American League Roundup : Tigers Pick On Yankees Again, 6-3

The last time New York played Detroit, the Yankees lost three games, a hold on first place, and soon after, Manager Billy Martin.

So much for last week. The Tigers resumed where they left off, beating the Yankees, 6-3, Monday night at New York, extending their lead to two games over New York in the American League East.

Jack Morris (7-8) allowed five hits over 6 innings, and Luis Salazar had three hits and three runs batted in to lead Detroit.

But while Morris’ pitches may have been blistering, so was his finger. He left the game because of it, and Mike Henneman closed the door on the Yankees, pitching 2 innings and recording his 14th save despite yielding Mike Pagliarulo’s two-run homer in the ninth.

It was an impressive showing by Morris, who has struggled lately. Morris hasn’t had a losing record since his rookie season 10 years ago.

“I think things will turn around from here on in,” Morris said. “The Yankees are a good ballclub, and if I can beat them, I can beat anybody.”

Detroit’s Gary Pettis also broke out of a slump. Pettis, 2 for 25 going into the game, doubled and singled twice.

John Candelaria (8-4) lost his second straight decision. He allowed 9 hits and 4 runs over 6 innings.

Oakland 5, Milwaukee 4--Dave Henderson singled home Carney Lansford in the 14th inning for the Athletics’ win over the Brewers at Oakland.

Lansford drew a walk from Brewer reliever Dan Plesac (1-1) to open the 14th. Terry Steinbach struck out, but Lansford reached second on Plesac’s wild pitch. Lansford stole third and scored on Henderson’s line single to left field.

Milwaukee had taken a 4-3 lead in the 13th on Charlie O’Brien’s run-scoring double, but the A’s had tied the score when Stan Javier singled to score Henderson.

Kansas City 2, Chicago 1--Frank White led off the eighth inning with his sixth home run, lifting Mark Gubicza and the Royals to a victory over the White Sox at Kansas City.

The home run, White’s second off Chicago left-hander Jerry Reuss and third off White Sox pitching this year, was only the sixth hit for the Royals. Gubicza (11-5) struck out 4 and walked 3 over 8 innings in winning his eighth decision in his last nine starts.

Reuss (6-4) carried a four-hit shutout into the seventh but then surrendered a leadoff double to George Brett, who eventually scored to tie it, 1-1.

Boston 9, Cleveland 5--Mike Greenwell extended his hitting streak to 18 games and took the league’s RBI lead from New York’s Dave Winfield as the Red Sox beat the Indians at Boston.

Greenwell drove in a run with a grounder in the third inning to take the league lead with 61 RBIs, one more than Winfield. He then took care of the hitting streak with a triple in the fifth.

Rookie Jody Reed hit a two-run shot into the left-field screen for his first major league homer in the sixth inning, touching off a five-run Boston rally.

The Red Sox led, 4-0, after three innings but fell behind, 5-4, when Julio Franco hit a tiebreaking home run in the sixth.

Baltimore 6, Toronto 2--The losing streaks are getting shorter for the Orioles.

Jim Traber and Rick Schu smashed home runs and Cal Ripken added a two-run single at Baltimore as the Orioles ended a two-game losing streak.

Jeff Ballard (4-4) scattered seven hits over seven innings to earn the win. Toronto starter John Cerutti (4-4) gave up 4 runs and 5 hits in 4 innings.

Traber hit his third homer of the season to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead in the second inning. Traber has 17 RBIs in his last 19 games.

Seattle 6, Texas 3--The Mariners came from behind with five runs in the sixth inning to beat the Rangers at Seattle.

The Mariners strung together five straight two-out hits in the sixth, including homers by Steve Balboni and Jim Presley.

Loser Paul Kilgus (7-6) allowed only one hit and led, 2-0, until the sixth. After he retired the first two Seattle batters in that inning, Rey Quinones singled, Mickey Brantley doubled and Balboni’s three-run homer put the Mariners ahead, 3-2.