American League Roundup : Yankees, Mattingly Go Quietly Against A’s, 9-2

New York Yankees first baseman Don Mattingly, who lashed out at team ownership Sunday, drew extra cheers from the crowd at Yankee Stadium Monday night. But the same couldn’t be said for his team.

Mattingly went 1 for 4 and scored in the third inning, but that wasn’t nearly enough, as the Oakland Athletics beat New York, 9-2.

After Sunday’s 4-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, Mattingly, never mentioning Yankee owner George Steinbrenner by name, said: “The players get no respect around here. They give you money, that’s it. There’s never been respect here, and it’s not going to change.

“If you don’t have any respect for me, I don’t have any respect for you, and I don’t want to play here. I’ll have fun playing somewhere.”

The Yankees have lost four consecutive games and five of their last six. They failed to capitalize on the Detroit Tigers’ loss at Minnesota and remain six games behind the American League East leaders.

Glenn Hubbard hit a two-run double in the six-run third inning, and Curt Young (9-7) scattered three hits over seven innings to lead Oakland to victory.

New York’s Charles Hudson (6-4), who was taken off the disabled list earlier in the day, gave up five runs and lasted only 2 innings. Yankee starters are 1-11 in their last 12 decisions.

The A’s sent 10 batters to the plate in the third inning to put the game out of reach early. The Yankees managed just four hits against Young and reliever Gene Nelson, who finished with two scoreless innings.

Minnesota 7, Detroit 0--Kirby Puckett went 4 for 5 and drove in two runs as the Twins defeated the Tigers at Minneapolis for the ninth consecutive time.

Allan Anderson (12-7) gave up six hits and walked one over eight innings and didn’t allow a runner to reach third base in winning his sixth consecutive decision.

The Tigers’ lead in the East dwindled to three games over the second-place Boston Red Sox, who defeated the Angels, 6-2, at Fenway Park.

Minnesota jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Tom Herr singled and scored on Puckett’s double. Kent Hrbek walked, and Brian Harper singled in Puckett and Hrbek.

Detroit starter Doyle Alexander (11-9) allowed five runs on eight hits in 3 innings.

Toronto 6, Chicago 3--Dave Stieb, pitching amid speculation that he could be traded, struck out a career-high 12 batters, and Sal Butera broke a fifth-inning tie with his first home run of the season to give the Blue Jays a victory at Toronto.

Stieb (12-8) allowed five hits and walked one in going the distance for the fifth time this season. He tied the club mark for strikeouts in a game.

Stieb, who has had his differences with Toronto Manager Jimy Williams, has been mentioned recently in trade rumors.

With the score tied, 2-2, in the fifth, Butera hit a two-run home run. Jesse Barfield added another home run to make it 5-2.

Seattle 7, Baltimore 3--Mickey Brantley drove in two runs and scored twice, and Bill Wilkinson pitched 4 innings of one-hit relief to give the Mariners the victory in the battle of the last-place teams at Baltimore.

It was the Mariners’ fourth consecutive victory, a season high. Wilkinson (1-2) relieved starter Bill Swift with Seattle trailing, 3-2, in the fourth.

Wilkinson escaped a two-on, one-out jam and allowed only a single to Cal Ripken in the seventh inning.

Milwaukee 7, Cleveland 3--Dale Sveum drove in three runs with a double and a single, and the Brewers scored four runs in the sixth inning to defeat the Indians at Milwaukee.

Milwaukee starter Mike Birkbeck (9-6) gave up three runs on nine hits, struck out two and walked one in six innings. He has won seven of eight decisions since being recalled from triple-A Denver June 2.

Texas 9, Kansas City 5--Jeff Kunkel’s two-run single in the fifth inning gave the Rangers the lead for good and a victory against the Royals at Arlington, Tex.

Trailing, 2-1, in the fifth, the Rangers sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs. Texas has won five of its last seven games.