American League Roundup : Twins Get 4 Runs on 4 Homers as Yankees Fall

Kirby Puckett, who doesn’t yet feel comfortable at the plate, hit a home run in the eighth inning Sunday at Minneapolis to break a 3-3 tie and give the Minesota Twins a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

It was the seventh home run for Puckett, who has hit safely in eight games in a row, while batting .406, and raised his average to .355.

“I felt better earlier in the season when I wasn’t hitting so well,” the Twins’ center fielder said. “I think I’m taking too many pitches. I lost my aggressiveness by being too selective.”

Yankee pitcher Tim Stoddard, who watched Puckett hit his first pitch of the inning over the left-field wall, probably wouldn’t agree.

Puckett’s home run was the fourth of the game for the Twins and eighth in the three-game series, two of which the Twins won. The Yankee pitching staff, which has been sharp at home, has been ineffective on the road and the Yankees have lost six of eight on the trip.

It is not the pitching, though, that’s bothering Manager Lou Piniella.

“It’s not home runs that are the story of this game,” he said. “The story of this one is the missed opportunities. We stranded nine baserunners, most of them in scoring position.

“It’s every game. Every game we’ve lost on this trip, we’ve lost because we’ve left people on base. Some of these guys have got to start hitting. It’s just that simple.”

Rickey Henderson tried to get the Yankee offense rolling. He had three hits and stole four bases. He is 12 for 12 in steals this season. With all the running, he didn’t score a run.

Joel Skinner, coming out of a 4-for-32 slump, doubled in two runs in the Yankees’ three-run fourth.

But, trailing, 3-0, the Twins started playing long ball. Gary Gaetti hit his eighth homer, Dan Gladden hit his first in the American League and Tom Brunansky tied it with his third in the sixth.

Former Yankee George Frazier pitched one scoreless inning to improve his record to 3-2. Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his sixth save and keep the Twins a game ahead of the Angels in the West.

Toronto 3, Texas 1--The Rangers bring out the best in Jim Clancy. Clancy pitched two-hit ball for 8 innings at Toronto and the Blue Jays won their sixth in a row to move into second place in the East.

Clancy (3-1) has beaten the Rangers more times than he has any other team. He is now 13-7 against them.

“I don’t take them lightly, though,” Clancy said. “I watched a video of their hitters before the game for the first time and I think it helped me.”

It was the ninth loss in a row on the road for the Rangers, despite Edwin Correa’s fine pitching. The youngster (2-1) gave up just four hits in seven innings.

Seattle 7, Milwaukee 3--Until he retired the Brewers in order in the ninth inning at Seattle, Mike Morgan wasn’t sure he had handed the Brewers their fourth loss in 24 games.

“After what they did last night when we led, 4-1, going into the ninth, I wasn’t taking any chances,” Morgan said.

It was the second win in a row for Morgan since he emerged from a stint in the bullpen.

The Mariners made his job easy by jumping on Ted Higuera (4-1) for six runs in the first three innings.

Alvin Davis doubled in two of the runs in the third.

Kansas City 2, Cleveland 1--In this game at Kansas City, the Royals’ Danny Jackson got his first win of the season after four losses. It isn’t that Jackson hasn’t been pitching well, it’s just that a pitcher can’t win if his team doesn’t score.

In his two previous starts the Royals were shut out, but Sunday they scored an unearned run in the second and Thad Bosley tripled in a run in the fourth. Jackson, meanwhile, threw a four-hitter and struck out seven.

“I feel like I’ve gone out there and thrown well,” he said. “If I hadn’t been, I would have worried. Maybe the luck will change for me and the team.”

Chicago 4, Baltimore 3--Donnie Hill singled in the tie-breaking run in the eighth inning at Baltimore to give the White Sox a three-game sweep. The Orioles have lost 14 of their last 18.

The other three runs for the Sox were on home runs by Daryl Boston, Greg Walker and Ron Hassey.

Oakland 2, Detroit 0--Eric Plunk gave up just six hits in 8 innings at Oakland and became a winner when Jay Howell got the last two outs with runners on second and third.

Jose Canesco hit his second home run of the season, but it was Mike Gallego who got the game-winning hit for the second game in a row. The A’s have won four in a row.