American League Roundup : Moseby Unloads Again; Toronto Wins 9th in Row

Lloyd Moseby, the steady center fielder of the Toronto Blue Jays, has a chronic back problem. It is aggravated by playing on the AstroTurf at Exhibition Stadium.

With the American League East race entering the exciting stages, there isn’t much time to rest an injury. The Blue Jays kept him out of the starting lineup for two games and Moseby has come back with a bang.

He is especially tough in bases-loaded situations.

Sunday, with the Blue Jays trailing the Minnesota Twins, 4-0, Moseby hit a grand slam in the fourth inning to get them even, and they went on to win.

The young veteran came up again in the ninth inning Monday at Toronto with the bases loaded. This time, the Blue Jays and Cleveland Indians were tied, 4-4, and the Indians were using a five-man infield.

Moseby sliced a ball through the left side of the infield to give the Blue Jays a 5-4 victory, their ninth win in a row.

“When they brought in the fielder from right,” the left-handed hitting Moseby said. “I knew they weren’t going to pitch me inside. It takes some of the pressure off when you know how they plan to pitch you.”

At 26, Moseby is in his seventh season with the Blue Jays. He has become one of their most dependable players. In the early season when the club was struggling, Moseby kept them afloat. Now that the team is making a move, he is coming through in the clutch, having had the game-winning hit nine times.

It was another come-from behind win. After Cory Snyder hit a two-run home run to give Cleveland a 4-2 lead in the fifth, George Bell hit a two-run smash, his 28th home run, to tie it in the sixth.

With Tom Henke (9-3) shutting down the Indians from the seventh inning, it was a matter of time and waiting for Moseby to come through. Henke retired the last seven Indians in order, striking out five.

Detroit 6, Seattle 5--The ball was taking off at the Kingdome. Jim Presley hit three home runs to account for four Mariner runs, but the Tigers, outhomered him.

Alan Trammell hit two home runs and drove in the winning run with a double in the eighth. Lou Whitaker and Johnny Grubb also homered for the Tigers.

Jack Morris (16-8) gave up the three home runs to Presley, but he gave up only four other hits and struck out 12.

Minnesota 9, Milwaukee 3--Rob Deer hit his 31st home run to take over the major league lead, but Gary Gaetti provided the power for a Twins’ victory.

Gaetti hit two home runs and drove in five runs at Minneapolis to lead the Twins. He has 29 home runs this season.

“I don’t consider myself a home run hitter,” the third baseman said. “I’m a slashing hitter. Maybe, I just have a better idea of what certain pitchers will throw me.”

Boston 6, Texas 4--Tony Armas just missed a grand slam with two out in the third inning at Boston, but his drive hit the top of the fence in right-center for a three-run double. It wiped out a 2-0 deficit and came after the Red Sox had runners thrown out at the plate in each of the first two innings.

Bruce Hurst (9-7) survived a shaky start and pitched well until the seventh when Steve Crawford came to the rescue with two on and nobody out.

Crawford, making his first appearance since injuring his shoulder July 18, worked out of that jam. He wound up with the save despite pinch homers in the ninth by Oddibe McDowell and Darrell Porter.

The win kept the Red Sox 3 1/2 ahead in the East and the loss kept the Rangers 5 1/2 back in the West.

Oakland 9, New York 8--This loss at Oakland may signal the end of the Yankees’ hopes of winning the East. As usual, the pitching failed.

After the A’s jumped to a 7-1 lead, largely at the expense of starter Mike Armstrong (0-1), the Yankees battled back.

They went into the ninth trailing, 9-6, but loaded the bases with nobody out. Dave Von Ohlen came in to check the Yankees a run short of a tie.

Rookie Jose Canseco led the A’s. He had four hits, including his 28th home run, and became the first player in the majors to drive in 100 runs this season.

Chicago 4, Kansas City 0--Floyd Bannister (9-10) made his 100th victory one to remember at Kansas City. The veteran left-hander pitched a seven-hitter for his first shutout of the season.

Carlton Fisk led the White Sox attack with a double and a single, scoring one run and driving in another.

Bannister, who won No. 99 last week against the Royals, has a lifetime 14-6 record against the Royals.

Former Auburn football star Bo Jackson joined the Royals, but he has a hamstring injury and is not ready to play.