American League Roundup : Petry Pitches Tigers Past Slumping Orioles, 6-2

Dan Petry hurled a three-hitter for his American League-leading ninth victory and John Grubb’s two-run single capped a three-run first inning as Detroit won its fourth in a row Wednesday night, 6-2 over the Baltimore Orioles at Tiger Stadium.

Baltimore, losing for the fifth straight time, played the game amid rumors of the imminent firing of manager Joe Altobelli.

Petry (9-4) struck out four and walked two, retiring 24 of the last 25 batters and the final 19. Leading, 3-2, Petry got his final cushion in the eighth when Lou Whitaker hit a three-run homer, his eighth of the season.

The Tigers scored all the runs they needed with three off Mike Boddicker (6-6) in the first, capping the rally with Grubb’s two-run single. With one out, Alan Trammell singled, stole second and reached third when first baseman Eddie Murray bobbled Kirk Gibson’s grounder for an error.

Lance Parrish singled to score Trammell and Darrell Evans walked to load the bases. Grubb then followed with a soft liner over Oriole shortstop Cal Ripken for a 3-0 Tiger lead.

Petry surrendered a double to Murray leading off the Orioles’ second and Fred Lynn followed with his ninth homer to cut the lead to 3-2. But Petry allowed just one baserunner the rest of the way to record his sixth straight victory over Baltimore.

Kansas City 3, Oakland 2--Pat Sheridan tripled with one out in the 14th inning and scored on a pinch-hit single by Jim Sundberg, giving the Royals the victory at Oakland.

Kansas City, after going scoreless for 10 innings, broke through in the 14th against reliever Steve McCatty, 2-3. The victory went to Mike Jones, 1-2, the Royals’ fourth pitcher of the game.

Sheridan had three of the Royals’ eight hits. Oakland center fielder Dwayne Murphy got to the drive in the 14th but he bobbled the ball as he hit the fence, and it was ruled a triple. Sundberg singled after McCatty walked Greg Pryor.

Boston 7, Milwaukee 2--Glenn Hoffman drove in two runs in a four-run second inning, sparking the Red Sox to the win over the Brewers at Fenway Park.

Winner Al Nipper (3-5) allowed 10 hits and walked two, struggling in his first complete game of the season. He struck out five.

The Red Sox handed Milwaukee starter Moose Haas (5-3) his first defeat since April 20 with their ninth victory in the last 10 games.

Toronto 3, New York 2--Pinch hitter Rance Mulliniks ripped a leadoff home run in the top of the 10th inning as the Blue Jays edged the Yankees at New York.

Mulliniks, hitting for Garth Iorg, slammed a 1-0 delivery from Rich Bordi (1-1) into the right-field seats to make a winner of Jim Acker (3-0). It was Mulliniks’ third homer of the season.

The Blue Jays tied the score at 2-2 in the ninth. After left fielder Rickey Henderson robbed Jesse Barfield of a home run, Jeff Burroughs drew a two-out walk and Louis Thornton pinch-ran for him. Willie Upshaw then doubled to the gap in right-center field to tie the score.

Chicago 6, Seattle 3--Bruce Tanner, son of Pittsburgh manager Chuck Tanner, went 6 innings in his major league debut, sparking the White Sox to the win over the Mariners at the Kingdome.

Tanner yielded seven hits while striking out three and walking two. Bob James pitched the final 2 innings for his 14th save. Rudy Law doubled in two runs and Daryl Boston stroked a two-run homer as Chicago completed a sweep of the three-game series.

Mariner left-hander Brian Snyder (0-1) took the loss.