American League Roundup : It’s 7 Come 11 for Royals; Struggling Red Sox’s Lead Is Cut to 3 1/2 Games

What happened Saturday at Boston is typical of the way the season has been going for the Red Sox lately.

Through six innings, Tom Seaver was the Tom Terrific of old. He gave up just four hits, struck out eight and held a 2-0 lead over the Kansas City Royals.

To put it mildly, disaster struck in the seventh as the Royals put their first 12 batters on base, scored 11 runs and went on to a 13-2 victory.

The Red Sox’s 13th defeat in the last 18 games cut their lead in the American League East to 3 1/2 games over the streaking Baltimore Orioles. Before the skid, the Red Sox had an 8-game lead.

Maybe Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd doesn’t deserve all the blame, but Boston’s demise began July 11, the day after Boyd (11-6) threw a tantrum when he learned that he had not been picked for the All-Star game. Boyd, who was suspended, is back in good graces and is about ready to pitch again.

Since Boyd’s outburst, almost everything has gone wrong for the Red Sox. Wade Boggs, one of baseball’s best hitters, has gone into the worst slump of his career; a succession of umpiring calls have gone awry, including one that resulted in pitcher Roger Clemens’ getting thrown out of a game; hitters have failed in the clutch, and pitchers have gone sour.

The worst occurrence, though, came Saturday in the seventh inning. Seaver faced three batters (two hits and a walk), bullpen ace Bob Stanley faced five (four hits and an intentional walk) and Tim Lollar faced four (four hits, beginning with Steve Balboni’s three-run home run). It was not until Sammy Stewart struck out Lonnie Smith, the 13th batter in the inning, that order was restored.

If Smith, who had an infield hit his first time up in the inning, had reached base, the Royals would have tied an American League record for consecutive batters reaching base in an inning.

“I’ve never seen anything like that inning,” said George Brett, who drove in three runs in the inning with a double and a single. “It was bizarre.”

For Balboni, it was the fourth consecutive game at Fenway Park in which he has hit a home run. The homer was his 22nd of the season.

Baltimore 5, Toronto 2--As the Orioles soar toward the top in the East, the defense is sharp, the pitching is solid and the hitters are using Manager Earl Weaver’s pet play--the three-run home run.

All is not perfect, though. The Orioles are concerned about bullpen star Don Aase’s tender right elbow.

After Cal Ripken’s three-run home run in the sixth inning at Toronto gave the Orioles the lead, Aase preserved the victory with two hitless innings. It was Aase’s 28th save, but once again he experienced pain.

“I’m aware of it (the aching elbow),” he said, “but fortunately, it’s in a good spot. It’s not that serious. It’s just something I have to be careful with.”

Scott McGregor gave up just four hits in six innings to improve his record to 8-10. One of the hits was Jesse Barfield’s major league-leading 27th home run.

Cleveland 6, New York 5--Cory Snyder singled home Joe Carter from second base with one out in the 11th inning to give 42,201 Cleveland fans something to cheer about.

Mike Pagliarulo hit two home runs for the Yankees and has 25 for the season. Snyder and Carter each hit home runs for the Indians.

Reliever Dave Righetti (7-5) gave up the game-winning hit to Snyder. The Yankees’ pitching staff is in shambles. They had to start Bob Shirley in this one and will go with another reliever, Al Holland, today.

The Yankees are without injured starters Dennis Rasmussen and Tommy John.

Minnesota 8, Oakland 0--Dwayne Murphy’s single with one out in the seventh inning at Minneapolis ruined Mike Smithson’s bid for a no-hitter, and the 6-8 right-hander finished with a two-hitter.

Smithson walked seven and struck out eight for his first win in more than three weeks. Bert Blyleven also held the A’s to two hits Friday night.

The Twins reached Joaquin Andujar for seven runs in the first two innings.

Chicago 5, Detroit 3--After five consecutive well-pitched games, Jack Morris finally had a poor one. Darryl Boston and Harold Baines each drove in two runs as the White Sox jumped on Morris for seven hits and all their runs in 6 innings at Chicago.

In three of his last five starts, Morris pitched shutouts.

Milwaukee 9, Texas 8--Paul Molitor’s eighth-inning single drove in the tiebreaking run at Milwaukee and ended the Rangers’ four-game winning streak.

Toby Harrah’s third home run of the season had pulled the Rangers even, 8-8, in the top of the inning.