BALTIMORE 3, TEXAS 2 -------------------- BALTIMORE (Ticker) -- Sidney Ponson worked through a shaky ninth inning for his first career complete game and Charles Johnson drilled a three-run homer in the seventh as the Baltimore Orioles held on for a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. Ponson (4-3), who had never gone more than 7 1/3 innings in his first 27 major league starts, allowed two runs and six hits with two walks and matched a career high with six strikeouts as the Orioles overcame a home run by Rafael Palmeiro in his return to Camden Yards. The 22-year-old righthander retired 13 straight batters until issuing a leadoff walk to Mark McLemore in the ninth. Rusty Greer followed with a double down the right-field line, putting runners at second and third. After Juan Gonzalez's groundout scored McLemore and pulled the Rangers within 3-2, Ponson struck out Palmeiro looking and got Ivan Rodriguez to fly out to right. Rangers starter Rick Helling (4-5) held the Orioles scoreless for six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. Cal Ripken and Delino DeShields began the inning with singles and moved up on Mike Bordick's sacrifice. Johnson belted Helling's 0-1 pitch over the left-field wall for his ninth homer and a 3-1 lead. Johnson is batting .356 (21-for-59) over his last 18 games. BOSTON 5, TORONTO 2 ------------------- BOSTON (Ticker) -- John Valentin's two-out, two-run single capped a four-run fifth inning and Pat Rapp had his most effective start at Fenway Park as the Boston Red Sox downed the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2. After being held without a hit by Kelvim Escobar (3-2) through four innings, the Red Sox pieced together a rally in the fifth. Mike Stanley had a one-out walk and Jason Varitek did likewise one out later. Jeff Frye delivered a sharp single to center field for the first Boston hit, forging a 1-1 tie. Darren Lewis punched an RBI single to right field and took second on the throw home. Valentin followed by hitting the first pitch he saw into left field to score both runners. Rapp (2-2), who allowed two runs and four hits over five innings at Toronto five days ago, surrendered one run and three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out seven to win for the first time in five starts at Fenway Park this season. Rapp had four no-decisions this season at Boston, allowing 13 runs and 20 hits over 14 innings. He had not pitched at Fenway Park before this season. The Red Sox have won 12 of their last 15 games after a 12-14 start and are 9-2 in their last 11 home games. DETROIT 9, CLEVELAND 6 ---------------------- CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Frank Catalanotto homered twice, including the go-ahead two-run shot in the top of the eighth inning, as the Detroit Tigers handed the Cleveland Indians just their second loss in 11 games, 9-6. The Tigers trailed 6-5 entering the eighth and Dean Palmer and Tony Clark went down quietly. But Paul Shuey (2-2) issued a six-pitch walk to Gabe Kapler and Catalanotto followed by driving a 1-1 delivery over the right-field fence for his fourth homer of the season. Catalanotto had his first career multi-homer game and set a career high with four hits. Indians manager Mike Hargrove left the righthanded Shuey in the game to face Catalanotto, even though Ricky Rincon was in the bullpen. Detroit added two insurance runs in the ninth. Juan Encarnacion led off with a single, Damion Easley walked and after two pitching changes, Palmer smacked a two-run double into the right-center field gap. Detroit's Todd Jones came on in the ninth and allowed a leadoff single to Omar Vizquel and issued a two-out walk to Jim Thome. But he got Travis Fryman on a soft liner to second, earning his seventh save in as many chances. After blowing an early two-run advantage, Detroit twice rallied from two-run deficits, marking its biggest comeback of the season. C.J. Nitkowski (1-1) tossed a perfect seventh to pick up the win, one manager Larry Parrish expects to boosts the club's spirits. TAMPA BAY 10, ANAHEIM 9 ----------------------- ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Jose Canseco hit his major league-leading 17th home run and Wade Boggs had two hits in his return from the disabled list as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays held off the Anaheim Angels, 10-9. Boggs moved past Frank Robinson into 25th place on the all-time hit list when he led off the second inning with a single. He also singled with one out in the fifth and is 55 hits away from the coveted 3,000 plateau. The Devil Rays took the lead for good with two runs in the fifth, beginning with a run-scoring bloop single by Kevin Stocker that scored Boggs. Miguel Cairo gave the Devil Rays a 9-7 advantage when he scored while Stocker was caught in a rundown after a pickoff attempt by Mike Magnante (1-1). Canseco moved ahead of Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. for the home run lead and pulled Tampa Bay within 6-4 when he sent Ken Hill's first pitch of the third inning over the center-field fence for his fifth homer in as many games. Canseco added an RBI double in the eighth to give the Devil Rays a 10-8 lead. Rick White (4-0) struck out one in 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win and Roberto Hernandez picked up his major league-leading 15th save in 16 opportunities despite allowing a run and two hits in the ninth inning. Hernandez retired Larry Sheets on a flyout to deep center for the final out after an RBI single by Orlando Palmeiro. SEATTLE 5, KANSAS CITY 2 ------------------------ KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Jamie Moyer pitched six strong innings to win his third straight start and the Seattle Mariners extended their season-high winning streak to five games with a 5-2 win over the Kansas City Royals. Moyer (4-4) limited the Royals to one run and seven hits and struck out four without walking a batter. The crafty lefthander threw 60 of 94 pitches for strikes and improved to 8-7 lifetime against Kansas City. He pitched eight scoreless innings in a 5-1 win over the Royals last Sunday. Russ Davis drove in two runs for Seattle, which has not lost since last Saturday's 11-10 loss to the Royals. Davis and Ken Griffey Jr. had doubles for the Mariners, who won for the first time this season without hitting a home run. Griffey left the game with leg cramps in the ninth inning, but is expected to play Saturday. Jay Witasick (1-3) gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings as the Royals lost for just the second time in seven games. Rookie Carlos Febles matched a career high with four hits for the Royals. MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 (15 INNINGS) ----------------------------------- MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Doug Mientkiewicz's RBI single with one out in the bottom of the 15th inning lifted the Minnesota Twins to a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Todd Walker led off the Twins' half of the 15th with a shot down the right-field line that one-hopped the wall for a double. Denny Hocking's bunt went between Doug Jones (1-1) and third baseman Eric Chavez, resulting in a single, and Matt Lawton was intentionally walked to load the bases. After Ron Coomer struck out, Mientkiewicz took the first pitch from Jones for a ball before lining a shot through the shortstop hole for the game-winning hit. Oakland manager Art Howe pulled left fielder Tony Phillips into the infield for the final two batters, but Phillips was on the right-field side of second base when Mientkiewicz ended the contest five minutes shy of five hours. It was Minnesota's longest game since it lost a 17-inning marathon in Cleveland, 10-9, in six hours, 36 minutes on May 7, 1995. Travis Miller (1-0) picked up the win in his first appearance of the season by tossing a perfect 15th. NY YANKEES AT CHI WHITE SOX, POSTPONED (RAIN) --------------------------------------------- CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Roger Clemens' return from the disabled list will have to wait until Saturday. The game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox was postponed due to rain and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 4 p.m. EDT. Clemens was activated from the 15-day DL tonight in time to pursue an American League record for consecutive victories. The five-time Cy Young Award winner has won 17 straight decisions since last May 29. Clemens will start the first game of Saturday's doubleheader against red-hot righthander John Snyder, who has won seven straight starts. In the nightcap, New York's Andy Pettitte will face Mike Sirotka in a battle of lefthanders.  