American League Roundup : Tigers’ Morris Blanks Royals on Four-Hitter

Detroit’s Jack Morris tossed his second straight shutout and struck out 12 batters Sunday in pitching a four-hit, 5-0 victory over the Royals at Kansas City.

Morris (9-6) stretched his scoreless inning streak to 22.

“Just 33 more to catch Don Drysdale’s record,” said Morris, who was aided by home runs from Lou Whitaker and Kirk Gibson.

“That’s about as good as you’ll ever see,” Royal Manager Dick Howser said. “When Morris is right, he’s about as dominant as anybody in the league.”

Morris, who threw a six-hit shutout at Minnesota in his previous outing, struck out every member of the Royals’ starting lineup at least once. Even though he worked on three days’ rest, his control was sharp, walking only two.

“I felt real strong early, even during batting practice,” he said. “But a lot of times I’ve gone out there feeling like Superman and before I knew it I’d be out of the game because I was trying to throw the ball too hard.

“I knew I’d have to control it today when I warmed up, and I did. I was just tired enough to stay within myself.”

Gibson opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the third inning. Whitaker homered with the bases empty in the fifth, and Alan Trammell doubled in a run in the ninth.

Kansas City’s rookie starter, Scott Bankhead, dropped to 3-3 after winning his first three decisions.

The Tigers enter the All-Star break with a 43-44 mark, and the World Series champion Royals with a 40-48 record.

Minnesota 5, New York 0--Bert Blyleven pitched a three-hitter and Greg Gagne drove in three runs at Minneapolis, ending the Twins’ five-game losing streak and the Yankees’ four-game winning streak.

Blyleven (8-8) pitched his first shutout of the season and 52nd of his career. He walked one batter and hit another.

Blyleven allowed a single by Mike Easler in the fourth inning and retired 13 straight batters before the Yankees loaded the bases in the ninth on two singles and a hit batter.

Roy Smalley, who had three hits, started Minnesota off with his 15th home run of the season, a solo shot to right field in the first inning.

Texas 5, Cleveland 3--Larry Parrish singled home Pete O’Brien with the go-ahead run in the 10th inning at Cleveland.

After the Indians had tied it 3-3 in the eighth, O’Brien led off the 10th with a single and took second as Pete Incaviglia bounced to third. Gary Ward was intentionally walked and Parrish followed with his eighth game-winning hit, a single to right. Ward took third on the hit and scored on Steve Buechele’s fielder’s choice grounder.

Mitch Williams (7-1) pitched the final two innings for Texas.

The Rangers grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning off Cleveland starter Phil Niekro on a double by Scott Fletcher and a run-scoring single by O’Brien. Geno Petralli and Ruben Sierra hit back-to-back homers in the seventh to give Texas a 3-2 lead.

Oakland 10, Toronto 5--Mike Davis’ triple sparked a five-run seventh inning as the A’s took advantage of a two-out, two-run error and rallied to win at Toronto.

The A’s, trailing 4-3, batted around in the seventh. They scored the last two runs in the inning when Toronto first baseman Willie Upshaw dropped a throw from third base.

Mickey Tettleton singled in a run in the eighth, then Jose Canseco added his league-leading 23rd homer in the ninth.

Pinch-hitter Dwayne Murphy started the seventh with a single off reliver Mark Eichhorn. Davis greeted reliever Bill Caudill (2-1) with his triple, tying the game.

Curt Young (6-6) was the winner after relieving starter Bill Mooneyham. Dave Leiper pitched the final 2 innings for his first save of the season.

Chicago 7, Baltimore 0--Joel Skinner hit a three-run homer and Neil Allen pitched a five-hitter at Chicago.

For Allen (6-1), it was his first complete game and shutout since 1983 when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. The 28-year-old right-hander struck out four and walked one.

The White Sox scored four runs in the second off Scott McGregor (6-8). With one out, consecutive singles by Greg Walker, Bobby Bonilla and Julio Cruz made it 1-0. Skinner followed with his second home run of the season, a shot into the left-field upper deck to raise the score to 4-0.

Milwaukee 5, Seattle 0--Rookie Juan Nieves threw a four-hitter, striking out a season-high 12 batters, and Rob Deer hit a three-run homer in the eighth as the Brewers broke their seven-game losing streak.

Nieves (8-3) threw his third shutout of the season, best in the American League. In completing his fourth game, he walked five and struck out 12, a team-high for the year.