American League Roundup : Winfield’s Grand Slam and Six RBIs Help Yankees Beat Mariners, 11-6

Dave Winfield, mired in a deep slump and booed by the fans, earned their cheers Saturday at New York when he hit a grand slam and drove in six runs to lead the Yankees to an 11-6 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

After going 1 for 5 Friday night to the accompaniment of Yankee Stadium jeers, Winfield was 5 for 41 in his last 11 games, and his average had tumbled to .227.

Winfield, given a chance to bat because of a two-out error that loaded the bases in the second inning, promptly unloaded them with a drive to straightaway center field that cleared the fence for the big outfielder’s sixth career grand slam.

Gary Roenicke followed with a home run, and in the eighth, Ken Griffey and Don Mattingly also hit consecutive home runs. Winfield added a single and a double to end his slump. Mattingly also had two doubles and has hit safely in 13 consecutive games.

But the ball that Mattingly almost didn’t hit was the key to the overwhelming victory. The bases were full, and there were two out in the second when Mattingly checked his swing and hit a routine grounder to second baseman Harold Reynolds. Reynolds made an underhand toss to Alvin Davis, but the first baseman dropped the throw. This allowed a run to score and set up Winfield’s grand slam.

“When I got home last night I was really upset,” Winfield told the Associated Press. “They really got on me but good. They were screaming at me in right, ‘Smile, Dave, smile.’ I wanted to turn that around in a hurry. But I didn’t know I would do it so soon.

“I was due. How long can you keep somebody like me down? I’ve just been in a rut, and they moved me into the No. 3 spot. I appreciate hitting third.”

With Winfield moving up from fourth, Yankee Manager Lou Piniella moved Mattingly to second and batted Roenicke cleanup. Among the three, they had 10 of the Yankees’ 13 hits.

Toronto 11, Cleveland 5--Jesse Barfield broke out of his slump Friday night at Toronto by hitting a three-run double and driving in four runs. Saturday, he made life even more miserable for the Indians.

Barfield drove in six runs with a home run, a double and a single, and the Indians lost for the eighth time in nine games after winning 10 in a row.

Barfield was 2 for 17 before getting 5 hits and 10 RBIs in his last 7 at-bats.

“I finally realized I’m more of a success as a hitter when I hit to all fields,” Barfield said. “When I try to pull everything, my son can get me out.”

Chicago 7, Kansas City 6--When Chicago fans begin chanting, “Harold, Harold, Harold,” they are seldom disappointed these days. Harold Baines is hot.

Baines had three hits in this game, including a single in a two-run ninth-inning rally, and has eight hits in his last nine at-bats.

The single in the ninth put runners on first and third with one out. Carlton Fisk singled home the tying run, and Greg Walker singled in the winning run that gave the White Sox seven wins in their last nine games.

Boston 8, Texas 2--Rookie Rey Quinones made an auspicious major league debut at Boston. Quinones, called up earlier in the day to replace injured Glenn Hoffman, had two run-scoring doubles and scored twice to help Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd improve his record to 4-3.

Boyd, who gave up nine hits, lost his shutout in the sixth when Larry Parrish hit a two-run home run.

Milwaukee 4, Minnesota 1--Robin Yount homered and singled, and the Twins lost their seventh in a row in the rain-shortened game at Milwaukee.

Ted Higuera (5-3) struck out eight before the second rain delay after the seventh inning caused an end to play.

Baltimore 8, Oakland 2--Eddie Murray drove in four runs at Baltimore with his sixth home run and a sacrifice fly to help Scott McGregor maintain his mastery of the A’s.

McGregor scattered eight hits and struck out six to increase his winning streak over the A’s to eight games and his career record against them to 11-3.

Oakland’s Tony Phillips, who had five hits in a row Friday night, singled his first two times at bat and was safe on an error.