American League Roundup : Cerutti Passes Test; Toronto Boosts Lead

When the Toronto Blue Jays acquired baseball’s old man, Phil Niekro, last week, John Cerutti knew there was only one way for him to stay in the starting rotation. That was to keep winning.

As of Friday night, the 27-year-old left-hander had escaped the bullpen. Cerutti pitched a strong eight innings at Toronto as the Blue Jays strengthened their grip on first place with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Cerutti (9-2) gave up just four hits and struck out seven in eight innings to win his eighth in a row and increase the Blue Jays’ lead in the East to 1 1/2 games over the Detroit Tigers and 3 over the New York Yankees.

Three of the hits came in the fourth inning, when the White Sox scored both runs. Willie Upshaw’s run-scoring triple in the third inning broke a 2-2 tie. Tom Henke pitched a perfect ninth inning to gain his 26th save.

Cerutti, who started his second major league season as a relief pitcher, has not lost a game since May 17, when Oakland beat him in his second start.

Although he hasn’t always pitched well, Cerutti usually brings out the best in the Toronto offense. In two games he didn’t win during his winning streak, the Blue Jays scored 15 runs in one game and 14 in another.

“I haven’t done this well since I was at Amherst,” Cerutti told UPI. “My junior year I was 11-1.

“Success leads to confidence and confidence leads to success. They go hand in hand. Also, at this time of year I feel stronger, and as I get my innings in, my control gets better.”

Cerutti hasn’t always enjoyed Manager Jimy Williams’ confidence. Even during the winning streak he has been the fifth starter, the guy they skip when there’s a rainout or an open date. He was 12 days between appearances during the All-Star break.

After he was wild and gave the Twins four runs in two innings July 25, he went back to the bullpen for a game even though he had won five in a row.

Maybe his last three efforts, in which he has pitched 21 innings, giving up 17 hits and only 3 earned runs, have convinced his manager.

Cleveland 6, New York 5--The Yankees returned home and activated All-Star second baseman Willie Randolph, but they still couldn’t halt their skid.

On a trip in which they lost eight out of 10 games, the Yankees fell out of first place and they dropped farther behind when Brooke Jacoby hit his second home run of the game to break a 5-5 tie in the eighth.

Tom Candiotti wasn’t as sharp as Aug. 3 when he threw a one-hitter at the Yankees, but after giving up a single to Randolph and a home run to Don Mattingly in the first inning, he settled down to gain his third win in a row and improve his record to 6-11.

Tommy John started for the Yankees and didn’t make it through the fourth inning. It was rookie Brad Arnsberg, though, who served up the game-winner to Jacoby.

Minnesota 6, Seattle 3--Kent Hrbek hit a long home run, and Bert Blyleven gave up just six hits in eight innings as the Twins improved their record at home to 39-18.

Hrbek led off the sixth inning with a 463-foot drive over the center-field fence for his 29th home run, tying a career high and giving the Twins a 4-2 lead.

Tim Laudner also homered for the Twins. Blyleven, in improving his record to 12-9, gave up only one home run, to Ken Phelps.

Milwaukee 6, Baltimore 2--Paul Molitor singled in the seventh inning at Baltimore to extend his hitting streak to 29 games, but it was the slugging of Dale Sveum that sparked the Brewers.

Sveum hit two home runs and drove in four runs to help Juan Nieves improve his record to 9-6. Nieves gave up eight hits and struck out eight in 6 innings to win his fourth in a row.

Molitor, who went hitless in his first three at-bats, has the longest hitting streak in the league since 1980.

Kansas City 7, Detroit 5--Danny Tartabull hit his 18th home run and drove in three runs at Kansas City to help Bud Black end his four-game losing streak. Steve Balboni also homered for the Royals.

Black gave up six hits in seven innings before needing help. Dan Quisenberry, the third reliever, got the last two outs to pick up his first save since June 6 and only his eighth of the season.

Detroit starter Walt Terrell (9-10) continued to have trouble on the road. He is 1-8 on the road this season and 4-16 in the American League away from Tiger Stadium.

Boston 9-4, Texas 3-9--After Bruce Hurst (14-6) pitched his 13th complete game in the opener of the doubleheader, Charlie Hough (12-8) came back to give the Rangers a split at Boston.

Mike Greenwell’s run-scoring triple keyed a six-run seventh inning in the opener as the Red Sox handed Steve Howe his first loss since he joined the Rangers.

In the nightcap Wade Boggs hit his 20th home run for the Red Sox, but the Rangers hammered out 16 hits to back Hough. Hough, who had lost four of his previous five decisions, pitched his seventh complete game.

Hurst is 11-1 this season at Fenway Park, which is not supposed to be a good park for left-handers.