American League Roundup : Greenwell’s 3 RBIs Help Red Sox Beat A’s and Maintain Pace in East

For almost half a century, left field at Fenway Park was manned on a regular basis by only three players--Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and Jim Rice.

As a rookie last season, Mike Greenwell put an end to Rice’s tenure as the guardian of the Green Monster. It appears that he is in for a long spell at the position.

Greenwell, who finished fourth in the rookie of the year voting last year, may not settle for anything less than most valuable player this time.

Friday night at Boston, Greenwell drove in three runs, including the winning run, as the Red Sox defeated the Oakland Athletics, 7-6. Greenwell now has 96 runs batted in and has 16 game-winning runs batted in.

Although Greenwell batted .328, hit 19 home runs and drove in 89 runs in just 412 at-bats last season, Mark McGwire, Kevin Seitzer and Matt Nokes amassed almost all the votes for rookie honors. This season, the other three have struggled, but Greenwell has been a potent force in Boston’s drive into contention in the American League East.

He is the No. 3 hitter in the league at .340, has already exceeded his RBI total and is the most feared hitter on the club in the clutch.

“The batting titles, the home run title are nice things,” Greenwell said. “To win the RBI title is nicer because you know you’re helping your team.

“The Athletics are a tough club. Even in the last inning, one swing could have won it.”

The Athletics built a 4-1 lead as Luis Polonia had a triple, double and single. But Bob Stanley (5-1) held them to one hit in the last 2 innings. He struck out the side in the ninth to end it.

The Twins also lost, and Oakland still leads the Western Division by eight games with 39 games left.

The Red Sox remained three games behind the Tigers in the East.

Detroit 5, Chicago 4--It was almost the opposite of Thursday night’s game, in which the Tigers had to rally for the victory in the bottom of the ninth.

In this one, Dwayne Murphy hit his first home run as a Tiger, and Darrell Evans and Lou Whitaker each hit one with a man on to build a 5-0 lead for Frank Tanana (14-7).

But Tanana was knocked out in a four-run seventh inning. Before Guillermo Hernandez got the final out in the ninth, there were some anxious moments.

Mike Diaz, obtained from Pittsburgh earlier in the day, went 0 for 5 as the designated hitter for the White Sox.

Even though his team lost, it was a night of celebration for Carlton Fisk. He set a league record by catching his 1,807th game. He also had the first five-hit night of his career, getting four singles and a double and driving in two runs.

“It would have been nicer if we had won,” Fisk said, “but I played a long time before I got five hits in a game.”

New York 5-1, Seattle 3-6--After Ken Phelps beat his former teammates with a two-run home run in the 10th inning at New York, the Yankees had a chance to gain on the two clubs ahead of them.

Instead, they fanned the air against talented Mike Moore. Moore struck out 16 and gave up only five hits to win the second game of a doubleheader. His record is only 7-13, but in his previous outing, he pitched a four-hitter and struck out 11 White Sox.

Moore, 28, figures to get plenty of offers when he becomes a free agent after this season.

In the opener, Jay Buhner, who was traded to the Mariners for Phelps, hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give Seattle the lead. When the Yankees pulled it out, they ended a string of 39 consecutive losses in games in which they trailed after seven innings.

Texas 5, Minnesota 0--Bobby Witt caused the Twins to miss another chance to gain on the Athletics in the West.

In this game at the Metrodome, Witt (5-8) pitched his eighth consecutive complete game after being brought back from the minors. He pitched a five-hitter and struck out 10.

The Twins were again without Gary Gaetti. They will find out Monday if the third baseman will need knee surgery and miss the rest of the season.

Pete O’Brien went 4 for 4 to lead the Rangers’ attack.

Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2--Tom Candiotti came back brilliantly at Cleveland after missing three weeks with a shoulder problem.

A mammoth home run by Bo Jackson, his 18th, was the only hit Candiotti allowed in five innings as he improved his record to 9-8 and the Indians won their fifth game in a row.

Jackson’s home run was a 440-foot blast to left in the fifth inning.

Milwaukee 7, Toronto 4--Joey Meyer drove in four runs at Toronto, including the game-winner in the 10th with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly that broke a 4-4 tie.

The Brewers scored two more runs on squeeze bunts before the inning ended.

Juan Nieves pitched one-hit ball for four innings in relief to win it.