American League Roundup : Baylor, Red Sox Beat Indians, 5-3

Don Baylor continued his hot hitting Monday at Cleveland, blasting a two-run home run in the fourth inning to help the Boston Red Sox beat the slumping Indians, 5-3.

The Red Sox have waited patiently for the 37-year-old slugger to break out of a season-long slump, and his emergence has coincided with a spurt by the Red Sox.

Baylor, who was hitting .203 just a little more than a week ago, has hit safely in eight consecutive games and the Red Sox have won eight of their last nine, moving to a 1 1/2-game lead in the East. Baylor has lifted his average to .247 and the four homers in the streak have given him nine for the season.

Bill Buckner hit a solo home run as the Red Sox built a 4-0 lead for Bruce Hurst (4-3). When Hurst faltered in the seventh, the Red Sox used four relief pitchers. The last, Bob Stanley, finally managed to retire the last four batters and stop the Indians, who have lost eight of their last 12. Hurst had seven strikeouts to regain the American League strikeout lead with 84, three more than teammate Roger Clemens.

“Some teams I have played for wouldn’t have been as patient with me as this club has been, “ Baylor said. “We had enough good hitters around here, and they could wait. I don’t need to tell you what would have happened in another situation, and I don’t need to tell you which one.”

The Red Sox obtained Baylor from the New York Yankees in an off-season deal. The Red Sox wanted him to take shots at that high monster in left field at Fenway Park.

Although he started his hitting streak at home, Baylor didn’t really get hot until the recent road trip, which began against the Texas Rangers. In the four games on the road, he is 8 for 15, including three home runs. Also, he has batted in seven runs and scored another four.

He is 13 for 29 on the streak, has scored 10 runs and driven in 12.

The victory put Hurst exactly one holiday ahead of last season’s pace, when he finished with 11 victories. He won his fourth on the Fourth of July.

Minnesota 9, Toronto 1--Kirby Puckett had another good day at the plate in Minneapolis. Puckett drove home three runs on three hits, one of which was his 14th home run.

He was also sensational in the field and was a key reason why Mark Portugal (1-5) ended his seven-game losing streak. Portugal’s last win was last Aug. 31, his only victory in the majors.

He gave up nine hits in eight innings and was saved of another by Puckett’s dramatic leaping catch of Ernie Whitt’s deep drive to center in the fifth inning.

“He jumped so high--I think his torso was over the fence,” Portugal said of the catch.

Right fielder Tom Brunansky, who keeps track of Puckett’s best catches, ruled the robbery of Whitt as Puckett’s best.

Puckett stole the show from teammate Kent Hrbek, who hit two two-run home runs.

Puckett, who in his third season is off to by far his most impressive start, leads the league with 187 at-bats, 70 hits, 26 extra-base hits, 125 total bases and a .650 slugging percentage. He also has more putouts than any other outfielder.

Detroit 5, Oakland 4--After his 10th-inning single drove in the winning run at Detroit against his former teammates, Dave Collins did a fist-pumping, high-five dance all the way back to the dugout.

Then, he calmly denied there was any idea of revenge against the A’s for trading him to Detroit before this season.

“That’s just my makeup,” Collins explained. “I don’t get many game-winning hits, so when I do, I get pretty excited. I didn’t like the way they played me last year, but it doesn’t mean any more than any other win.”

A two-run double by Johnny Grubb with one out in the ninth sent the game into extra innings.

Joaquin Andujar pitched a scoreless first inning for the A’s, then retired with a stiff shoulder.

Seattle 7, Baltimore 6--Harold Reynolds, a .167 hitter going into the game at Seattle, had three hits--two of them doubles--and drove in three runs to help the Mariners build a 7-1 lead they almost blew.

Mark Langston (4-3), faltered in the seventh and the Orioles, who had won five in a row, scored four times. They added another run in the ninth, but Matt Young finally got the last out for his first save.

Cal Ripken and Eddie Murray each had three hits for the Orioles, and Mike Young drove in three runs.

Milwaukee 4, Kansas City 0--Danny Darwin, given a chance to start because Manager George Bamberger decided to go to a five-man rotation, made the most of it at Kansas City.

Darwin, who appeared in relief 12 times, pitched a four-hitter for his first shutout in more than a year. The Royals, held to only two runs Sunday in 17 innings, had only one runner reach third.

Rookie Dale Sveum doubled in one run for the Brewers and singled and scored another.

Texas 7, Chicago 2--When Pete Incaviglia comes out of a slump, he does it with power. After striking out 10 of his previous 12 at-bats, the rookie slugger hit his ninth home run and a two-run triple at Arlington, Tex.

Incaviglia’s slugging enabled the Rangers to retain the top spot in the West.

With the bases loaded and the score 1-1 with two out in the fifth, Incaviglia struck out again, but he swung at a wild pitch, beat the throw to first and the Rangers wound up with a 4-1 lead.