NEW YORK – Back in the big leagues, Orlando Hernandez began baffling hitters again.

The Cuban right-hander with the deceptive delivery reintroduced himself to the Yankees on Sunday, pitching New York to a 10-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and a four-game sweep.

Tony Clark hit two of New York’s five homers, and Jorge Posada homered and drove in two runs before leaving with a sprained ankle. Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield also connected.

Making a surprise start in place of an ailing Mike Mussina, Hernandez (1-0) held the Devil Rays to two runs and five hits over five innings in his first major league appearance since 2002. He struck out five and walked three, throwing 51 of his 88 pitches for strikes.

Socks pulled high, knee kicking all the way to his chin, El Duque even flashed some of his old magic, tossing up a near-eephus pitch to Toby Hall in the second inning and getting him on a soft fly to left to end the inning.

It was far from a dominating performance – but not bad for a guy who missed all of last season due to shoulder surgery. He earned his first major league win since Sept. 5, 2002, against Detroit.

And it was a satisfying day all around for the Yankees – Sheffield hit a long homer off Danys Baez four pitches after the right-hander sent him sprawling to the dirt with high-and-tight pitch.

Sheffield stood near the plate to watch the ball sail over the left-center fence in the eighth, making it 10-3.

White Sox 4, Mariners 3

CHICAGO – Freddy Garcia struck out seven in 6 2-3 innings against his former team, Jose Valentin hit a two-run homer and the Chicago White Sox handed the Seattle Mariners their ninth straight loss, 4-3 Sunday.

Aaron Rowand and Juan Uribe both hit solo homers for Chicago, which won its fourth straight to overtake Minnesota for first place in the AL Central.

The losing streak is Seattle’s longest since September 1992, when it lost a club-record 14 in a row. The Mariners went 0-9 on their nine-game road trip and they’ve also lost 12 straight away from home. It was their longest winless trip since Sept. 4-13, 1992.

Garcia (6-8) was traded to Chicago on June 27 and is 2-1 in three starts. He allowed three runs on six hits and gave up one walk.

Royals 11, Orioles 7

BALTIMORE – Mike Sweeney went 4-for-6 with two homers and three RBIs, keying a 17-hit attack that carried the Kansas City Royals past the Baltimore Orioles 11-7 on Sunday.

The Royals arrived in Baltimore coming off three straight shutout losses, but scored 20 runs in taking two of three from the last-place Orioles.

Kansas City’s 11 runs Sunday were its most in one game since a 15-5 victory over Cleveland on April 20.

The resurgence of the Royals’ offense could be attributed heavily to the return of Sweeney, who went 8-for-14 with three homers and eight RBIs in the series after missing the previous six games with a stiff back.

Indians 4, Athletics 1

CLEVELAND – Cliff Lee outpitched Barry Zito, and Coco Crisp homered and drove in two runs to lead the Cleveland Indians to a 4-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.

Lee (9-1) gave up one run and six hits in seven innings to improve to 6-0 in nine starts at Jacobs Field. He walked three, struck out five and is 4-0 in seven starts since June 3.

Crisp had three hits, including his fifth homer and an RBI double, to help Cleveland win for just the third time in eight games.

Bob Wickman pitched the eighth and got out of a jam with two on and no outs.

In the ninth, the A’s had runners on first and second with two outs and Eric Chavez up as the tying run, but David Riske got him to fly out for his fourth save in 10 chances.

Angels 5, Blue Jays 2

TORONTO – Adam Kennedy fell a home run shy of the cycle and the Anaheim Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays with a 5-2 victory Sunday.

Kennedy went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for the Angels, who swept the Blue Jays for the first time since April 26-28, 2002.

John Lackey (7-8) improved to 4-1 in his last seven starts, allowing two runs on six hits in 5 2-3 innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.

Tigers 2, Twins 0

MINNEAPOLIS – Jason Johnson pitched a five-hitter and struck out a career-high 11 to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday.

Johnson (7-7) threw his fourth career complete game, first by shutout. He threw 119 pitches – 84 for strikes – and walked one. In his last outing, Johnson held the Yankees to a run over eight innings.

Eric Munson hit a two-run homer in the second inning, the only mistake by Minnesota’s Johan Santana, who reached double-digit strikeouts for the fifth straight start.

Santana (7-6) fanned 11 in eight innings.

, allowing just two hits and two walks. He retired his last 18 batters after bobbling a grounder by Omar Infante for an error in the third inning.

The Twins started the week with four wins behind some stellar starting pitching, including a club-record streak of 32 scoreless innings. They had a sluggish weekend at the plate, though, and head to the All-Star break with three straight losses.

The Tigers, who went 25-67 in the first half of 2003 and finished 43-119, improved to 42-45. They took a 2-0 lead in the second after twice being thrown out trying to score.

Marcus Thames hit a double that Lew Ford misplayed, but the left fielder made a perfect throw to third baseman Corey Koskie, who fired home. Rookie catcher Joe Mauer blocked the plate with his left foot and tagged Rondell White as he slid in.

Thames was running on contact when Mike DiFelice hit a chopper to third, and Koskie again threw home to Mauer for an out. But Munson crushed an 0-1 pitch that sailed over the tall blue curtain in right field.

The long ball remains a problem for Santana, who has allowed a team-high 18 home runs that account for 34 of his 52 earned runs.

Johnson’s season statistics would be pretty decent if not for two terrible April starts against the Twins in which he gave up 12 earned runs in 7 1-3 innings. He is 3-0 in his last five starts, pitching into the eighth in each of those.

Johnson struck out everyone in the lineup at least once, except Mauer and Jose Offerman. Koskie and Torii Hunter started the second with singles, but Jacque Jones hit into a double play and Matthew LeCroy struck out.

Jones reached in the fifth when he swung and missed at Johnson’s two-strike wild pitch, and Offerman singled him to third with two outs. Nick Punto struck out looking, however, to end the inning.

Notes: Munson was hitless in seven previous at-bats against Santana. … This was Detroit’s last trip of the year to Minnesota. The Tigers play a four-game series against the Twins at home in September. … Detroit is 19-50 against Minnesota since 2001. Seven of those are this season. … Santana’s 136 strikeouts lead the AL.

AP-ES-07-11-04 1629EDT