American League Roundup : Jacoby Powers Indians to 4-1 Win Over Orioles

When the Cleveland Indians’ Brook Jacoby arrived in Baltimore Thursday, he was in an 0-for-17 slump.

He may never want to leave.

Jacoby had three hits, including a pair of two-run homers, to lead the Indians to a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles Friday night.

Jacoby had snapped his hitless streak with a hit Thursday night.

“I’m glad I didn’t get smart and take him out today,” Cleveland Manager Doc Edwards said.

The three hits boosted Jacoby’s average back over .300 and gave him six home runs this season.

Jacoby hit his fifth homer of the season in the second inning, a fly ball that landed in the front row of the left-field bleachers. In the seventh, he drove the first pitch from Jose Bautista (2-4) into the left-field bullpen.

Tom Candiotti (5-2) allowed three hits and the lone Oriole run in the first inning. He settled down and limited the Orioles to only three more hits before leaving with two out in the eighth.

Doug Jones finished up, earning his eighth save of the season and 54th as an Indian, moving ahead of Ray Narleski into the all-time Cleveland lead.

Boston 7, Oakland 4--Dwight Evans’ grand slam off Dennis Eckersley in the 10th inning gave the Red Sox their victory at Oakland, snapping an eight-game losing streak against the Athletics.

Evans sent a 1-and-1 pitch from Eckersley into the left-field seats for his fifth homer and the fourth grand slam of his career.

Ellis Burks was hit by a pitch by Gene Nelson (1-1) leading off the inning and went to second base on Mike Greenwell’s single off Rick Honeycutt. Nick Esasky tapped to third, but Burks beat third baseman Carney Lansford to the bag, loading the bases with no outs and bringing on Eckersley to face Evans.

Bob Stanley (2-1) got the last five outs for the win despite giving up a run in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI grounder by Dick Scott.

New York 9, Seattle 5--Mike Pagliarulo, criticized by Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, responded with a double, two singles and two RBIs to lead the Yankees over the Mariners at Seattle.

Pagliarulo entered the game with a .154 average and was hitless in his previous 15 at-bats. He had complained after being criticized by Manager Dallas Green, causing Steinbrenner’s verbal attack.

With the Yankees trailing, 3-1, in the third inning, former Mariner Ken Phelps tied the game with a two-run single. Pagliarulo then singled in the go-ahead run, and another run scored on a fielding error by right fielder Darnell Coles.

Pagliarulo’s RBI single in the seventh made it 6-3.

Toronto 9, Chicago 3--Tony Fernandez broke out of a one-for-17 slump with a go-ahead three-run homer at Chicago as the Blue Jays won for the third time in four games under interim manager Cito Gaston.

Toronto’s Mike Flanagan (3-3) allowed eight hits and three runs in seven innings, walking one and striking out two. Duane Ward pitched the final two innings.

Eric King (4-4) had a four-game winning streak snapped.

Detroit 2, Kansas City 0--Lou Whitaker hit a two-run, two-out homer in the ninth inning off Bret Saberhagen to win this game for the Tigers at Detroit.

Saberhagen (3-4) walked Gary Pettis with one out; Chet Lemon flied out, and Whitaker hit his 10th home run of the season, a drive just inside the right-field foul pole. The 10 homers tied him with Kansas City’s Bo Jackson for the American League lead.

Saberhagen struck out eight and walked one in his major league-leading sixth complete game. He struck out six in a row from the fourth inning to the sixth, equaling a club record set by Steve Busby in 1974 and matched by Danny Jackson in 1985.

Tiger pitcher Doyle Alexander left the game in the sixth inning after being struck in the face by a line drive off the bat of Frank White.

Alexander was hit on the right side of the jaw and had X-rays taken. The extent of the injury was not known.

“I hope it’s not broken,” said Tiger coach Dick Tracewski, who took over as interim manager Friday after Sparky Anderson returned to California to recover from what the team called exhaustion.

Texas 4, Minnesota 2--Ruben Sierra and Julio Franco led off the sixth inning with consecutive home runs to lift the Rangers over the Twins at Arlington, Tex.

Reliever Ken Rogers (2-0) got the victory as the Rangers hit consecutive homers for the second game in a row.