American League Roundup : New Mariners Make Pitch to Make Up for Loss of Langston, 6-3

When the Seattle Mariners turned down some big names to get three young pitchers for Mark Langston last month, it raised plenty of eyebrows.

The Mariners, it turns out, may have known exactly what they were doing.

Brian Holman earned his first American League victory and Gene Harris got his first major-league save Sunday at Cleveland as the Mariners beat the Indians, 6-3. Holman and Harris both came in the trade with the Montreal Expos.

Randy Johnson, the third player obtained from the Expos, pitched three-hit ball for 7 2/3 innings in Saturday’s 3-1 victory over the Indians, improving his record with Seattle to 3-0.

“I like what I see a lot,” Manager Jim Lefebvre said. “That’s three top quality arms and three competitors out there. I’m tickled to death for us.”

Holman (1-1) allowed seven hits, including a homer, double and single by Pete O’Brien, in Brian Holman

5 2/3 innings. Harris worked the final 3 1/3 innings for the save.

“We’re not Mark Langston,” Holman said. “We’re Randy Johnson, Gene Harris and Brian Holman. People are never going to be satisfied if they’re looking for us to be Mark Langston.

“I think maybe I was trying too hard to impress people (at first) because it was a big trade.”

Seattle’s Bill McGuire hit his first major-league homer, a three-run shot off Bud Black, in a four-run sixth inning that made it 5-1.

Black (5-7) yielded five runs, two of them earned, on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Oakland 5, Texas 1--Dave Parker and Mark McGwire hit back-to-back homers in the sixth inning as the A’s increased their AL West lead to three games over the Angels by downing the Rangers at Arlington, Tex.

Mike Moore (8-4) allowed Texas three hits in 6 1/3 innings, lowering his earned-run average to 1.91. Greg Cadaret got one out and Gene Nelson retired all seven batters he faced for his first save and Oakland’s 23rd, tops in the majors.

The A’s had a 2-1 lead when Parker led off the sixth with his ninth home run and McGwire followed with his 12th, both off Kevin Brown (5-3). McGwire also had a sacrifice fly in the first.

Minnesota 5, Chicago 2--Randy Bush hit a two-run homer and Kirby Puckett added a two-run single, leading the Twins past the White Sox at Minneapolis.

Allan Anderson (7-4) allowed eight hits in seven-plus innings and got solid relief from Juan Berenguer and Jeff Reardon.

Berenguer entered with a 4-1 lead, the bases loaded and none out in the eighth. He retired Ivan Calderon on a foul pop and struck out Carlos Martinez before walking Dan Pasqua to force in a run.

Reardon came on to get the side out and pitched a scoreless ninth to register his 11th save.

Melido Perez (3-8) lost for the fifth time in six games.

Toronto 4, Detroit 0--Mike Flanagan and Duane Ward combined on a four-hitter at Toronto and the Blue Jays handed the Tigers their fourth shutout of the season.

Flanagan (4-5) allowed three hits in seven innings. It was his first outing since a sore left shoulder forced him to miss two starts. Ward finished for his fifth save, striking out four.

Toronto rookie Junior Felix went four for five with a two-run homer. Rookie Mike Schwabe (1-1) shut out Toronto until the fifth, when Rance Mulliniks doubled and Felix hit an 0-and-2 pitch into the second deck for his fifth home run.

Milwaukee 3, Baltimore 1--Rob Deer doubled home the go-ahead run in the ninth inning at Baltimore and the Brewers handed the Orioles their fourth loss in five games.

The Orioles, leading the AL East, won eight straight before their recent slump. Milwaukee has won eight of 12.

B.J. Surhoff got a bunt single with one out in the ninth against Kevin Hickey (1-1), who gave way to Gregg Olson. Surhoff stole second and third before coming home on Deer’s double. Deer took third on Mike Felder’s single and scored on Olson’s wild pitch.

Chuck Crim (5-3) pitched one inning to get the victory. Dan Plesac worked the ninth for his 14th save.

New York 4-8, Boston 2-7--Rickey Henderson snapped an eighth-inning tie with a run-scoring pinch single to win the nightcap and Don Mattingly drove in six runs as the Yankees swept the Red Sox at New York.

Mattingly hit a pair of two-run homers in the second game and had a two-run double to back the pitching of Andy Hawkins (6-7) in the opener. Hawkins allowed four hits and two runs in eight innings.

Mattingly was five for eight for the day and has 40 runs batted in this season. His second home run gave New York a 7-2 lead in the seventh inning of the second game, but the Red Sox rallied for five runs off Lance McCullers to tie the score. Scott Nielsen (1-0) halted the Boston rally and got the win.