American League Roundup : Brewers Beat Yankees, End 7-Game Skid, 9-2

Greg Brock hit a three-run home run, and Robin Yount hit a two-run blast, but they may not have been the most noteworthy items for the Milwaukee Brewers, who ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the New York Yankees, 9-2, Saturday at Milwaukee.

While the Brewers handed the Yankees only their second loss in 11 games, pitcher Chris Bosio and two relievers did not commit a balk.

The balk was becoming an obsession with Manager Tom Trebelhorn and his pitching staff. In the first nine games, the Brewers were called for 11 balks.

After four balks Friday in a 7-1 loss, there was a large red-and-white stop sign taped to the wall of the Milwaukee dugout Saturday.

“It came from the catacombs of County Stadium,” Trebelhorn said, “but I don’t know who put it there.

“We had to get our pitchers to make adjustments. We can’t control what the umpires call. I understand that pitchers get a little nervous and excited when they change things a little bit.

“They were stopping, but not long enough to satisfy the umpires. That’s the bottom line.”

Pitching coach Chuck Hartenstein had a meeting with the Brewer pitchers, but he thinks the umpires are hurting the game by calling so many balks.

“It might be one of the biggest farces in the history of the sport,” he said.

Brock’s first home run gave Bosio a three-run cushion in the first against Rick Rhoden, and Yount hit his third of the season in the second inning.

Bosio gave up a third-inning home run to Don Slaught and three singles, one a bunt by Slaught, in seven innings. Chuck Crim pitched a perfect eighth, and Dan Plesac struck out three Yankees in the ninth.

Slaught, off to the best start of his seven-year career, is hitting .500.

It was the Brewers first victory since April 6, when they were 2-0.

Detroit 4, Kansas City 2--It was a typical Doyle Alexander performance at Detroit. The 37-year-old right-hander mixed speeds and had pinpoint control as he snapped the Royals’ four-game winning streak.

Alexander gave up six hits, including Bo Jackson’s fifth-inning home run, his third homer of the season. After George Brett homered with one out in the ninth, Mike Henneman came on to get the last two outs.

Cleveland 1, Baltimore 0--Even when they play well, the luckless Orioles can’t end their losing streak.

After the Orioles missed a number of scoring chances, Willie Upshaw singled home Cory Snyder from second base with two out in the 11th to hand the winless Orioles their 11th loss in a row.

Mike Morgan pitched nine innings for the Orioles giving up just two hits. Greg Swindell went 10 innings, giving up seven hits and improved his record to 3-0.

Texas 2, Boston 0--The Red Sox will be happy if they don’t face the Rangers’ Paul Kilgus again.

The 26-year-old left-hander, who won two games last season, has already beaten the Red Sox twice this season.

Kilgus gave up just three hits in 8 innings at Boston. Last Sunday at Texas, he held the Red Sox to four hits in seven innings in a 4-1 victory.

Chicago 5, Oakland 1--Melido Perez, 22-year-old brother of Pascual Perez, held the heavy-hitting Athletics to three hits in seven innings and struck out eight to post the victory at Oakland.

Perez came to the White Sox in the deal that sent Floyd Bannister to Kansas City.

Minnesota 3, Toronto 2--Because the wind was blowing in from left field at Toronto, Gary Gaetti waited before going into his home run trot after he tagged a David Wells pitch. The ball carried over the fence and helped hand the Blue Jays their fourth loss in a row.

“I knew I hit it well enough to go out on a normal day,” Gaetti said after hitting his second home run of the season. “But some balls were hit out to center today that I thought would go out and didn’t.”