American League Roundup : Tigers Come Roaring Back With a 10-1 Victory Over Blue Jays

Maybe the Detroit Tigers aren’t dead, yet. After losing the first two games of the four-game series at Toronto, the 1984 champions fell 8 1/2 games behind the Eastern Division leaders. Some of the Blue Jays seemed to think the Tigers were finished.

But with Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and two doubles and driving in five runs Saturday, the Tigers rose up to hand the Blue Jays a 10-1 beating, their worst of the season. It also ended the Blue Jays’ winning streak at five games.

A sellout crowd of 44,484 saw rookie Randy O’Neal, backed by a 15-hit attack, pitch seven strong innings to gain his first victory. He gave up only four hits to the heavy-hitting Blue Jays, two to Damaso Garcia. Garcia singled in the Toronto run in the third after the Tigers had built an 8-0 lead.

Gibson hit his 10th home run in the first inning following the first of Lou Whitaker’s four hits and a single by Alan Trammell. In the third he doubled in a run and scored another to key a five-run rally. He concluded his big game with another run-scoring double in the seventh and then scored the 10th Tiger run.

After the game, Gibson was a bit testy. He remained in hiding for 45 minutes, and when he did appear, he refused to be interviewed by the Toronto media. “I’m not talking to you guys,” Gibson said. “Do I have to give a reason?”

One guy who will always talk is Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson.

“It was a very thankful day,” Anderson said. “We just have to think about things one day at a time because we’re in no position to do anything else. We haven’t been doing anything lately. Sometimes, you have to look no further than yourself to see why you’re having problems. It’s not always the opposition.

“There’s no chance for a quick fix. It’s going to take a long, long time. There’s no getting away from that.”

O’Neal, making his second start since being recalled from Nashville of the American Assn., praised his defense.

“When you get defense like I got today,” O’Neal said, “you should win. And having eight runs that early takes the pressure off.”

Boston 2, Baltimore 1--Bruce Kison worked out of a first inning jam with the bases loaded and nobody out at Baltimore, giving up only one run, and settled down to pitch the Red Sox to their sixth win in a row and ninth in the last 10 games.

Kison went 7 innings, giving up seven hits and striking out eight to improve his record to 3-1. Scott McGregor was the loser when first baseman Eddie Murray fumbled Dwight Evans’ grounder in the fourth to pave the way for two unearned runs.

The Orioles loaded the bases in the first on a single, double and walk. Murray’s long fly scored the run. But Kison got Fred Lynn to hit into a double play.

Cleveland 12, Seattle 8--Phil Bradley went 5 for 5, drove in three runs and took over the American League batting lead with a .340 average, but the Mariners fell short at Cleveland.

They fell short because Pat Tabler drove in six runs with a grand slam home run and two singles.

Bradley’s fifth hit, a triple in the eighth, gave the Mariners an 8-7 lead. But an error in the bottom of the inning enabled the Indians to tie it and Tabler singled home the winning run.

Bradley, who had four singles before the triple, became the first Mariner to go 5-for-5 in a nine-inning game.

Chicago 3, Minnesota 1--It was Britt Burns’ 26th birthday and teammates Greg Walker and Ron Kittle helped him celebrate at Minneapolis.

Walker hit a two-run home run in the first inning to get credit for his eighth game-winning RBI, while Kittle hit his eighth home run in the fourth.

Burns (7-5) held the Twins to three hits in 6 innings. During one stretch Burns, retired 13 consecutive batters.

Oakland 6, Texas 5--Bruce Bochte was badly fooled by Charlie Hough’s knuckleballs his first two times up. But when he came up in the sixth inning at Oakland, Bochte timed the butterly pitch perfectly, rammed a two-run single to break a 2-2 tie and lead the A’s to victory.

“Even though he got me twice, I know that I’ve always had pretty good success against him,” Bochte said. “Patience is the key. I just try to time the break and the third time I finally got it.”

The struggling Rangers left Hough in for all six runs, mainly because of a depleted pitching staff. The Rangers learned that Burt Hooton might not be able to pitch in today’s doubleheader because of a shoulder problem.

New York 2, Milwaukee 1--In the first two games of this series at Milwaukee, the teams have scored 11 runs each in 23 innings and each has won.

It was the Yankees’ turn. Deposed Manager Yogi Berra’s son Dale delivered a single in the 13th inning that scored Dave Winfield from second with the winning run.

Ray Burris held the Yankees to three hits until the ninth when he walked two and gave up a single before Rollie Fingers came to the rescue. Dan Pasqua hit a sacrifice fly to send the game into extra innings.