American League Roundup : Bell Loses No-Hitter in Ninth, but Orioles Hang On

Rookie Eric Bell had a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead going into the ninth inning Tuesday night at Minneapolis, but he and the luckless Baltimore Orioles barely escaped with a 5-4 victory.

The way things have been going this season for the Orioles, it would not have been surprising if they had lost the game. After all, they dropped 14 of their previous 18 and held a lead in most of those defeats.

Tom Nieto broke up the no-hitter with a bloop single that fell in front of the diving left fielder, Ken Gerhart. The hit followed an error by shortstop Cal Ripken on Greg Gagne’s grounder.

After an infield out, Steve Lombardozzi singled to drive in a run and send Bell (3-1) to the showers.

Kirby Puckett greeted Dave Schmidt with his ninth homer, a three-run blast, but the Twins couldn’t get the tying run.

“I came out for the ninth inning and I felt real comfortable,” Bell told the Associated Press. “Later in the dugout, all I could think of was win, win, win.

“I felt good, real good. Once I stepped on the mound, I knew my rhythm was there and I just had to not overthrow. After the fifth inning I knew (about the no-hitter). You know, you have to be crazy if you don’t.

“I had a feeling Nieto’s fly was going to drop in. If he (Gerhart) had caught it, it would have been a real good catch.”

Gerhart said the Orioles were playing Nieto to go the other way. “He hit the ball off the end of the bat. I thought I had a shot at it. After the game, I said (to Bell) ‘I’m sorry,’ but he said, ‘There wasn’t anything you could do about it.’ ”

The Twins said they were glad the Orioles took Bell out when he gave up his second hit.

“We were happy they took the kid out,” Manager Tom Kelly of the Twins said. “They were trying to take him out from the seventh inning, but we couldn’t do anything with him and they couldn’t.”

The near-miss came 25 years to the day after Bo Belinsky of the Angels threw a no-hitter against the Orioles at Dodger Stadium.

The Orioles’ Jim Dwyer hit a two-run homer, and Eddie Murray hit his third to lead them to their big lead.

Chicago 2, New York 0--Rookie Bill Long, making his first major league appearance since August, 1985, pitched a two-hitter at Chicago.

Dan Pasqua got both hits off Long. Pasqua singled leading off the second and with two out in the seventh.

In between Pasqua’s hits, Long retired 17 batters in a row.

It was the third time this season the heavy-hitting Yankees have been held to just two hits. It was their seventh loss in 10 games on this trip.

“I always wondered if the second opportunity was going to come,” the 27-year-old Long said. “But I was ready for it.”

Joe Niekro (1-2) also gave up only two hits, but both came in the second inning when the White Sox scored their runs.

Boston 6, Oakland 0--Usually in the American League, the hitters prevail, but on this cold night, it was good for pitchers.

In 43-degree weather at Boston, Bruce Hurst struck out 14 and gave up only five hits to even his record at 3-3.

Every Oakland batter except Stan Javier struck out at least once.

The start was delayed 24 minutes by rain. Mike Davis opened with a single, then Hurst struck out the side.

Mike Greenwell doubled in runs in the third and fifth innings.

Kansas City 6, Toronto 4--Frank White’s double ignited a five-run second inning and Danny Tartabull drove in three runs at Kansas City to end the Blue Jays’ six-game winning streak.

Steve Balboni ended an 0-for-31 streak with a run-scoring single in the five-run second inning.

Charlie Leibrandt (4-1) gave up nine hits in 6 innings but gained the victory.

Seattle 7, Detroit 5--Rey Quinones hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning at Detroit to give the Mariners the victory.

With the score tied, 5-5, Jim Presley drew a leadoff walk and Willie Hernandez, making his first appearance since April 9, relieved.

Hernandez retired two batters, but, on a 1-0 pitch, Quinones hit a ball into the second deck in left for his fourth home run.

Jack Morris started for the Tigers but was forced to leave the game after six innings with a stiff neck. It has bothered the hard-throwing right-hander for the last two weeks.

Texas 6, Cleveland 5--Greg Swindell keeps pitching well and getting nothing to show for it. In this game at Arlington, Tex., the Indian pitcher gave up five hits and a run in eight innings. Then, with one out in the ninth, he walked a batter and was gone, holding a 5-1 lead.

The bullpen blew the lead, giving up four runs. The last two came in on a single by Jerry Browne.

In the 10th, Curtis Wilkerson singled with two out to drive in Pete Incaviglia from second base to end the game.

The Rangers had lost three in a row.