American League Roundup : Trammell Wins It for Tigers

When the beleaguered Tigers blew a 3-0 lead Wednesday night at Detroit, it appeared their plunge into oblivion was about to continue.

But Alan Trammell, the heart and soul of the team, limped to the plate with two out in the bottom of the ninth and singled in Chet Lemon from second base, giving the Tigers a 4-3 victory over Toronto and reviving their pennant hopes.

The veteran shortstop, the only regular batting over .300, has been below par most of the season with an assortment of injuries. He sat on the bench with a groin injury while the Tigers lost six in a row and fell into second place in the American League’s wild, wild East.

He was planning to return to the lineup tonight in New York. For this game he was available only in a pinch.

When Frank Tanana started fast and had a perfect game until Sal Butera singled with two out in the sixth, it seemed Trammell would have another night of rest. But the Blue Jays chased Tanana and tied the game in the eighth.

Chet Lemon doubled with two out in the ninth and Trammell delivered his big pinch hit on a 1-and-2 pitch.

The victory, along with Boston’s defeat, pulled the Tigers within a game of first place.

“A win is important any time, but we really needed it tonight,” said Trammell after the Tigers won for just the third time in the last 16 games. “We haven’t been playing well. Maybe a win like this will get us moving again.

“But we won mainly because Chet (Lemon) hustled a single into a double. That’s what we have to do.”

Baltimore 4, Boston 3--The Red Sox, on their way to an unprecedented fifth consecutive road victory, blew it in the ninth at Baltimore.

Lee Smith, who suffered a neck injury while giving up two hits, and Bob Stanley failed to hold a 3-2 lead and save Bruce Hurst’s 17th victory.

A bloop single by Billy Ripken tied the game, and when the Red Sox failed to complete a double play on Cal Ripken’s grounder, Larry Sheets scored from third with the winning run. Instead of returning home with a two-game lead, the Red Sox finished the trip 6-7 in the middle of a sizzling pennant race.

Chicago 7, Milwaukee 2--The day off didn’t do the Brewers any good. If anything, it slowed their momentum.

Former Dodger Jerry Reuss gave up just four hits in seven innings, Fred Manrique went 4 for 4 and the lowly White Sox at Milwaukee ended the Brewers’ seven-game winning streak that put them into the race in the East.

After beating the Tigers three in a row to knock them out of first, the Brewers on Tuesday had the first of six days off they’ll get down the stretch. They get another today.

Manrique, batting in the No. 9 spot in the batting order, was hitting only .238. He had four singles, scored two runs and drove in another.

The Brewer runs were home runs by B.J. Surhoff and Rob Deer. They remained 4 1/2 games behind Boston.

Cleveland 5, New York 4--Things are going so poorly for the Yankees these days that rookies are doing them in.

In this game at New York, rookie first baseman Luis Medina hit his first two major league home runs and drove in three runs to beat Tommy John (9-7).

The winner was rookie Rod Nichols, who had lost four in a row. Nichols gave up all four runs in 6 innings, but the bullpen worked out of some late-inning jams to save it.

The Yankees, who have won only three of their last 11, are five games out of first.

Oakland 6, Texas 3--The Athletics continue their relentless drive to the pennant in the West.

Jose Canseco drove in two runs with his 37th home run and Dave Henderson also homered at Arlington, Texas as the A’s increased their lead to 10 1/2 games.

Canseco hit a 457-foot blast off Jose Guzman(11-11).

Seattle 2, Minnesota 1--Harold Reynolds hit a two-out double in the 10th inning off relief specialist Jeff Reardon at Minneapolis to score Rey Quinones with the winning run.