Yankees have O'Neill to thank for winning Subway Series opener

All it took for the New York Yankees to get on track in the Subway Series was a crack at the Mets bullpen.

Paul O'Neill hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning on reliever Mel Rojas' first pitch and the Yankees beat the Mets 8-4 on Friday night in the opener of the eagerly anticipated series.O'Neill's home run put the Yankees ahead 6-4 and sent them to their third straight win while stopping the Mets' three-game winning streak. A sellout crowd of 53,404 attended the game at Shea Stadium.

Ramiro Mendoza (5-1) was the winner, pitching 2 2-3 scoreless innings in relief of Hideki Irabu. Mariano Rivera got the final two outs for his 19th save. Al Leiter (9-4) took the loss.

Brian McRae and Edgardo Al-fon-zo hit solo home runs for the Mets.

TWINS 5, CARDINALS 1: Matt Lawton and Marty Cordova hom-ered, Mark McGwire didn't and six Minnesota pitchers held St. Louis to four hits.

With most in the crowd of 29,089 cheering for McGwire to hit his 36th homer, the first baseman only managed to come close once as he went 0-for-4. His towering fly to left in the fourth backed Marty Cordova to the wall.

Greg Swindell (2-2) was the winner, and Juan Acevedo (2-2) took the loss. Ray Lankford homered for St. Louis.

ROYALS 6, CUBS 3: Jose Offerman hit a two-run homer and Kansas City cooled off record-breaking Sammy Sosa as the Royals beat Chicago.

Sosa, whose 19 homers in June are the most ever by a player in any month, was 1-for-4 with a single as the Cubs lost their sixth in a row.

Hipolito Pichardo (4-6) got the win, and Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth for his 16th save. Steve Trachsel (6-5) lost his fourth straight decision.

TORONTO 6, BRAVES 4: Carlos Delgado and Jose Canseco hit two-run homers and Alex Gonzalez had a solo shot to help Toronto extend its season-high winning streak to six games.

Pat Hentgen (9-4) allowed eight hits, three runs, walked one and didn't have a strikeout in 6 2-3 innings. Randy Myers pitched the ninth for his 22nd save in 25 chances. John Smoltz (5-2) took the loss. Javy Lopez hit two homers for the Braves.

INDIANS 4, ASTROS 2: Mark Whiten hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the seventh, and Bartolo Colon bolstered his All-Star bid with another strong outing as Cleveland beat Houston.