Stewart Wins His Seventh : Lansford and Gallego Lead Athletics to 9th Win in Row, 8-2

Dave Stewart didn’t have the kind of stuff Tuesday that he’s had most of this season.

But he got three RBI each from Carney Lansford and Mike Gallego to become major league baseball’s first seven-game winner as the Oakland Athletics ran their winning streak to nine with an 8-2 win over Detroit. He also benefitted from the balk mania that had been working against him.

Stewart fell behind, 1-0, on Matt Nokes’ RBI single and allowed 5 hits in the first 3 innings before settling down to retire 9 straight batters. He left after 6 innings with a 7-1 lead.

“It was tough early,” said Stewart, whose 7-0 record gave him a team record for the most consecutive wins at the start of a season.

The man who leads the majors with 11 balks also managed to escape being called for any while Don Heinkel, a Detroit reliever, was called for three in the sixth inning to tie a major league record. In fact, Lansford hit a two-run homer after his ground ball out to shortstop had been nullified by second-base umpire Larry Barnett’s balk call on Heinkel.

Oakland took the lead with four runs in the fourth with Gallego’s bases-loaded double driving home three. Gallego then scored on a single by Lansford.

The A’s made it 5-1 in the fifth on Don Baylor’s sacrifice fly then added two more runs on Lansford’s two-run homer, his third of the season after his out call was nullified by the balk call.

Henderson singled home Jose Canseco with the final run in the eighth as Oakland finished an 11-game road trip against the East with a 10-1 record.

Stewart, meanwhile, didn’t seem overly excited about his 7-0 start.

“To me, it’s just one month’s work,” he said. “I just take my turn each time and try to go as long as I can. The most important thing is that we keep winning and if I can contribute, that’s great.”

Frank Tanana, who entered the game 5-0, lost his first decision for Detroit, allowing four runs and eight hits in four innings.

“They’ve got a lot of lumber,” Tigers manager Sparky Anderson said, referring to the A’s.

That lumber has contributed to a winning streak that’s their longest since they began the 1981 season with 11 in a row.

Detroit’s only other run came in the ninth when Greg Cadaret walked pinch-hitter Luis Salazar with the bases loaded.