American League Roundup : Hudson (5-0) Pitches a Six-Hitter at Twins as Yankees Win, 6-1

Charles Hudson gives credit for his turnaround to “peace of mind.”

The 6-3 right-hander has gone from a loser in the National League to the ace of the New York Yankees in almost no time at all.

Hudson pitched a six-hitter Sunday at New York in the Yankees’ 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins to improve his start to 5-0.

It was his fourth complete game in seven starts. He lost his shutout when Randy Bush doubled home Al Newman in the fourth inning.

By that time the Yankees, who stole seven bases, three by Rickey Henderson, had given Hudson a four-run cushion.

“I’ve got peace of mind now,” said Hudson, who never had a winning season in four years with the Philadelphia Phillies. “I have more patience with myself now and every time I make a pitch, I have a good idea of where it’s going.

“With this club I can go out there and wait. I know they’ll get me some runs. With the Phillies, I always felt the pressure.”

Gary Ward, benched recently for not hitting, drove in two runs with a first-inning single and another in the sixth with a single.

Mike Smithson (3-3) lasted only two innings, saying he could never get loose.

Among the Twins surprised at Hudson’s showing was their best hitter, Kirby Puckett.

“I saw Hudson in an exhibition game last summer, and he was all messed up and shaking his head,” Puckett said after going 0 for 4. “Now, he’s in total command.”

While Hudson is showing unexpected patience, surprisingly, Don Mattingly is showing a lack of it.

Ordinarily, the first baseman who has blossomed into one of baseball’s best players in a short space of time, shows little emotion.

But, after hitting a routine fly in the first inning, Mattingly slammed his bat to the ground. He flung his helmet in anger in the fourth when he hit a soft fly to right.

Mattingly, a .332 lifetime hitter, is batting almost 100 points below that. His fly out gave him an 0-for-13 streak. He had two hits later, one a blooper to the opposite field.

“It doesn’t do any good to dwell on anything,” he said. “It’s reinforcing negative thoughts.”

Seattle 5, Milwaukee 1--When the Detroit Tigers built a big lead with their fast start in 1984, they went on to win the East. The Brewers, who won their first 13 this season, show no signs of duplicating the Tiger feat.

In fact, the Brewers are in a slump and at home, too. With Ken Phelps hitting two home runs and driving in three runs, the Mariners handed the Brewers their sixth consecutive defeat.

With the Yankees winning, the Brewers’ lead was cut to 1 1/2 games.

“There is no magic thing every ballclub has,” Manager Tom Trebelhorn of the Brewers said. “We’ll certainly go through another streak like this again.

“Timely hitting makes for winning streaks, untimely hitting makes for losing streaks. Those two-out hits you get when you’re winning, you don’t get when you’re losing. The other team seems to get them all the time.”

Mike Moore gave up 10 hits in winning his second game. He kept them well scattered after Juan Castillo led off the bottom of the first with his second home run.

Texas 9, Toronto 8--Texas Manager Bobby Valentine called it a “Bobby Witt” game at Arlington, Tex.

The strong-armed right-hander finally won his first game of the season. But not before walking four batters in the first inning.

Witt lasted seven innings, giving up six hits, five runs, walking six and striking out five. He left with a 9-5 lead, but the Rangers barely outlasted the Blue Jays in another three-hour game.

“After the first inning,” Valentine said, “he did a great job. He found the strike zone and deserved to win.”

Witt gave up two walks and the first of Lloyd Moseby’s two home runs and found himself down, 4-0, in a hurry. The Rangers fought back and took the lead for good with three runs in the sixth.

Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2--Although he struck out 15 Royals, the high in the majors this season, Greg Swindell had a tough time posting his second victory at Cleveland.

The hard-throwing left-hander was in trouble throughout, giving up 11 hits and 2 walks.

The Indians only had seven hits, but three Kansas City errors made it tough for hard-luck Danny Jackson (1-5).

Baltimore 6, Chicago 4--For a change, Eddie Murray didn’t hit a home run from either side of the plate, but three other Orioles homered at Chicago to provide rookie Eric Bell with his fourth victory.

Jim Dwyer, Fred Lynn and Terry Kennedy hit the homers. Kennedy’s, ending an 0-for-14 slump, broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh.

The Orioles, in sweeping, hit 12 home runs in three games. Murray had two from each side.

It is the kind of slugging that made the Orioles famous when Earl Weaver was managing them.

Detroit 7, Oakland 6--It took a two-run home run by Darrell Evans in the eighth inning at Detroit for the Tigers to put a slight damper on the cheer generated by A’s rookie Mark McGwire’s hot weekend.

McGwire, the former USC slugger, hit home runs off Jack Morris in the second and fourth innings to give him 10 for the season and 5 in the three-game series.

Evans’ shot into the center-field bleachers came off Steve Ontiveros (0-1) after a walk to Billy Bean. The homer, his fifth, gave the victory to Nate Snell, who pitched two scoreless innings.