American League Roundup : Brewers Aren’t Proud of Their Latest Streak

Those 13 straight victories were real, but the Milwaukee Brewers have turned out to be a mirage.

Danny Tartabull’s bases-empty home run with two out in the eighth inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 victory over the Brewers Sunday at Kansas City. It was the Brewers’ 11th consecutive defeat, a franchise record.

The Brewers equalled a major league record by starting the season with 13 wins, but have slipped to 20-14.

“No, that’s not too bad, but the road that got us there kind of stinks,” Milwaukee Manager Tom Trebelhorn said. “There are no easy answers. There’s no way out of that except to play out of it.

“I don’t know how it happens. You guys have to explain that.”

In their losing streak, the Brewers have scored only 24 runs, and 8 of those came in one game. They haven’t won since May 2.

The Brewers have dropped to third place in the American League East, 2 1/2 games behind the first-place New York Yankees.

The Royals, on the other hand, have won seven straight games at home, 11 of 14 overall and lead the the West by 1 1/2 games.

Tartabull’s homer, off Mike Birkbeck (1-2), just cleared the right-field wall for his third homer.

“I thought he was going to catch it on the warning track,” Tartabull said. “But it just carried on out.”

Said Birkbeck: “I never really thought it would go out, what with the way he swung at it and hit it.

“You can’t take the (winning) streak away from us. Now we’re just happy to be where we are. We’re within striking distance. But we’re not happy to be playing the way we are.”

Kansas City reliever Steve Farr (2-1) got the win. Jerry Don Gleaton got the last three outs to earn his third save.

Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the first on doubles by Robin Yount and Cecil Cooper. The Royals went ahead on Steve Balboni’s two-run homer in the second.

The Brewers tied the score, 2-2, in the fourth. Rob Deer singled and Royal third baseman Kevin Seitzer threw away a potential double-play ball to put runners at first and third. Deer scored on Bud Black’s wild pitch.

New York 8, Seattle 3--Dan Pasqua hit a tie-breaking three-run homer in the fifth inning and the Yankees went on to beat the Mariners at Seattle.

Joe Niekro (2-2) allowed three runs in the first inning but pitched 7 innings to get the victory. He allowed 5 hits, walked 6 and struck out 8 before Dave Righetti came on for his 10th save.

It was the 215th career victory for Niekro. His brother, Phil, who pitches for Cleveland, has won 313 games and their total of 528 victories is one behind the record held by Gaylord and Jim Perry.

The Yankees took the lead on Dave Winfield’s two-run single in the top of the first, but Seattle went ahead on Jim Presley’s RBI single and a two-run double by Dave Valle in the bottom of the inning. The Yankees tied it on doubles by Mike Pagliarulo and Claudell Washington in the second.

Oakland 3, Toronto 0--Dave Stewart pitched a four-hitter and the A’s reached the .500 mark for the first time this year by beating the Blue Jays at Oakland.

Stewart (5-3) held Toronto hitless for 5 innings and finished with seven strikeouts in his first complete game of the year and second shutout of his career. Tony Fernandez ended his no-hit bid with a single up the middle.

The A’s had only four hits but they included bases-empty home runs by Jose Canseco in the first inning and Ron Cey in the second, both off John Cerruti (1-2).

Cey’s homer was his first in the American League and the 313th of his 15-year career.

Detroit 8, Cleveland 4--Darrell Evans hit a two-run homer and Tom Brookens added a solo shot as the Tigers won their fifth straight by beating the Indians and Steve Carlton at Detroit.

Carlton (2-4), going for his 326th career victory, instead lost for the 233rd time. He was victimized by a first-inning error by shortstop Cory Snyder that led to two unearned runs.

Detroit’s Walt Terrell (3-4) scattered seven hits in 7 innings.

Minnesota 10, Boston 8--Bases-empty homers by Gary Gaetti and Tom Brunansky tied the score in the ninth and Kent Hrbek’s two-run shot in the 10th powered the Twins past the Red Sox at Minneapolis.

The Red Sox wiped out a 6-1 deficit by scoring seven runs in the eighth. Dave Henderson ignited the inning with a pinch-hit homer and capped it with an RBI single.

Kirby Puckett’s tie-breaking two-run homer during a four-run fifth inning gave the Twins a 5-1 lead. Dwight Evans homered for the first Boston run.

Chicago 8, Texas 5--Donnie Hill singled home the tying run in the seventh and Tim Hulett followed with a sacrifice fly as the White Sox beat the Rangers at Chicago.

Greg Walker added a two-run homer for Chicago in the ninth.

The Rangers took a 5-3 lead in the fourth on a two-run homer by Ruben Sierra and RBI singles by Pete O’Brien and Geno Petralli. Chicago got a run in the sixth when Gary Redus, who homered earlier, walked with the bases loaded.