American League Roundup : Once Again, Joel Davis Ends Brewers’ Streak

It’s quite simple. The Milwaukee Brewers were just waiting for Joel Davis.

On April 21, the White Sox right-hander was the winner when Chicago beat the Brewers, 7-1, to stop a 13-game winning streak. On Wednesday at Milwaukee, Davis helped stop the Brewers’ 12-game losing streak.

With Cecil Cooper and Greg Brock each hitting two-run home runs in the fourth, the Brewers knocked out Davis on their way to a 5-1 victory that ended their losing streak.

In the April 21 game, Davis (1-3) shut the Brewers out for 5 innings to gain his only victory of the season.

“Wow! One in a row is very exciting,” Brewer Manager Tom Trebelhorn said. “When you hit three home runs, get very good pitching and play sound defense, you expect to win.”

The Brewers were getting decent pitching during most of the losing streak, but they scored only 25 runs in 12 games.

The four-run cushion was plenty for Juan Nieves (3-1), who gave up five hits and struck out 11. In addition to the two-run home runs, Nieves got a solo shot from Robin Yount in the fifth to make the task easier.

“Joel Davis was part of both streaks,” White Sox Manager Jim Fregosi said. “He stopped them both.”

Oakland 7, New York 5--Rookie Mark McGwire, homering for the third game in a row, hit his 14th of the season in the second inning as the A’s beat the Yankees at Oakland.

The Yankees’ Charles Hudson (6-1) had a 2.02 earned-run average, but it soared to 2.68 as he gave up five runs before leaving in the third and the Yankees trailing, 5-2. Oakland starter Eric Plunk also left in the third. Gene Nelson (2-1) got the win for the A’s, who have won 8 of 11.

Seattle 6, Baltimore 2--Mike Morgan didn’t completely shut down the Orioles’ home run onslaught at Seattle, he just slowed it down.

Morgan, in pitching an eight-hitter to improve his record to 4-4, gave up only one home run, to Jim Dwyer in the third inning. The homer extended the Orioles’ string to 13 games. They have hit 35 home runs in 13 games.

The Mariners’ John Moses broke a 2-2 tie with a two-out double in the sixth. Alvin Davis had three hits, including a home run, and Ken Phelps hit his 13th homer to lead the Mariners.

Boston 7, Kansas City 1--Wade Boggs continues to thrive as the No. 3 batter in the Red Sox lineup. Boggs went 4 for 5 and drove in two runs at Kansas City to back the four-hit pitching of Bruce Hurst.

Since Boggs was dropped from lead-off to the third spot on May 5, he has started to drive in runs.

He is 24 for 52 for a .462 average and has driven in 12 runs in 14 games. He has raised his average to .345.

The Royals, who lead the West, had won nine in a row at home.

Minnesota 8, Cleveland 2--Tom Brunansky hasn’t had much success hitting knuckleballs, so with the bases loaded in the sixth inning at Cleveland, he decided to wait and hope Tom Candiotti would throw something else.

With the count 3 and 2, Candiotti threw a fastball, which Brunansky hit for a game-breaking grand slam.

The Twins won without Manager Tom Kelly, who was ejected in the first inning for disputing a close call at first base.

Detroit 6, Texas 4--Darrell Evans hit a three-run home run at Arlington, Tex., to help Dan Petry gain his 100th career victory.

Petry gave up two home runs and three runs in the first inning, then settled down to pitch seven strong innings.