AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Appier Can’t Figure Out Cleveland or Murray

Against everyone else, Kevin Appier is baseball’s biggest winner. Against Eddie Murray and the Cleveland Indians, he struggles.

Murray hit a two-run home run to move within three hits of 3,000, and the Indians defeated Appier for the second time this year, 5-2, Wednesday for their first sweep in Kansas City since 1981.

Jim Thome also hit a two-run homer as the Indians ended Appier’s five-game winning streak. Cleveland has scored the most runs of any team off Appier (11-3), getting six in a May 8 victory.

Cleveland has an 8 1/2-game lead over the Royals in the AL Central, equaling its largest lead of the season. The Indians’ 39-17 record also equals the best start for the club, matching the 1954 team that won 111 games and went to the World Series only to get swept by the New York Giants.

Chicago 4, Minnesota 3--Jason Bere matched his career high with 14 strikeouts in 8 1/3 innings and Robin Ventura homered twice as the White Sox won at Minneapolis for their sixth consecutive victory.

Bere (4-6), who came within two outs of his third complete game, gave up six hits, walked four, and struck out Kirby Puckett four times and Marty Cordova three times.

Bere, who threw 143 pitches in the longest outing of his career, walked Dan Masteller and gave up a single to Matt Walbeck before being relieved by Rob Dibble in the ninth.

Baltimore 4, Milwaukee 2--Mike Mussina won on the road for the first time this season, giving up four hits in eight innings as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of the Brewers at Milwaukee.

The Brewers lost their sixth consecutive game, their longest skid since dropping a team-record 14 in a row last May.

Mussina (7-5), who walked two and struck out five, entered the game with an 0-4 road record and an 8.17 earned-run average away from Camden Yards this season. He is 6-1 with a 3.19 ERA at home.

“It’s mounting frustration,” Brewer Manager Phil Garner said of his team’s home performance. “We can’t get anything going. Nothing. We talk about it every day. We’re discombobulated.”

Toronto 8, Boston 4--David Cone struck out 11, Paul Molitor hit his 200th career home run and the Blue Jays ended an eight-game losing streak with a victory at Boston.

The Blue Jays had not won since June 18. Last year, they had a 10-game losing skid from June 18-28. Cone (6-4) gave up six hits in 8 1/3 innings.

Mike Greenwell homered and Jose Canseco hit two doubles early, and Troy O’Leary hit a three-run homer in the ninth that finished Cone.

Molitor joins Bobby Bonds, Joe Morgan and Rickey Henderson as the only major leaguers with at least 200 homers and 450 stolen bases.

Detroit 8, New York 4--David Wells struck out 10 and won his fourth in a row as the Tigers ended the Yankees’ six-game winning streak in a game at New York.

Wells (6-3) scattered eight hits and walked two in seven-plus innings. He was charged with two runs in the eighth when Mike Stanley hit a two-run single off John Doherty to account for the final margin.

John Flaherty and Travis Fryman drove in two runs each and the Tigers had 13 hits off Jack McDowell.

Oakland 7, Seattle 5--Mark McGwire hit two home runs, including a solo shot in the eighth inning that gave the A’s the victory at Seattle.

McGwire, who leads the majors with 21 homers, hit a two-run drive off Randy Johnson in the fourth, and put the A’s ahead, 6-5, when he led off the eighth with a 424-foot shot against Jeff Nelson (3-1).

Two outs later, Stan Javier also homered off Nelson.