American League Roundup : Blue Jays Win on Gruber’s Single in 14th

Toronto’s Kelly Gruber might be another Dick Nen. Older Dodger fans will remember Nen. On Sept. 19, 1963, at St. Louis, Nen, just up from the minors, hit a pinch home run to tie a game in the ninth inning, and the Dodgers went on to win in the 14th.

The Dodgers always gave Nen the credit for providing the momentum that sent them driving to the pennant and subsequently to victory in the World Series. It proved to be the highlight of Nen’s brief major league career.

Gruber, inserted in the lineup at third base in the ninth inning Saturday at Toronto, hit a bases-loaded single in the 14th inning to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 victory over Milwaukee.

The Blue Jays’ magic number dropped to nine, and they maintained a 6 1/2-game lead over the New York Yankees in the East with 15 games left.

Gruber’s hit, on an 0-and-2 count, made certain that another fine effort by Doyle Alexander did not go to waste. Alexander (16-8) gave up a run and six hits in nine innings. The bullpen added five more scoreless innings, with Dennis Lamp pitching the final 1 to gain his 10th win without a defeat.

“With two strikes on me, I was just looking for a pitch that I could hit hard and through the infield,” Gruber, who had 21 home runs at Syracuse this season, told the Associated Press. “It’s tough to produce off the bench. I didn’t have to do it all season until I came up here.”

In addition to his first game-winning hit, Gruber had another first. In the top of the 14th, he was shifted to second base, the first time he had ever played the position.

“If it had been Syracuse and they told me to go play second, I would have joked about it,” he said. “But I knew this was serious.”

George Bell, who played third base for only the second time in his career in the 14th, made a fine play to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, he singled off Danny Darwin and wound up scoring the winning run on Gruber’s hit.

“Gruber’s approach was excellent,” Manager George Bamberger of the Brewers said. “All he was trying to do was meet the ball. That’s what he did.”

New York 5, Baltimore 2--After the Yankees snapped their eight-game losing streak with the help of home runs by Ron Hassey and Ken Griffey, Manager Billy Martin said his team was tired.

“We’re not ready to give up the chase, though,” Martin said. “If we just keep winning, anything can happen.

“Some of the players are a little tired. You just can’t go every day like this. It gets tiring when you’re trying to catch up. It wears you out just to put on your socks every day.”

Rickey Henderson stole three bases in the game at Baltimore and tied the Yankee club record of 74 set by Fritz Maisel in 1914.

Kansas City 6, Minnesota 5--While the Angels were breezing against Cleveland, it was a tough struggle for the Royals to remain in a tie for first in the West.

They trailed, 5-2, going into the eighth inning and scored three times to tie the game. Then, in the 10th, they pulled it out.

George Brett, emerging from a long slump, played a role in both the tying and winning rallies.

He opened the 10th with a walk and was bunted to second. Steve Balboni, whose 34th home run tied the score in the eighth, walked. Frank White broke up the game when his smash bounced off the third-base bag, sending Brett home with the winning run.

Going into this game, Brett had only 6 hits in his previous 34 at-bats. But he went 3 for 4, scoring two runs and driving in another.

In the eighth, Lonnie Smith drew a walk and scored on Brett’s double, which knocked out Mike Smithson. Ron Davis gave up a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly before Balboni tiedthe game with his home run. It was also Davis who gave up the winning run in the 10th.

Once again, the Royals did not call on their bullpen ace, Dan Quisenberry. Instead, Mark Huisman pitched two perfect innings to earn his first victory.

Boston 7, Detroit 6--Wade Boggs had two more hits and received a standing ovation at Boston when he broke the Red Sox record for base hits in a season set by Tris Speaker in 1912. Boggs has 223; Speaker had 221.

With 14 games remaining, Boggs, batting .374, has a chance to get more hits than any batter since Bill Terry of the New York Giants had 254 in 1930. The major league record is 257 by George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns in 1920.