American League Roundup : Who’s in First? Believe It or Not, It’s Now the Cleveland Indians

The standings in the American League East must be upside down. They show the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays last and the Cleveland Indians (who?) first.

Now, all the experts said contention ran deep in baseball’s strongest division, but they weren’t talking about Cleveland. After all, the Indians lost 102 games last season, and only once in the last decade have they won more than they lost in a season.

But after Brook Jacoby’s home run in the eighth inning tied the game at Chicago Sunday and his run-producing double in the 10th broke the tie, helping to give the Indians a 6-4 victory, they were in first place.

The Indians have won seven straight, all on the road, and their 14-8 record is better than all those highly-touted teams. Even their manager is stunned.

“To be realistic,” Pat Corrales said, “no, I didn’t think we’d be in first place. We had to start in our division playing some tough clubs, and I wanted to shoot for .500. But our pitching has been better than expected and that’s what has done it. It’s nice to be in first place, but we have a long way to go.”

Actually, it is the hitting that has sparked the Indians’ surge. In all but the first game of the streak, a 3-2 win at New York, the Indians have scored at least six runs. In the seven games, they have scored 45 runs and pounded out 76 hits.

The Indians are scoring runs in bunches, although their big RBI man, Andre Thornton is in a deep slump, hitting only .170 with eight runs batted in.

One of those taking up the slack is Jacoby. Maturing at 26, he is a third baseman the Indians stole from Atlanta, along with Brett Butler, in the deal for ailing pitcher Len Barker in 1983.

Jacoby, who had three hits and drove in three runs, raised his average to .370. He hit 20 home runs last season and batted .274, so he isn’t really a surprise.

“Sure, it feels good,” Jacoby said. “Last year you could get three hits and it wouldn’t mean anything because we would lose.

“I don’t want to talk about hitting. Our pitching keeps us close, and that’s how we’re winning ballgames.”

Jacoby’s home run was hit off Neil Allen, who was making his first American League start. Allen lasted 7 innings, struck out seven and gave up only two earned runs.

Scott Bailes, the rookie left-handed relief pitcher, worked two scoreless innings to improve his record to 4-1. A year ago, he was in the Eastern League.

This marks the first time the Indians have been on top this late in the season since May 17, 1981. About 300 fans greeted them at the Cleveland airport Sunday night.

Boston 4, Oakland 1--Roger Clemens, in his first start since he struck out a record 20 Seattle Mariners Tuesday night, said he was “exhausted mentally.”

However, in this game at Boston, Clemens (5-0) wasn’t too bad. He gave up 3 hits and struck out 10 in 8 innings. He lost a shutout when Dave Kingman homered in the seventh. It was the 11th home run the A’s slugger has hit in 16 games at Fenway Park with its inviting left-field wall.

After throwing 124 pitches, Clemens told Manager John McNamara he was worn out. Bob Stanley came in and struck out all three batters he faced.

“I feel I got every little bit out of what I had today,” said Clemens, making a remarkable return from shoulder surgery in August. “It’s been a stressful week, but right now everything’s real positive.”

The Red Sox scored all four runs in the first inning off Rick Langford, another pitcher on the comeback trail.

Kansas City 11, Baltimore 1--In this game at Kansas City, the light-hitting World Series champions gave Dennis Leonard more runs than they gave him in the first four starts of his comeback.

After two tough defeats, Leonard held the Orioles to three hits and no runs in seven innings to improve his record to 3-2 and his earned-run average to 0.72.

“He should be 5-0,” Manager Dick Howser said. “He lost two 2-1 games. But forget the 5-0. He’s just happy to be here.”

In his first four starts, the Royals scored only nine runs, six of them in his second victory.

A sidelight for Leonard was facing Cal Ripken. It was while making a pitch to the Oriole slugger on May 28, 1983, that Leonard tore the tendon below his knee. Until this season, it didn’t appear that Leonard would make it back.

Detroit 4, Minnesota 1--Frank Tanana often moans about the loss of his fastball, once one of the most explosive in baseball, but he won’t find many American League hitters ready to sympathize with him.

Tanana not only put a stopper on hot-hitting Kirby Puckett, he easily handled the Twins to win his third game in a row and improve his record to 4-1.

Puckett went 0 for 4, ending both a 16-game hitting streak, longest in the majors this season, and his string of hitting home runs in four consecutive games.

Tanana went 8 innings, giving up six hits. Home runs by Lou Whitaker, Darnell Coles and Lance Parrish made the pitching easier.

Texas 4, New York 3--Larry Parrish singled home the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning at New York to hand Ron Guidry (3-1) his first defeat and knock the Yankees out of first place.

Don Mattingly homered and drove in two runs for the Yankees. He has driven in a league-leading 25 runs in 24 games.

Pete O’Brien went 2 for 4 for the Rangers and raised his average to .410.

Toronto 3, Seattle 2--The Blue Jays ended a three-game losing streak when Willie Upshaw beat out an infield hit with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth inning at Toronto.

But they still didn’t get a win for pitching ace Dave Stieb (0-3), who blew a 2-0 lead and departed with two out in the top of the ninth.