The Associated Press

Tom Kelly won his 1,000th game, while Johnny Damon is batting 1.

Monday, May 08, 2000

Tom Kelly won his 1,000th game, while Johnny Damon is batting 1.000 as a leadoff hitter the last 10 games.

Kelly became the 46th manager to win 1,000 games as Minnesota beat Detroit 4-0 on Sunday behind a five-hitter from Joe Mays.

”I’m happy this is over with. Hopefully I won’t have to hear about it anymore,” said Kelly (1,000-1,092), who has managed the Twins since Sept. 12, 1986 – the longest current tenure in the four major professional sports.

Damon’s achievement is over a much shorter span, but appears to be much rarer as well. Damon led off Kansas City’s 12-8 win over the Chicago White Sox with a single – the 10th straight game he’s opened with a hit.

It’s the longest such streak since 1975 – the Elias Sports Bureau was unable to research the obscure stat before then.

”I’m sure somebody has done it in the past, probably by Ty Cobb or somebody,” Damon said. ”But knowing that I’ve done something for the first time in a long time is really neat.”

In other games, it was Boston 9, Tampa Bay 7; Baltimore 7, New York 6; Cleveland 10, Toronto 8; Oakland 7, Texas 6; and Seattle 8, Anaheim 2.

Royals 12, White Sox 8

Carlos Beltran’s three-run double keyed a five-run eighth inning as Kansas City completed a three-game sweep.

Jermaine Dye hit his 13th homer as the Royals finished an 8-3 homestand.

Carlos Lee and Greg Norton hit RBI singles off Royals reliever Ricky Bottalico (4-1) in the top of the eighth to tie it at 7.

Indians 10, Blue Jays 8,

Travis Fryman hit an RBI single off Eric Gunderson (0-1) in the 12th inning as Cleveland overcame a six-run deficit at Toronto.

The Indians, who trailed 6-0, tied it with two runs off Billy Koch in the ninth before winning it in the 12th. David Justice went 3-for-5 with five RBIs.

Paul Shuey (2-1) got the win and Steve Karsay earned his sixth save.

Orioles 7, Yankees 6

At New York, Albert Belle hit a two-out, two-run single in a three-run ninth inning off Mariano Rivera (2-1) as Baltimore overcame Scott Brosius’ eighth-inning grand slam to snap New York’s six-game winning streak.

Buddy Groom (2-1) got the win, and Mike Timlin earned his second save.

Red Sox 9, Devil Rays 7

Troy O’Leary and Trot Nixon homered in the third inning off Bryan Rekar (0-1) to give Boston the win at Fenway Park.

Jeff Fassero (4-1) allowed three runs and nine hits in six innings in his longest start of the season. Derek Lowe got his seventh save.

Carl Everett hit a three-run homer in the fifth to give Boston an 8-3 lead.

Athletics 7, Rangers 6

Jeremy Giambi had three hits and drove in three runs and Oakland salvaged the finale of a wild series in Texas.

The Rangers won 17-16 Friday and came back for an 11-10 victory Saturday. The teams combined for 67 runs and 88 hits in the three-game set.

Omar Olivares (3-3) got the victory, and Doug Davis (0-1) took the loss.

<B>Mariners 8, Angels 2<B>

John Halama pitched six strong innings and Edgar Martinez led off a four-run sixth with a homer off Scott Schoeneweis (4-1) for host Seattle.

Halama (4-0) didn’t give up a hit after surrendering a run on two singles in the first inning. He struck out a career-high eight.