American League Roundup : Red Sox Winning Streak Pays Off

A few hours after management decided that Joe Morgan was doing a good enough job to manage next season, too, he led the Boston Red Sox into a first-place tie in the American League East.

The Red Sox’s 5-4 victory over the Texas Rangers Wednesday night was Boston’s 22nd straight victory at Fenway Park and tied the league record for consecutive wins at home, set by the Philadelphia Athletics in 1931. The major league record is 26 set by the New York Giants on one long home stand in 1916.

The Red Sox, who open a five-game series at Detroit tonight, do not return home until Aug. 12. Their current overall winning streak is seven.

One of the first moves Morgan made after he replaced John McNamara at the All-Star break was to put Jody Reed at shortstop. It is one of the reasons the Red Sox have a 19-1 record since Morgan took charge.

Reed, a .389 hitter in July after batting only .237 while being used sparingly in the first half of the season, drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth.

The Red Sox, behind Bruce Hurst, opened a 3-1 lead through six innings. Hurst gave up just three hits, but after striking out the first batter in the seventh, he faltered, and the Rangers went ahead, 4-3.

The Red Sox tied it in the seventh when left fielder Pete Incaviglia slipped while going after Wade Boggs’ fly ball. It fell for a triple, and Boggs scored on an infield out.

In the eighth, Ellis Burks stole second base after being walked by loser Bobby Witt (3-7). With two out, Jim Rice, who earlier hit a two-run home run, was given an intentional walk. Reed, on a 3-2 count, singled through shortstop to keep the winning streak alive.

When the Red Sox fired McNamara, Morgan was earning $45,000 a year as a coach, after a long minor league career. He was named interim manager while they looked for a permanent leader. His salary was raised to $60,000.

The Red Sox continued their winning streak, and management had second thoughts. First, they decided to keep Morgan for the rest of this season. Now his contract for next season will be worth $190,000.

“We were lucky tonight,” Morgan said. “They hit a few line drives that were caught, and if they got one more hit in that seventh inning, it would have probably finished us for the night.

“Now we’ll go into Detroit and try to keep it going. It’s nice to get to the top so quickly.

“As for the new contract, I’m elated. It means I can eat. This is a great feeling, and I’m thankful to the Red Sox for this great opportunity. I would have been happy with five years, but I’ll take the one.”

Milwaukee 6, New York 5--It appeared that the Yankees would move within a half-game of the top two clubs in the East in this game at Milwaukee.

Dave Eiland, in his major league debut, held the Brewers to three hits and had a 5-1 lead when he was replaced by Yankee bullpen ace Dave Righetti.

Righetti had saved four consecutive games, giving up no runs in seven innings.

But this time, the first three Brewers to face him singled. He lasted only one-third of an inning, giving up five hits and five runs, and the Yankees remained 1 1/2 games out of first place.

Rickey Henderson singled to start a two-run rally in the first inning. It was the 15th consecutive game in which he had reached base while leading off for the Yankees. Jack Clark hit his 20th homer to help build the lead to 5-1.

Eiland’s fourth pitch in the majors was hit by Paul Molitor for a home run leading off the bottom of the first, but after that the rookie pitched superbly.

Kansas City 2, Detroit 1--Although he gave up just two runs and seven hits, Frank Tanana fell to 0-12 at Royals Stadium, because Bret Saberhagen pitched even better.

The Royals’ ace from Reseda improved his record to 12-10 by pitching a four-hitter and striking out seven.

George Brett singled in one run, and Frank White singled in the winning run in the sixth. The Royals got only the one run in the sixth, although they had three singles (one of them carrying 409 feet) and two walks in the inning.

The Tigers, who play host to the Red Sox for five games beginning tonight, fell into a tie for first place.

“That’s the beauty of this game--it’s so unpredictable,” Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said. “We’d better beat them. Nobody else can.”

Oakland 4, Chicago 3--When Jose Canseco doesn’t hit, the Athletics have to struggle to win. Such was the case in this game at Chicago.

The White Sox led most of the way, the A’s tying it in the eighth on an error by third baseman Steve Lyons.

In the 11th inning, Mark McGwire singled to left field and went to third on Ron Hassey’s single off relief ace Bobby Thigpen (5-6). With two out, Stan Javier singled home the winning run to keep the Athletics 6 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota in the West.

Minnesota 8, Toronto 3--The Blue Jays had the right idea when they wanted to make George Bell a designated hitter. In this game at Toronto, he made his 14th and 15th errors.

Combined with 16 Twin hits, 4 each by Steve Lombardozzi and Gary Gaetti, it made for a rout.

Baltimore 8, Cleveland 3--For a team that seldoms wins, the Orioles hit a lot of home runs. They hit three in this game at Baltimore and have 52 in the last 39 games.

Eddie Murray hit a two-run homer, and Larry Sheets and Terry Kennedy also homered to help Jeff Ballard (5-9) end his five-game losing streak.