American League Roundup : Puckett Outhits Boggs, Leads Win

Many people figured that Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly would battle each other for the American League batting championship.

Both, however, must face the pressure of a tight pennant race. It may be that free-swinging Kirby Puckett, with no pennant worries, will beat them both out and win the title.

The sizzling Puckett had a home run, a double and a single Tuesday night at Minneapolis to take over the batting lead and pace the Minnesota Twins to a 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Boggs, hampered by a back problem lately, went 1 for 5, and his average fell to .348. Puckett, who has hit safely in 13 consecutive games, is batting .349.

The only solace for the Red Sox, who were held down by the Twins’ Mark Portugal (4-8) and reliever George Frazier, was that their lead in the East remained 5 1/2 games because the Yankees lost, too.

It was a scoreless game with two out in the third when Puckett, who had only four home runs in his previous two major league seasons, hit a 424-foot shot over the center-field fence for his 25th homer of the season. Kent Hrbek followed with his 25th home run, a mammoth drive of 477 feet into the upper deck.

The Twins have hit 11 home runs that have reached the upper deck of the Metrodome, and Hrbek has hit eight of them.

Gary Gaetti hit a two-run home run in the sixth, and it was his 25th homer as well. It gave the Twins 154 homers for the season, easily tops in the majors.

Ordinarily, Puckett is the leadoff hitter for the Twins, but they dropped him to No. 3 for this game.

“It doesn’t make any difference,” he said. “We have power all through the lineup, and I don’t care where I hit. I just want to hit.

“As for leading the batting, it will last only as long as it takes Wade’s back to heal. Maybe, for a day. There’s a lot of season to go. I just hope I can keep hitting the ball hard and hope I don’t hit it at anyone.

“Several days ago I decided to quit looking at the box scores. It can drive you crazy. I’ll just wait until the season is over.”

Kansas City 9, Texas 8--Frank White has been moaning that at 36 he is too old to play 26 games in a row. But his 27th consecutive game was one of his finest.

The veteran second baseman hit his second home run of the game in the 11th inning to give the Royals the win at Kansas City. He went 4 for 5 and drove in seven runs. Just think what he might have done had he been well-rested.

White’s home run made a loser of Dale Mohorcic, who was appearing in his 12th consecutive game. If he pitches tonight, Mohorcic will tie the major league record of 13 set by Mike Marshall of the Dodgers in 1974.

Seattle 7, New York 3--Mark Langston came out of a lengthy pitching slump to strike out 14 Yankees at New York, and the Mariners found a way to get to Tommy John.

In 15 innings since coming off the disabled list, the 43-year-old John had not given up a run. The left-hander pitched three more scoreless innings, but his downfall was started when a line drive by Alvin Davis struck him in the left foot in the second inning.

A three-run home run by Don Pasqua in the first gave John a lead, but the Mariners scored a run in the fourth and chased John (5-2) in the fifth. The big blow was a three-run home run by Danny Tartabull, and it came off Brian Fisher, who was supposed to rescue John.

Although John’s foot hurt after the game, he said he did not expect to miss his turn.

After Pasqua’s home run, Langston, who will be 26 today, retired 15 in a row.

Milwaukee 5, Cleveland 3--Ted Higuera improved his record to 16-8 in this game at Cleveland, but he owed it all to Paul Molitor.

Molitor destroyed the Indians with his bat and broke their hearts with his glove. He led off the game with a home run to right field, homered to right in the seventh, doubled and scored in the third and doubled off the center-field fence to drive in a run in the ninth.

At third base, Molitor made bare-hand pickups and threw out speedsters Brett Butler and Joe Carter on bunt tries in the eighth. In the third inning he made a leaping catch of Cory Snyder’s line drive and turned it into a double play.

Oakland 4, Baltimore 1--Former Dodger Dave Stewart (6-1) pitched another strong game at Baltimore, and Dave Kingman scored a run and drove in one to send the Orioles to their fourth loss in a row.

Stewart gave up four singles and an unearned run in 7 innings. Jay Howell finished up to get his 11th save.

Jose Canseco again went hitless four times and is in an 0-for-33 slump.

Toronto 5, Chicago 1--Lloyd Moseby went 4 for 4 and drove in two runs at Toronto to help Dave Stieb improve his record to 4-10.

Stieb held the White Sox to five hits in seven innings. Tom Henke finished up, retiring six in a row, two on strikeouts.