American League Roundup : Twins Beat Mariners, Take Four-Game Lead in West Division Race

It has been 17 years since the Minnesota Twins won a division title, but they are beginning to pull away from the rest of the West.

The Twins, scoring eight unearned runs in the first inning Saturday night at Minneapolis, breezed to a 14-4 victory over the Seattle Mariners and increased their division lead to four games.

The Twins, not too good on the road, have built their lead on the best home record in the major leagues. With Kent Hrbek, Tom Brunansky and Gary Gaetti hitting home runs, the Twins improved their home record to 40-18.

The Twins, without Joe Niekro, who is serving a suspension, gambled with Roy Smith, a right-hander who last won in the majors in 1985 with the Cleveland Indians.

The big first inning, started when left fielder Dan Gladden dropped Mickey Brantley’s fly ball, made it easy for Smith, brought up Aug. 4 from the minors. Smith gave up eight hits and four runs in seven innings.

Tim Laudner and Greg Gagne each drove in two runs in the eight-run inning, the Twins’ biggest of the season.

Tom Kelly of the Twins, the youngest manager in baseball, couldn’t have found a better way to celebrate his 37th birthday.

“Yep, that was real fun,” Kelly said after the two-out hits by Laudner and Gagne broke the game open. “Things went our way pretty good. We got a lot of hits with two outs.”

Manager Dick Williams, whose Mariners fell seven games behind the Twins, was upset about Laudner’s hit.

“You get a 1-2 count on a .199 hitter and he beats you,” Williams said.

The Twins won the first title when the league split into Eastern and Western Divisions in 1969. They also won it in 1970 but haven’t returned since.

Baltimore 2, Milwaukee 1--Paul Molitor got rid of the suspense in a hurry at Baltimore when he blooped a single to left on the second pitch of the game and became the 39th player in baseball history to hit safely in 30 consecutive games.

The Orioles won it, though, when Larry Sheets, who didn’t even bat against left-handers until just recently, singled home two runs in the sixth inning to beat Ted Higuera (11-9). Sheets has driven in 17 runs in his last 12 games.

Detroit 8, Kansas City 4--Alan Trammell, continuing his bid for the Most Valuable Player award, hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning at Kansas City to give the Tigers the victory that put them just half a game out of first place in the East.

The home run, which broke a 4-4 tie, was Trammell’s 20th.

The Tigers gave Doyle Alexander, making his first start since being obtained from the Atlanta Braves, a 4-1 lead with three runs in the sixth inning, but the veteran right-hander couldn’t hold it. Eric King, who took over in the seventh, was the winner.

New York 11, Cleveland 2--The Yankees snapped out of a hitting slump, banging out 13 hits at New York to end their five-game losing streak.

Mike Pagliarulo and Don Mattingly hit home runs, and Dennis Rasmussen, although he didn’t pitch very well, won for the first time since July 10.

The Indians threatened in every inning, getting eight hits and four walks off Rasmussen (9-6) in 6 innings.

The Yankees broke it open with six runs in the seventh inning and moved to within two games of first place in the East.

Boston 7, Texas 6--There was a little bit of everything in this game at Boston. The Red Sox pulled it out when Mitch Williams walked three batters in a row in the eighth inning, the last one, Wade Boggs, with the bases loaded.

The final out of the game was made when the Rangers’ Jerry Browne was picked off second base by Wes Gardner, who picked up his first American League victory. Three years ago, while pitching for the New York Mets, Gardner won a game in the National League.

There was also near free-for-all when Roger Clemens, in the process of blowing a 3-1 lead in the Rangers’ five-run sixth, knocked down Darrell Porter with one pitch and hit him with the next. Porter beckoned Clemens to fight, but umpire Steve Palermo grabbed Clemens and there was no fight.

After Mike Greenwell hit a two-run homer in the seventh to cut the Texas lead to 6-5, the Red Sox rallied to tie against former Dodger Steve Howe, who got the loss when Williams had the wild streak.

Howe balked in the eighth inning, a league record 20th called against the Rangers this season.

Chicago 1, Toronto 0--Although he pitched one of his best games of the season, Jim Clancy couldn’t shake his losing ways in this game at Toronto.

A walk to leadoff batter Ozzie Guillen, a steal and two groundouts produced the only run of the game in the first inning, and Richard Dotson (10-8) pitched a six-hitter to win it.

Clancy (10-10) gave up only two hits in eight innings but lost his fourth straight decision since July 12.