American League Roundup : McGwire’s Hit in 8th Gives Athletics a 4-3 Victory Over Yankees

Mark McGwire’s assignment with a man on second base, nobody out in the eighth inning of a tie game Wednesday at Oakland, was to hit the ball to the right side to move his man to third base.

McGwire did his job too well. He hit the ball to right, but it was a line single and Dave Parker scored from second to give the Athletics a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees.

It gave the Athletics a 2-1 edge in the series between the American League’s two divisional leaders.

McGwire’s hit came off Richard Dotson, the starter in Monday’s game. Manager Billy Martin brought Dotson, a right-hander, in to face McGwire after Parker doubled off loser Charles Hudson (4-2). With the lead, the Athletics naturally brought in Dennis Eckersley, and for the 17th time in 18 chances, the veteran right-hander earned the save.

The victory raised the A’s record to 36-15, best in the majors. The Yankees are 33-17 and firmly believe they are a better team, although the teams are 3-3 for the season.

McGwire, who led the majors in home runs as a rookie last season with 49, hasn’t hit a home run in the last 13 games. He is being razzed about it by teammates, including Jose Canseco, who hit his 13th home run in the fourth.

“I don’t think about home runs,” McGwire said after getting his eighth game-winning RBI. “All I wanted to do in the eighth was move Parker to third. I’m paid more to drive in runs than hit home runs. An RBI single is as exciting as a home run to me.”

The Yankees took a 3-2 lead against Curt Young in the sixth when rookie Jay Buhner hit his first major league home run and Jack Clark followed with his 10th of the season.

Dave Henderson, who hit a home run in the 14th inning to win the opener, hit his seventh home run to tie the game in the seventh.

The only sour note for the Athletics was the end of Carney Lansford’s 17-game hitting streak. Lansford was 0 for 2 and his average dropped to .393.

The A’s didn’t seem excited about winning the series.

“I’m not going to make a big deal out of taking two out of three from the Yankees,” Manager Tony LaRussa said. “We’ve had two real good months. Unfortunately, the season is six months long.”

Minnesota 7, Texas 1--Frank Viola is in a groove and the Twins are surging up the ladder in the West.

Viola, who lost his first decision, pitched a five-hitter at Minneapolis for his ninth consecutive victory, tying a club record.

The Twins gave him a working margin with four runs after two were out in the fifth, then scored three more in the sixth.

Viola lost his shutout in the seventh. He balked after Pete Incaviglia singled and another single scored the run.

Cleveland 5, Kansas City 4--Julio Franco stepped to the plate as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the first inning at Cleveland and hit his fifth home run.

It extended his hitting streak and started the Indians on their way to the victory that put them just 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the East.

Cory Snyder hit his 11th home run for the Indians in the second inning.

Detroit 9, Chicago 3--Lou Whitaker homered and drove in three runs at Detroit to help the Tigers end a four-game losing streak.

Jack Morris had a no-hitter with two out in the sixth, but needed help from Guillermo Hernandez to improve his record to 5-6.

Toronto 7, Milwaukee 2--The Blue Jays scored five times in the first inning at Toronto and enabled Mike Flanagan (5-3) to breeze to a victory.

Flanangan gave up eight hits in six innings, but only one run. Duane Ward gave up the other run in the eighth.

Seattle 4, Baltimore 3--The lowly Orioles were trying to win two in a row on the road and held a 3-2 lead in the seventh.

But Rey Quinones hit a two-run home run and the Mariners pulled it out.

Steve Balboni, signed just before the game, made his debut as a Mariner and went 0 for 3.