Baseball Roundup : Steinbrenner Shows Up Umpires in Win

George Steinbrenner seems to have a knack for upstaging his team, even when it’s winning.

He did it again Thursday night in New York, where the Yankees defeated the Oakland A’s, 7-3, behind two homers by Willie Randolph to keep pace with the first-place Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East.

The win was the sixth in a row for the Yankees, who have won 14 of their last 15 games at Yankee Stadium and 30 of their last 36 home games.

Even so, Steinbrenner found reason to be angry. This time, it was the umpiring crew that drew his wrath.

A safe call made at first base by Ken Kaiser on Oakland’s Mike Davis leading off the sixth inning prompted the controversy. Davis hit a grounder to first baseman Don Mattingly, whose throw to pitcher Ed Whitson apparently had Davis beaten. However, Kaiser called Davis safe, and Oakland eventually tied the score at 3-3 later in the inning when Dwayne Murphy hit a three-run homer.

Between innings, Steinbrenner entered the scoreboard projection room and ordered a replay of the call shown over the Diamond Vision scoreboard. The replay, which indicated that Davis might have been out, was run again in slow motion.

American League umpire Larry Barnett, the crew chief, then walked into the Yankee dugout and, he recalled after the game, told Manager Billy Martin, “Either they knock that off or the umpires are walking off the field.”

Barnett went on: “When I told Billy, he called upstairs and told them to knock it off, and he turned back to me and said, ‘It’s on the orders of George.’ ”

“We don’t need that in baseball,” Barnett said. “And to me, this tarnishes the whole Yankee image. It’s bush and ridiculous.”

Steinbrenner had his own comments.

“Call (AL President) Bobby Brown tomorrow and see what he thought of the call,” the Yankees’ principal owner said. “I admire good umpiring and I admire umpires who stand up and admit they blew a call.”

The victory went to Ed Whitson (9-7), who worked six innings. It enabled the Yankees to remain 2 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays in the East.

Toronto 7, Minnesota 0--Doyle Alexander pitched a two-hitter and collected his first shutout of the season as the Blue Jays beat the Twins at Toronto. But Alexander had little to say about the outing.

“I don’t have anything to say,” said the 35-year-old right-hander, who extended his non-speaking streak to four starts.

“I’m not mad at anybody. I just don’t have anything to say. You guys are smarter than I am--write what you saw.”

Alexander (14-8) struck out five and walked one en route to his third complete game and third shutout of the season.

Lloyd Moseby drove in three runs with a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly.

Kansas City 4, Milwaukee 1--Omar Moreno, determined to prove he can still play in the major leagues, had a single, a triple and an inside-the-park home run as the Royals beat the Brewers at Kansas City.

Moreno’s three hits and three RBIs helped propel the Royals within one game of the idle Angels in the American League West.

“I’m very, very happy,” said Moreno, who was released Aug. 16 by the Yankees. The Royals signed the 32-year-old outfielder this week when center fielder Willie Wilson was sidelined with a negative reaction to a penicillin injection.

Chicago White Sox 11, Texas 4--Harold Baines collected four hits and four RBIs to pace a 16-hit attack that powered the White Sox past the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Rookie Joel Davis (2-2), making his sixth major league start, worked seven innings and allowed nine hits and four runs to earn the win. He walked one and struck out three.

Jeff Russell (1-5) gave up seven runs on eight hits in two-plus innings to take the loss for the Rangers.

Boston 13-5, Cleveland 6-9--Andre Thornton hit a two-run home run, and pinch-hitter Tony Bernazard delivered a bases-loaded double in the second game at Boston to give the Indians a split of the doubleheader.

In the opener, Dwight Evans hit two homers, and Wade Boggs added a solo shot to power the Red Sox and give Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd his first victory since July 14.

The second game was delayed in the sixth for 85 minutes by rain.

St. Louis 6, Chicago Cubs 1--Tito Landrum hit a three-run homer, and Willie McGee and Cesar Cedeno each had three hits to pace the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Danny Cox (15-8) pitched a two-hitter to earn the victory, walking one and striking out five in going the distance for the 10th time this season.

The victory was St. Louis’ third straight and increased its lead to 1 1/2 games over the idle New York Mets in the National League East.

Houston 4, Pittsburgh 3--Glenn Davis and Jerry Mumphrey drove in two runs apiece to lead the Astros at Houston.

Bob Knepper (12-10) won his 47th game with Houston, tying Dave Roberts as the winningest left-hander in the team’s history. Knepper gave up eight hits in eight-plus innings, and Dave Smith got the final three outs for his 21st save.

Bob Walk (1-2) took the loss.