American League Roundup : Indians Beat Royals to Punch After Brawl

The office of Commissioner Peter Ueberroth said the rash of beanballs and brawls is the problem of the respective major leagues, but it is reaching a point where baseball’s head man may have to step in.

Almost every day there is an eruption or two. There have been numerous injuries, some of them serious. Mere warnings don’t seem to be the answer.

The entire three-game series at Cleveland between the Indians and the Kansas City Royals was an ugly mess.

It came to a head in the first inning Wednesday night when the teams engaged in a free-for-all after Royal pitcher Danny Jackson threw his first two pitches in the vicinity of leadoff batter Brett Butler’s head.

After the second pitch sailed over his head, Butler charged the mound. Both benches emptied, and the Royals’ George Brett landed a punch on Butler.

Several skirmishes enlivened the proceedings and delayed the game for 16 minutes. When play was resumed, Jackson and Butler were ejected.

The Indians had the last laugh when Cory Snyder doubled home two runs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Indians a wild 9-8 victory and keep the Royals from taking over first place in the West.

Tuesday night, the Royals’ Willie Wilson, after almost being hit by a Ken Schrom pitch in the third inning, tackled the Indians’ pitcher. Both benches cleared, but no punches were thrown.

Monday night, tempers flared when Sammy Stewart, after throwing a pitch over the head of Frank White of the Royals in the eighth, hit Jamie Quirk in the ninth. Quirk suffered a broken hand.

Jackson threw the first pitch behind Butler Wednesday night. The umpires warned both clubs that no more such pitches would be tolerated. But the next pitch sailed over Butler’s head, and the fight was on.

“We were brushing him back on the first pitch,” Royal Manager Billy Gardner said. “But the second ball was a breaking pitch and just got away from Danny. He wasn’t going to throw at Butler after getting the warning.”

It was the second time in the sweep by the Indians that Snyder beat the Royals after the man ahead of him was given an intentional walk. Monday night, he hit a grand slam to win the game. This time it was only a double.

With runners on second and third and the Royals leading, 8-7, Dan Quisenberry walked Joe Carter to pitch to Snyder.

Detroit 9, Oakland 5--A’s rookie Mark McGwire hit his 31st home run in his 76th game, but 40-year-old Darrell Evans hit two homers to lead the Tigers at Oakland.

Three Oakland errors, including one by six-time Gold Glove center fielder Dwayne Murphy, helped the Tigers build up a 7-0 lead against Steve Ontiveros (5-3).

Evans, who hit 41 home runs for Atlanta in 1973, has 19 this season.

New York 13, Minnesota 4--Don Mattingly, who has been hampered by injuries and a prolonged slump, hit two home runs and drove in four runs at New York as the Yankees continued their assault on the Twins.

The Yankees, who scored 12 runs in the last two innings Tuesday night, have scored 25 runs in the last 10 innings.

“I’m finally getting into a groove,” said Mattingly, who had three hits Tuesday night. “The last two games give me a feeling that I may be on my way.”

Rick Rhoden raised his record to 11-5.

Toronto 5, Texas 2--Garth Iorg walked with the bases loaded in the seventh inning at Toronto, and the winning run came home on an infield out as the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the series with the Rangers.

“This is the kind of game we would have lost last week when we were in the middle of losing eight,” Iorg said. “But you get on rolls. It’s like rolling dice; some days you can’t break off shooting sevens, other times you crap out all the time.”

Iorg, the first batter reliever Jeff Russell faced, walked on four pitches.

Baltimore 6, Chicago 5--Eddie Murray picked a good time to extend his home run streak to four games when he did it with two outs in the 10th inning at Baltimore to win the game.

Murray hit his 18th home run on a 3-and-0 count, and it landed halfway up in the right-field bleachers to give Mike Boddicker (6-4) the victory.

Seattle 5, Milwaukee 2--Rey Quinones hit a three-run homer in the 11th inning, and Mike Moore and Bill Wilkinson held the Brewers to three hits at Seattle.

Quinones homered off Milwaukee relief ace Dan Plesac (4-1), who hadn’t allowed a run in his last 11 outings. Wilkinson (2-2) struck out five of the six batters he faced.