American League Roundup : Yankees Are Making a Race of It in East

Billy Martin is not one to shy away from the spotlight.

In recent days, the manager of the New York Yankees has assured owner George Steinbrenner that the Yankees would win the American League East and also stirred up controversy by defying his boss’ order for an off-day workout.

It prompted Steinbrenner to tell his manager: “Win or else.”

Give the fiery manager his due. He has the Yankees believing they can win and has them mounting a charge at the Toronto Blue Jays.

A bloop single by Don Mattingly and a booming two-run triple by Dave Winfield led the Yankees to a 3-1 victory over Boston Saturday at New York. It was the Yankees’ sixth straight win over the Red Sox after losing five in a row to them.

Ron Guidry, a pitcher who has usually thrived during Martin’s terms as manager, improved his record to 16-4 despite being in trouble throughout, before leaving in the seventh inning.

When Martin replaced Yogi Berra for his fourth term as Yankee manager April 28, the Yankees were 6-10 and last in the East. As recently as the strike, the Yankees trailed Toronto by 9 1/2 games.

The lead has been cut to 5, only 4 in the loss column, and the players and fans have pennant fever.

In what may be the understatement of the season, the hot-hitting Mattingly said: “It’s getting me pumped up.”

There are some hot hitters in the majors this month, but none hotter than Mattingly, last season’s batting champion.

With his 2-for-4 Saturday, he extended his hitting streak to all 15 games this month. In the streak, he is 30 for 61, has scored 20 runs, hit 8 home runs and driven in 17 runs.

“I think people are kind of feeling that we’re on our way,” Mattingly told the Associated Press. “The last two games, the fans are getting up and getting crazy in the first couple of innings. I can feel it, I know that.”

Al Nipper (7-9) had only himself to blame. He retired the first two batters in the second, then walked Bobby Meacham, a .230-hitting No. 9 batter, and Willie Randolph, the leadoff hitter. Mattingly fisted an inside pitch into center to drive in the first run and increase his major league-leading RBI total to 96. Winfield then drilled his triple into the gap in left-center.

Guidry, who has won 15 of his last 16 decisions, lost his shutout when Wade Boggs singled in the third and scored on Dwight Evans’ double.

Guidry gave way to Brian Fisher with two out in the seventh. Fisher struck out Jim Rice, then silenced the Red Sox in the last two innings to collect his sixth save.

The Yankees were without Rickey Henderson, their leading hitter. He jammed his right shoulder when he crashed into the wall while making a catch in center Friday night.

Kansas City 4, Toronto 2--Are the Blue Jays starting to feel the pressure of a tightening pennant race? For the second game in a row at Toronto, the Blue Jays failed to hit in the clutch. They have lost five of their last eight games and their once-fat lead is getting thinner.

Lonnie Smith broke his bat on a looping single that drove in two runs to cap a three-run eighth that ended Doyle Alexander’s five-game winning streak.

The Blue Jays had a chance to break open the game in the seventh.

The Royals’ Danny Jackson (11-7) had a one-hitter and a 1-0 lead going into the inning. Before he got anyone out, though, he gave up four consecutive hits, trailed, 2-1, and the Blue Jays had runners on second and third.

As they did Friday night when they stranded 10 runners in another 4-2 defeat, the Blue Jays faltered. With one out, they loaded the bases only to have Jackson strike out Damaso Garcia and Manny Lee to end the threat.

Dan Quisenberry pitched two perfect innings and earned his 28th save.

Minnesota 2, Seattle 0--Bert Blyleven keeps proving he is one of the finest pitchers in the majors. In this game at Minneapolis, the veteran right-hander pitched a three-hitter and evened his record at 12-12 behind Kent Hrbek’s two-run homer in the fifth.

Blyleven, 3-1 since rejoining the Twins, struck out 8 to increase his league-leading strikeout total to 151. It was his 18th complete game, tops in the majors. He also leads the league in innings (213) and shutouts (5).

“He’s just a great pitcher,” Seattle Manager Chuck Cottier said. “We had the right guys up, but when we had to get a hit, we just couldn’t get it.”

Chicago 12, Milwaukee 7--Harold Baines had five hits, including two doubles, scored two runs and drove in three at Milwaukee to lead the White Sox’s 15-hit attack.

Although he gave up two runs in 4 innings of relief, Dan Spillner evened his record at 3-3.

Baltimore 9, Texas 2--Mike Young, the hottest home run hitter in baseball, hammered his ninth in the last 13 games and drove in five runs at Baltimore. In his last 14 games Young has driven in 24 runs. Young’s two-run double sparked the Orioles’ six-run third.

Detroit 7, Cleveland 5--Shortly after being assured he had a spot in the lineup for the rest of the season, rookie Nelson Simmons hit a two-run double to highlight a six-run third inning that led the Tigers to victory at Detroit.

Frank Tanana (7-11) went eight innings for his fifth victory since joining the Tigers.