American League Roundup : Twins Call On Filson, Blue Jays Do Double Take and Lose

Many baseball fans, and even some opponents, look at the Minnesota Twins and ask, “Who are those guys?”

The Twins rolled out another no-name Sunday and all Pete Filson did was pitch Minnesota past Eastern Division-leading Toronto, 8-2, at Minneapolis.

“I don’t remember him (Filson) from last year,” Toronto’s Lloyd Moseby said. “Just give him credit for today. Our bats were just numb. It just didn’t seem to matter what he had, we just weren’t there.”

Filson (2-0) supplied three-hit pitching for 7 innings in relief of starter Tom Klawitter. Filson walked one and struck out two.

He did his job so well he lost it.

“He came in with the bases loaded and one out (in the second) and didn’t let anyone in,” Twins Manager Billy Gardner said. “That takes the momentum away from them. He had a few good games last year starting and we’re going to put him in this spot in the rotation.”

That suits Filson just fine.

He was a starter most of his minor league career with the New York Yankees before coming to Minnesota in the 1982 trade that sent Butch Wynegar to New York.

“I love to pitch and I think I can start,” he said. “I don’t mind relieving but you get flip-flopped a lot. Starting sounds good to me.”

The Twins had 13 hits, the 18th time in the last 20 games they’ve had at least 10 hits.

Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the first against Doyle Alexander (5-2) when Kirby Puckett led off with a triple and scored on Tom Brunansky’s single. Randy Bush’s grounder sent home the second run.

Jesse Barfield hit a solo homer for the Blue Jays in the second, but Tim Teufel and Brunansky hit solo homers in the third and fourth to put the Twins ahead, 4-1.

The Twins broke it open in the sixth on Teufel’s RBI double and Puckett’s two-run single.

Milwaukee 11, Kansas City 10--Charlie Moore’s single and an error on the play by Royal center fielder Willie Wilson allowed Paul Molitor to score the Brewers’ winning run from first base in the bottom of the ninth inning at Milwaukee.

Dan Quisenberry (3-3) took the loss, while winner Bob Gibson (4-1) pitched 2 scoreless innings in an otherwise wide-open game.

Kansas City tied the score, 10-10, in the seventh on back-to-back doubles by Darryl Motley and Frank White, and pinch-hitter Dane Iorg’s single before Gibson shut the door.

Kansas City took a 6-1 lead with four runs in the third, highlighted by Frank White’s two-run single, but the Brewers scored two runs in the third and six in the fourth to go ahead, 9-6.

Motley’s two-run homer in the fifth brought the Royals within 9-8, but Robin Yount’s solo home run in the sixth made it 10-8.

Oakland 9, Detroit 7--Jay Howell walked home two runs but got the final two outs with the bases-loaded in the ninth inning to preserve the A’s victory over the Tigers at Oakland.

Chris Codiroli (5-1) went seven innings before giving way to Howell, who walked in a run before getting the side out in the eighth. He walked home another in the ninth before striking out the final two batters.

Detroit led, 3-0, on Lance Parrish’s three-run homer in the first.

Oakland’s Dave Kingman singled home a run in the first and doubled home another as the A’s scored five times in the fourth. Oakland added three more in the sixth inning on RBI singles by Mike Davis and Alfredo Griffin, and a sacrifice fly by Donnie Hill to make it 9-3 before the Tigers rallied.

Chicago 5, Texas 1--Rookie Daryl Boston broke an 0-for-17 slump and a 1-1 tie with his first major league home run as Tim Lollar and two White Sox relievers held the Rangers to three hits at Chicago.

The victory was Chicago’s ninth in its last 12 games while Texas lost for the eighth time in its last nine.

Lollar struck out nine and walked five in 6 innings, but Gene Nelson (3-1) tossed 1 hitless innings to earn the victory. Bob James pitched the ninth.

Carlton Fisk hit a homer for the first Chicago run off Charlie Hough (3-3) and Greg Walker hit a three-run shot in the eighth.

Baltimore 2, Seattle 1--Cal Ripken’s sacrifice fly broke an eighth-inning tie and the Orioles’ Dennis Martinez continued his mastery of the Mariners at Seattle.

Martinez (3-2) scattered seven hits and raised his career record against the Mariners to 13-4 with his first victory since April 26. Seattle’s Mike Moore (4-4) allowed just five hits and struck out eight, including a stretch of five in a row.

Jim Dwyer homered for Baltimore in the fourth inning and Ken Phelps tied the score with a homer in the bottom of the inning.

Cleveland 2, Boston 1--Joe Carter bounced a run-scoring single over third base with one out in the ninth and the Indians rallied to beat the Red Sox at Cleveland.

The Red Sox and Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd (4-3) had a 1-0 lead when Tony Bernazard got the Indians even in the eighth inning with his fourth homer.

Cleveland starter Vern Ruhle gave up Boston’s lone run on a sacrifice fly by Jim Rice in the fifth. Reliever Rich Thompson (1-1) got his first major league victory with two innings of one-hit relief.