American League Roundup : A’s Stewart Beats Toronto, 7-3, and Has 17 Wins the Dodgers Could Use

In a season that has seen the Dodgers’ pitchers struggle, some of their former pitchers are having banner years.

Rick Sutcliffe has won 15, Rick Rhoden 14 and Charlie Hough 13, all more than any Dodger pitcher. But the hottest ex-Dodger is Dave Stewart.

At 30, the hard-throwing right-hander has finally developed into the pitcher they thought he would become at the start of this decade.

Stewart, who had never won more than nine games before, became the majors’ top winner as he pitched the Oakland Athletics to a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Wednesday at Oakland.

In winning his 17th game and the 10th in his last 11 decisions, Stewart knocked the Blue Jays out of first place in the East and moved the Athletics within four games of first place in the West.

Jose Canseco hit home runs in his first two at-bats to drive in three runs and end John Cerutti’s eight-game winning streak. Cerutti (9-3), who had not lost since May 17, was gone before he got a batter out in the third inning.

“I’ve waited a lot of years for something like this to happen,” said Stewart, who had failed in earlier years as a reliever. “I just let it happen.

“I’ve been lucky to beat the Blue Jays three times. Maybe, it’s the level of the competition. They have five or six guys in that lineup that hit the ball outstanding.

“I seem to bring out the best in our hitters, though.”

Stewart had little trouble with the Toronto sluggers, except George Bell, who hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning to make it close. It was Bell’s 38th home run of the season.

Canseco, slowly starting to exceed last season’s output when he was Rookie of the Year, has 27 home runs and 90 runs batted in.

He is tied with teammate Mark McGwire for third place in RBIs. Although he hasn’t been hitting home runs lately, McGwire hasn’t stopped hitting. He had a double and a single in this game.

Stewart gave up 7 hits, walked only 1 and struck out 10 while pitching with just three days’ rest.

Detroit 7, Minnesota 1--Like the Twins, Walt Terrell is better at home. Terrell, in improving his career record at Tiger Stadium to 28-7, pitched a six-hitter to put the Tigers on top in the East.

Terrell (10-10), is 9-2 at home. The Twins are the best club in the majors at home. But their second drubbing in a row at Detroit dropped their road record to 24-38, almost the worst.

The Tiger damage against Bert Blyleven (12-10) was done by the bottom three batters in the lineup. Johnny Grubb, No. 7, had two hits and scored two runs; Pat Sheridan had two hits, scored a run and drove in three, and Tom Brookens was 2 for 3, scoring a run and driving in another.

The Tigers are 59-28 since May 11, after winning only 11 of their first 30 games.

“I think we’re the favorite right now,” Manager Sparky Anderson said. “I said that two weeks ago. I think the schedule favors us now.”

New York 8, Seattle 0--Charles Hudson, who opened the season as the Yankees’ best pitcher, turned in his best performance since the first two months of the season in this game at Seattle.

Hudson (8-3), brought in when Tommy John left after one inning because of a stomach ailment, held the Mariners to five hits in eight innings.

The Yankees romped after scoring four runs in the first inning off Mike Morgan (10-13).

Chicago 8, Boston 3--Jose DeLeon pitched a strong seven innings at Chicago to win his first game since June 20.

Ivan Calderon hit two home runs to lead the White Sox, who ended the five-game winning streak of Bruce Hurst (14-7).

Kansas City 11, Texas 6--Until just recently, the Royals didn’t have enough offense to overcome a 6-3 deficit. But in this game at Arlington, Tex., the Royals scored six times in the fifth inning to rout Bobby Witt and the Rangers.

George Brett, who singled in a run in the big rally, also hit his 15th home run, while Danny Tartabull hit his 20th.