American League Roundup : Saberhagen Runs His Record to 12-1 With a 10-5 Victory Over Oakland

Frank White hit a three-run home run, and Bret Saberhagen won his 12th game, the most in the major leagues, as the Kansas City Royals rallied Wednesday night to defeat the Oakland A’s, 10-5, at Kansas City, Mo.

The Royals took the field just five hours after the death of former manager Dick Howser. Starting July 3, the day the team had planned to retire Howser’s No. 10, the Royals will wear armbands in his memory.

Saberhagen (12-1) struck out seven, walked two and allowed seven hits as the Royals snapped a four-game losing streak. The complete game was Saberhagen’s eighth, tying him for the league lead with Bruce Hurst of the Boston Red Sox.

Oakland starter Dave Stewart (7-7) allowed home runs to White, George Brett and Bo Jackson in taking the loss.

The A’s took a 3-0 lead in the third inning. The big hit was Mark McGwire’s two-run triple off the left-center field wall.

The Royals responded with five runs in the bottom of the inning. Danny Tartabull’s run-scoring single made it 3-2, and then White followed with his sixth homer run to make it 5-3.

Mike Davis hit a homer, his 17th, with a man on in the fifth to tie the score, 5-5, but Brett followed with a homer, his first since opening day, in the bottom of the inning to put Kansas City in front for good at 6-5.

Milwaukee 8, Minnesota 5--The Brewers had 15 hits in defeating the Twins in a game at Milwaukee marred by a bench-clearing melee in the top of the sixth inning. The Brewers had lost 10 straight to Minnesota.

Robin Yount’s two-run home run in the bottom of the inning off losing pitcher Les Straker (2-4) gave the Brewers a 6-5 lead.

In the top of the sixth, Gene Larkin’s home run off winning pitcher Mark Clear gave the Twins, who had won nine of their last 10, a 5-4 lead. Clear then hit Steve Lombardozzi with a pitch, and umpire Ken Kaiser had to restrain Lombardozzi from charging the mound.

Sal Buterra hit into an inning-ending double play, during which Lombardozzi slid into second baseman Jim Gantner. Gantner went after Lombardozzi, bringing the players off both benches and out of the bullpens. Gantner, Minnesota’s Dan Gladden and Twin Coach Tony Oliva were ejected.

Detroit 3, Toronto 2--Frank Tanana, using a combination of off-speed pitches, carried the Tigers past the Blue Jays before a crowd of 46,227 at Toronto.

The left-hander, a power pitcher in his days with the Angels, retired 14 of the first 15 batters he faced en route to improving his record to 6-3.

Lou Whitaker hit Jim Clancy’s first pitch for a home run to give Detroit a 1-0 lead, and Matt Nokes hit another bases-empty homer leading off the sixth. Detroit made it 3-0 in the seventh when Tom Brookens tripled and scored on Kirk Gibson’s double.

Detroit’s Alan Trammell had his hitting streak snapped at 21 games as he went 0 for 4.

New York 4, Baltimore 3--Dennis Rasmussen, Tim Stoddard and Pat Clements combined on a five-hitter at New York as the Yankees handed the Orioles their 13th loss in 14 games.

Rasmussen allowed three hits, including home runs to Ken Gerhart and Mike Young, over seven innings. Stoddard pitched 1 innings before Clements got the final two outs for his third save.

The Yankees, who have won three straight and five out of six, scored twice in the seventh to break a 2-2 tie. Gary Ward’s sacrifice fly knocked in the first run in the inning, and Dave Winfield’s single with two outs made it 4-2.

Winfield robbed Fred Lynn of a home run in the seventh with a leaping catch of a drive that would have cleared the wall in right field.

Boston 4, Cleveland 0--Roger Clemens pitched a four-hit shutout, and Mike Greenwell homered and drove in all four runs in Boston’s victory at Cleveland.

Clemens (5-6) struck out 12 and walked two in pitching his third shutout. Last year, when he was 24-4 and won the league’s Cy Young and Most Valuable Player awards, he had only one shutout. It was his first victory since beating the Indians, 1-0, May 27 at Boston.

Seattle 2, Chicago 0--Scott Bankhead held the White Sox without a hit for the first 4 innings, leading the Mariners to their fourth straight victory at Seattle. The White Sox have lost four straight and 15 of 18.

Bankhead pitched 8 innings, striking out seven, walking one and allowing four hits. Ozzie Guillen broke up Bankhead’s bid for a no-hitter with a double just inside the left-field line with two out in the fifth.