American League Roundup : Red Sox Stretch Winning Streak to Seven, 3-2

Marty Barrett singled home Dave Henderson from second base with two out in the ninth inning Saturday to lift the Boston Red Sox to their seventh straight victory, a 3-2 decision over the Minnesota Twins at Boston.

With two out in the ninth, Pat Dodson got his first major league hit, a single to right field off George Frazier (0-1). Henderson went in as a pinch-runner and took second base when Wade Boggs walked. Barrett greeted reliever Keith Atherton with a single to right, scoring Henderson.

Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd (14-9) went the distance for Boston, allowing six hits. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter. Boyd allowed a two-run double by Kirby Puckett in the the third inning, then did not permit a runner past first the rest of the way.

Bill Buckner said of Boyd: “He stayed on top of his game and didn’t let it (the third inning) get him down. It was one of the best games he’s pitched all year, if not the best.”

Puckett went 1 for 4 to fall behind Boggs in the race for the A.L. batting title, .3497 to .3489.

“Oil Can threw me an 0-and-2 fastball down the middle in the third,” Puckett said. “It was the type of pitch he didn’t want to throw. After that, he didn’t make a mistake all day.

“The Can was really fired up. He was just being himself. He just came at us and got us out.”

Boston retained its 5 1/2-game lead over Toronto in the East.

Trailing, 2-1, the Red Sox tied the score in the eighth. Boggs hit a one-out double off the left-field wall, and one out later, Bill Buckner walked. Jim Rice bounced a single into left field, scoring Boggs. The RBI was Rice’s 12th in his last three games.

The Red Sox have won six straight games by coming from behind and have a total of 34 comeback victories.

“That makes it even sweeter,” Barrett said. “When you do that, you get the confidence you can come back. Now we have the feeling we can come back anytime.”

Cleveland 17, Milwaukee 9--Joe Carter went 5 for 6 with two homers and two doubles, driving in four runs and scoring five, as the Indians ripped 23 hits and routed the Brewers at Milwaukee.

Milwaukee’s Robin Yount singled in the seventh inning for his 2,000th career hit. Yount, who turns 31 Sept. 16, became the third-youngest player in history to reach the mark, trailing only Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron.

The Indians scored seven times in the first inning and pounded Milwaukee for the third straight day. Cleveland won the first two games, 15-4 and 13-5, with a total of 32 hits.

The Brewers committed five errors, three in the first inning, in losing their eighth straight game.

Brewer Manager George Bamberger was ejected in the second inning after a dispute with first base umpire Durwood Merrill. Bamberger claimed that Carter’s two-run homer hit the top of the fence in right-center in front of the Brewer bullpen. Milwaukee bullpen coach Larry Haney was ejected after items were thrown onto the field from the bullpen.

Andy Allanson, Cory Snyder, Julio Franco and Pat Tabler added three hits each. Brook Jacoby and Tony Bernazard also homered for the Indians.

Rob Deer hit his major league-leading 32nd homer, and Dale Sveum and Jim Gantner also homered for the Brewers.

Cleveland starter Greg Swindell (1-1) won his first major league game with five innings of six-hit pitching.

Rookie Juan Nieves (10-9) lost his fifth consecutive decision. He gave up seven runs, six of them earned, and seven hits before leaving with only one out in the first.

Toronto 4, Chicago 0--George Bell hit his 30th home run, and Garth Iorg added a three-run double in the ninth as the Blue Jays beat the White Sox at Chicago.

Jimmy Key (12-9) pitched eight innings and allowed only four hits, while striking out six and walking two. Tom Henke pitched the ninth. Loser Floyd Bannister (9-11) had a 3-and-2 count on Bell with two out in the fourth when Bell homered.

Oakland 5, Detroit 4--Stan Javier lined a two-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning to drive in Jose Canseco with the winning run and lift the A’s over the Tigers in Oakland.

Canseco started the inning with a one-out walk off Detroit’s Bill Campbell (3-6), who relieved starter Jack Morris to start the 10th. Canseco stole second and took third on Jerry Willard’s ground-out. Javier, batting .188, hit a 2-and-2 pitch to left field.

Joaquin Andujar (9-6) pitched 10 innings to earn the victory, giving up eight hits, including two long homers by Kirk Gibson, his 21st and 22nd of the season. Andujar walked four and struck out eight.

Seattle 6, Baltimore 2--Jim Presley and Phil Bradley drove in two runs apiece to lead the Mariners to their third straight victory at Baltimore.

The Orioles have lost 4 straight and 12 of 14.