American League Roundup : Bobby Valentine Gets New Contract, Win

Management hit a home run when it extended popular Manager Bobby Valentine’s contract, then Pete Incaviglia and Steve Buechele hit home runs Friday night at Arlington, Tex., and the Rangers celebrated with a 7-6 victory.

The New York Yankees almost spoiled the party with a five-run uprising and had the potential tying and winning runs on base before Texas reliever Jose Cecena ended the agony by forcing Jose Cruz to bounce back to the mound.

Mitch Williams started the ninth inning after Paul Kilgus (4-2) pitched a sharp seven innings and Dale Mohorcic turned in a perfect eighth. Williams contributed to the wild finish.

First, he walked the bases loaded. Then, he struck out Don Mattingly. Mattingly and Yankee Manager Billy Martin were ejected when they argued the calls of plate umpire Tim Welke. Another walk forced in a run and brought in Jeff Russell, who walked in one run and balked in another. Don Slaught singled in two more to make it close.

Kilgus (4-2) departed with a 7-1 lead. It was the second time this month the 26-year-old left-hander had beaten the Yankees.

Rickey Henderson continued to drive the pitchers wild. The Yankee speedster stole two more bases and has 27 in 29 games.

Incaviglia, who was 0 for 18 to open the season, also had two doubles to spark the Texas attack.

Although the Rangers were only 10-16 to open the season and were batting only .224, General Manager Tom Grieve showed his faith in Valentine. The former Dodger now has a contract through the 1991 season.

“This comes as something of a surprise to me,” Valentine said. “But sometimes when a team gets off to a shaky start, rumors begin and players begin to worry about their situation.

Minnesota 5, Boston 0--The one bright spot in an otherwise dismal start for the world champion Twins is Frank Viola.

The Twins have won just 10 of their first 26 games this season, but the left-handed star of the World Series has been brilliant.

In this game at Minneapolis, Viola gave up seven hits in pitching his second consecutive shutout and improving his record to 4-1. He has a string of 22 scoreless innings and has lowered his earned-run average to 2.61. The rest of the Twins’ staff is 6-15 with an ERA of 5.79. He shut out the Red Sox on five hits Sunday. Thursday night, the Red Sox jumped on Chicago pitchers for 16 runs.

Milwaukee 4, Kansas City 0--The Brewers are serving notice to the rest of the East that they are a team to contend with.

In this game at Kansas City, Chris Bosio pitched a five-hitter, and the Brewers won their seventh in a row and moved into fourth place, 3 1/2 games out of first.

Detroit 8, Seattle 4--Pat Sheridan hit a grand slam into the upper deck in right field at Seattle in the eighth inning to bring the Tigers from behind.

Former Angel Gary Pettis hit his first home run for the Tigers.