American League Roundup : Boddicker Finds First Boston Start Is Memorable With a 5-0 Victory

Mike Boddicker fits right in with the Morgan Miracle.

Boddicker, who lost his first eight decisions with the woeful Baltimore Orioles, began his new season with an impressive performance Sunday at Boston.

The right-hander, obtained by Boston last Friday in a trade with the Orioles, gave up 8 hits in 7 innings and the sizzling Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-0.

The Red Sox are 17-1 since Joe Morgan replaced John McNamara as manager and they have won 20 in a row at Fenway Park. Boddicker, 30, improved to 7-12.

The Brewers didn’t get a runner past second base. Boddicker had thrown 113 pitches when Bob Stanley took over in the eighth.

“I was pumped up,” a happy Boddicker said. “After all, it was the first time I’ve pitched for anyone other than the Orioles. It was great. I’m glad to be a part of this family. It really is amazing here. I just hope the fans don’t expect me to strike out as many batters as Roger (Clemens).”

The Brewers became the fifth team in a row swept at Boston. The Red Sox are in pursuit of a record for consecutive wins at home of 26 set by the New York Giants in 1916. The Giants set the record on one long home stand.

Morgan, who modestly refuses to take the credit for the Red Sox surge, enjoyed the performance by Boddicker.

“It’s great to watch Boddicker pitch,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to be hitting against him. He has great control and can really mix them up.”

Rich Gedman, who has struggled all season, led the offense. He hit his first home run at Fenway Park in more than a year, went 2 for 2 and drove in 3 runs.

Oakland 6, Seattle 2--There isn’t any doubt who the leader of Oakland’s drive to the pennant in the West is. It’s Jose Canseco.

The speedy, slugging outfielder homered twice at Seattle to become the first player in the majors to get 30 home runs this season. He drove in three runs to make it easy for Storm Davis to improve his record to 10-4.

Canseco’s goal is to form his own exclusive club. He wants to be the first player ever to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. He stole his 27th base in this game, so with 57 games remaining, he certainly has a chance to accomplish the feat.

He joined Dave Kingman as the only Oakland players to hit 30 home runs in 3 consecutive seasons. Canseco is in just his third season.

Canseco hit 10 homers in July. Steve Balboni of the Mariners also hit his 10th of the month in the second inning.

Detroit 5, Texas 1--The Tigers aren’t letting the spectacular spurt of the Red Sox bother them. They keep winning, in part, by getting replacement players who deliver.

Dwayne Murphy, an outstanding outfielder with Oakland until 1986 when a series of injuries slowed him down, was brought up Sunday from Toledo to replace the injured Gary Pettis.

Murphy, who was batting only .220 in 50 games in the International League, went 2 for 3, scored a run and drove in another in his Tiger debut.

The Tigers retained their leads of one game over New York and 1 1/2 over Boston and had to be encouraged by Jack Morris’ performance at Detroit.

Morris (8-11) has struggled this season, but had his second strong outing in a row. In winning for the first time in more than a month, he pitched a seven-hitter and struck out eight.

“It feels better than losing,” Morris said.

New York 6, Toronto 3--Rickey Henderson is healthy and the Yankee offense is clicking again.

Henderson had three hits at Toronto, including a single in the first inning that extended his streak of getting on base his first time up to 13 games.

“He’s healthy and he’s playing his heart out,” Manager Lou Piniella said. “He’s the catalyst on this club.”

Jack Clark, playing in the outfield for the second game in a row, and Don Mattingly each drove in two runs for the Yankees.

And Dave Righetti, once again the bullpen ace, pitched 1 scoreless innings to get his 16th save.

Minnesota 12, Cleveland 4--The Twins, remaining 5 1/2 games behind the Athletics in the West, scored nine runs in the sixth inning at Cleveland to rout the Indians.

Tim Laudner, who hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning, singled in a run in the sixth to start the rally. It was a wild inning in which 13 Twins batted and the Indians contributed 2 errors to make 5 of the runs unearned.

Although the Twins had 14 hits, Kirby Puckett didn’t have any in four at-bats. Puckett, who was leading the majors with a .360 average, fell to .356, one point behind Wade Boggs of Boston.

Kansas City 4, Baltimore 1--Charlie Leibrandt was perfect for 5 innings at Baltimore, but had to settle for a four-hitter.

Leibrandt’s bid for a no-hitter ended with two out in the sixth when left fielder Bo Jackson, after a long run, barely got the tip of his glove on a drive by Billy Ripken.

With two out and two on in the fourth, Jackson gave Leibrandt all the offense he needed. He hit a drive over the right-field fence for his 15th home run.

Leibrandt (6-11) had a career-high 11 strikeouts, but he lost his shutout when Cal Ripken hit his 18th home run with one out in the ninth. Ripken has hit home runs in three consecutive games.