American League Roundup : Royals’ Eisenreich Is Back to Stay

When outfielder Jim Eisenreich received his first chance to play in the majors in 1982 with the Minnesota Twins, it was predicted that he would become a star.

However, the left-handed hitting prospect developed a nervous disorder known as Tourette’s syndrome. Playing in front of crowds didn’t help the problem. It became even worse when some fans taunted him.

Although he was batting over .300, Eisenreich lasted only 34 games as a rookie. After 48 games in three seasons, he was out of baseball by 1985.

He received treatment and made a comeback in the minors in 1987 after the Kansas City Royals signed him as a free agent. He was back in the big leagues last season and now appears back to stay.

Eisenreich, platooning in the outfield against right-handed pitching, drove in two runs and scored the first run to lead the Royals to a 4-3 victory over the fading Texas Rangers at Kansas City.

The single and double raised Eisenreich’s average to .291 and gave him 12 runs batted in.

Pat Tabler also drove in two runs to back winner Charlie Leibrandt (3-4), who gave up 10 hits in seven innings.

Minnesota 6, Toronto 5--It is only a three-game winning streak, but the Twins are showing signs of putting their game together.

Kent Hrbek hit a home run and a double early at Minneapolis, then singled in the seventh inning to trigger a three-run rally.

Hrbek is one of several Twin hitters who have had trouble getting untracked. He had two hits in the first game of the winning streak and drove in two runs in the second game.

Bob Brenly’s two-run triple and a home run by George Bell helped the Blue Jays take a 4-0 lead.

Juan Berenguer, who retired seven consecutive batters, three on strikes, gained his first win in relief, and Jeff Reardon picked up his sixth save.

Before winning the last three in a row, the Twins had lost 13 of 15.

Detroit 6, Cleveland 3--The Tigers haven’t done much to make life easy for Jack Morris this season, so Keith Moreland was glad to contribute at Cleveland.

Moreland hit a three-run home run and a run-scoring double to help Morris win his second in a row after six consecutive defeats.

Morris pitched a six-hitter, walked two and struck out five in his fourth complete game.

“If we had played well behind him,” Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson said, “he would be 5-3. One thing you know about him, nobody’s going to give you a better war.

Shortly before Moreland hit his first home run in the sixth to give Detroit its 6-3 lead, Alan Trammell singled in a run to bring the Tigers even.

Baltimore 9, Chicago 6--The Orioles got a season-high 14 hits to beat the White Sox at Baltimore.

Mickey Tettleton drove in three runs for the second consecutive game. The Orioles, who routed Oakland’s Dave Stewart Thursday night, ripped Jerry Reuss for 10 hits and six runs, including five in the first inning.

“Two games in a row may mean we are out of the slump,” Manager Frank Robinson said.

Kevin Hickey, who pitched the last 2 1/3 innings, earned his first save since May 7, 1983, as the Orioles improved to 15-17.

Boston 2, Seattle 0--Roger Clemens pitched a two-hitter at Seattle for his 19th career shutout and improved to 5-1.

Clemens struck out six and walked one. He gave up a leadoff single to Harold Reynolds, then a double to Jim Presley in the eighth.

Jim Rice tripled in the second inning off Scott Bankhead and scored on Rich Gedman’s sacrifice fly. Nick Esasky added a run-scoring singlein the seventh .

Bankhead gave up only five hits, striking out six in seven innings.

Reynolds hit safely in his 16th game in a row, tops in the majors this season.

Oakland 5, Milwaukee 4--Dave Henderson hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth inning to lift the Athletics past Milwaukee at Oakland.

Pinch-hitter Billy Beane doubled with one out in the ninth off Dan Plesac (1-2). Henderson followed with his sixth homer of the year, which barely cleared the 375-foot sign in left-center field.

Winner Todd Burns (2-0) gave up one run in the final four innings.

Rob Deer hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Billy Spiers hit an RBI double in the sixth that had put Milwaukee ahead, 4-3.

Jim Gantner singled off Burns to start the Brewers’ sixth. After Dave Engle sacrificed, Spiers hit an opposite-field double to left.

Paul Molitor and Gary Sheffield led off the game with singles against Storm Davis. After Robin Yount flied out, Deer hit his seventh homer of the year into the left-field seats.