American League Roundup : Yankees Fell Tigers With Spear Carriers

It used to be the revolving door at Yankee Stadium was reserved for managers. But in the last two years it has been for ballplayers.

In a season in which such stars as Don Mattingly, Rickey Henderson and Willie Randolph have been sidelined much of the time with injuries, it seems there is a new hero for every victory.

The names don’t read like a Who’s Who of the majors. Some of them are virtual unknowns, such as Henry Cotto, Mark Salas, Tim Stoddard and Juan Bonilla.

Gary Ward, signed as a free agent last winter, isn’t exactly an unknown, but his starring roles have been infrequent.

With one out in the ninth Friday night at New York, Ward hit a home run after a walk to Cotto to rally the Yankees for a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers and increase their lead to 2 1/2 games in the American League East.

There were 50,214 fans on hand for the opener of the three-game series between two of the three contenders in the East. They were very quiet when Tom Brookens hit a two-run home run in the top of the ninth off bullpen ace Dave Righetti to give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.

Cotto walked to open the bottom of the ninth against Willie Hernandez, and Mike Pagliarulo, who homered earlier, sacrificed. Unbeaten rookie Mike Henneman relieved Hernandez. Ward, a right-handed hitter, sent a 1-1 pitch into the right-field seats just out of the reach of a leaping Pat Sheridan.

“I was trying to go to right,” Ward said, “that was the only way I could get it out. I just barely did, too.”

Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson called it a super game. “Too bad the bad guys won,” Anderson said.

Henneman’s record fell to 8-1 and Righetti’s improved to 6-3 as he escaped the defeat.

The Yankee have made 31 roster changes this year, but Lou Piniella is about to complete his second season as the manager.

Piniella has weathered all the storms. The latest involved Henderson, who reportedly wants the Yankees to trade him. Piniella met with his ailing, disgruntled center fielder and Henderson decided he didn’t want to depart.

“Lou told me that when I was able to play,” Henderson said, “I was to tell him. I want to play. If I wasn’t hurt, I’d be out there.”

The Yankees aren’t missing him. Claudell Washington, who played center in this game, had two hits, including a home run.

Boston 4, Kansas City 0--It was a meeting of the most recent Cy Young Award winners, Bret Saberhagen and Roger Clemens, at Kansas City.

Early in the season, Saberhagen, who won the award in 1985, was sensational, while Clemens, the winner last season, was struggling.

Now, it’s Clemens (11-7), who’s hot and Saberhagen (15-6) who’s not. Clemens is 7-1 with an earned-run average of 2.81 in his last 10 starts. His five shutouts are tops in the majors.

Saberhagen was 13-2 with a 2.37 ERA through June 27. He is 0-3 since the All-Star break. He lost his shutout bid on the fifth pitch of the game when Ellis Burks hit his 16th home run. Rookie Sam Horn and Mike Greenwell also homered off Saberhagen.

Toronto 8, Cleveland 3--The Blue Jays spotted Phil Niekro and the Indans a 3-0 lead through six innings at Toronto, then unloaded.

They scored two in the seventh to chase Niekro, then scored six in the eighth to blow it open. LLoyd Moseby homered to open the inning and tie the game. Fred McGriff’s run-scoring double put the Blue Jays ahead.

Jimmy Key gave up only four hits in eight innings to improve his record to 12-6. The win put the Blue Jays ahead of Detroit in the tight race in the East, 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees.

Baltimore 8, Texas 4----By his lofty standards, Eddie Murray isn’t having a big season.

His two home runs at Arlington, Tex. gave him 25 for the season and 300 for his brilliant career. It also helped the Orioles beat Charlie Hough (11-7).

It was a 4-4 tie when Larry Sheets ended an 0-for-22 slump with his 17th home run for the Orioles. In the ninth Ken Gerhart homered and Murray hit his second two-run homer of the night. It was the first time a Texas pitcher had served up four home runs in a game.

Chicago 8, Milwaukee 6--In his previous start, Richard Dotson had a perfect game for 7 innings, fell apart and lost the game.

In this game at Milwaukee, he didn’t pitch as well, but when he fell apart in the ninth, he had too big a lead to lose. Jerry Royster and Ivan Calderon each knocked in three runs to spark the Sox.

Minnesota 5, Oakland 3--Gary Gaetti hit a three-run home run to cap a four-run sixth inning that gave the Twins a victory in the opener of this showdown series at Oakland.

The Twins increased their lead in the West to 2 1/2 games over the Angels and dropped the Athletics into third place, three games behind.

Bert Blyleven gave up Jose Canseco’s 22nd home run but, with help from Jeff Reardon, improved his record to 10-8.