By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Randy Johnson won despite lasting only five innings, and the New York Yankees got home runs from Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon to polish off a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 9-3 victory Thursday.

Bernie Williams, who finished with three hits, and Robinson Cano each had an RBI single off Denny Bautista (0-1) for the Yankees, who have won 14 straight home games against Kansas City – a streak that dates to August 2002.

The loss matched the Royals’ record for consecutive defeats in an opposing ballpark, set at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium from August 1987 to May 1990.

Johnson (2-1) was pulled after 87 pitches, but New York general manager Brian Cashman said it was not for any medical reason, it was simply a baseball decision.

Twins 8, Athletics 2

MINNEAPOLIS – Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer, Kyle Lohse threw six innings for his first win and the Minnesota Twins finished a three-game sweep by beating the Oakland Athletics 8-2 on Thursday.

Luis Castillo and Mike Redmond each had three hits, and Shannon Stewart drove in two runs for Minnesota, which had three-run innings in the first and fifth against Oakland starter Joe Blanton.

The Twins stumbled home this week after going 1-5 on a road trip to begin the season and struggling mightily with their bats. The A’s were fresh from a sparkling weekend of starting pitching. Both those trends were quickly reversed.

Orioles 6, Devil Rays 5

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Melvin Mora hit a go-ahead two-run homer during a three-run ninth inning to lift the Baltimore Orioles over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 6-5 on Thursday night.

Brian Roberts cut the Tampa Bay lead to 5-4 with a sacrifice fly and Mora’s two-out drive off closer Dan Miceli (0-1) gave Baltimore the lead.

Ty Wigginton homered for the third consecutive game and Travis Lee, Tomas Perez and Jonny Gomes also had solo shots for the Devil Rays, who have 16 homers in 10 games this season.

Baltimore starter Bruce Chen gave up five runs and five hits in 7 2-3 innings. Chris Ray (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the win.

White Sox 13, Tigers 9

DETROIT – Jim Thome homered in his fourth straight game to help the Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers 13-9 Thursday.

Tadahito Iguchi also homered and drove in three runs and Alex Cintron had a pair of RBI triples for the White Sox, who have won four straight. Chicago swept the three-game series and is 10-2 at Comerica Park since the start of last season.

Despite three hits, including a homer, from red-hot Chris Shelton, the Tigers fell to 5-4 after winning their first five games.

Shelton is hitting .514 with a 1.297 slugging percentage.

Jon Garland (1-1) got the win despite allowing seven runs and 13 hits, tying a career high, in five innings.

Mariners 9, Indians 5

CLEVELAND – Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Lopez each hit two-run homers to help the Seattle Mariners rally for a 9-5 win over the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night.

The Indians led 5-3 after five innings but three Seattle relievers combined to throw 4 1-3 shutout innings, allowing five hits and no walks. The Mariners won the final two games of the three-game series at Jacobs Field. Cleveland reliever Rafael Betancourt got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the sixth by striking out Jeremy Reed to preserve the Indians’ two-run lead.

But Lopez hit a two-run homer off the right-hander with one out in the seventh to tie it at 5.

Left-hander Scott Sauerbeck (0-1) then yielded a sharp single to Raul Ibanez and was replaced by Guillermo Mota. Richie Sexson greeted him with a double to left, sending Ibanez to third. Adrian Beltre was intentionally walked to load the bases, but Mota also walked Carl Everett to make it 6-5.

Kenji Johjima followed with a bouncer to third baseman Aaron Boone, whose throw home pulled catcher Victor Martinez off the plate. Sexson scored to give the Mariners a two-run lead.

Johjima added a two-run double in the ninth off Fernando Cabrera to make it 9-5. Reed then lined a ball off Cabrera’s right ankle. The right-hander made the play for the out, but left the game and was replaced by Danny Graves.