansas City (21-18) 8:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- A pair of red-hot teams collide tonight when the Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals open a three-game series. The Mariners will try and extend their season-high winning streak to five games by sending lefthander Jamie Moyer to the hill. Moyer (3-4, 6.18 ERA) hopes the Mariners continue their torrid hitting, which has resulted in 54 runs in six games since the return of superstar shortstop Alex Rodriguez. Since returning from knee surgery on Friday, Rodriguez is 8-for-22 (.363) with four homers and eight RBI in six games. Ken Griffey Jr. has benefited from the depth in the lineup, homering in five of those six games, including his major league-leading 16th in Wednesday's 7-0 win over Minnesota. Unfortunately, Seattle was forced to place Jay Buhner on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a strained left hamstring. Buhner aggravated the injury in Tuesday's victory over the Twins. The Royals have won 15 of their last 22 games and completed a three-game sweep of Oakland with Thursday's 7-1 victory. Kansas City outscored the Athletics, 34-7, in their first three-game sweep at home since August 29-31, 1995 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kansas City is three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the strike-shortened 1994 season. Tonight, the Royals send Jay Witasick (1-2, 7.92) to the mound. Witasick was pounded for six runs over 2 1/3 innings at Seattle on Saturday, but the Royals rallied for an 11-10 victory. Kansas City has won three of Witasick's four starts and his other loss came when he was working out of the bullpen in April. The Royals took two of three games from the Mariners last weekend. Oakland (21-20) at Minnesota (13-27) 8:05 pm EDT ---------------------------------------------------------------- MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- LaTroy Hawkins attempts to avoid becoming the second seven-game loser in the majors tonight when he pitches for the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. Hawkins (1-6, 9.00 ERA) has lost his last four decisions and is winless in five starts since his lone victory at Kansas City on April 19. Hawkins gave up five runs over seven innings and did not have a decision at Oakland on Saturday. If Hawkins loses tonight, he would join teammate Mike Lincoln as the only pitchers with seven losses. The struggling Twins have matched a season-high six-game losing streak and own the worst record in the American League, one game behind Baltimore. Minnesota also dropped six straight games from May 5-10. Oakland had a six-game winning streak before running into Kansas City in its last series. The A's suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of the Royals and were outscored, 34-7. Jimmy Haynes (2-5, 6.14) looks to baffle the Twins for the second time in less than a week when he starts for Oakland. Haynes stopped a four-start winless on Sunday, limiting Minnesota to just two runs and three hits over seven innings in a 4-2 victory. Oakland swept three games from the Twins last weekend.  