American League Roundup : Candiotti Knuckles Down Extra Hard as Indians Win

Tom Candiotti might not have had his best pitch working, but his others were more than enough as the Cleveland Indians defeated the New York Yankees, 3-1, at New York Tuesday night.

Candiotti (11-6) gave up two hits in 7 1/3 innings. Doug Jones gave up two more hits and finished for his American League-leading 27th save.

“I really didn’t throw that many knuckleballs tonight. They were probably looking for it and it wasn’t coming,” Candiotti said, who was helped by Cory Snyder’s two-run homer. “When you have a reputation like me, it’s in the back of the hitter’s minds that I will throw it.”

Cleveland, which ended a three-game losing streak and won for the fourth time in 11 games, has not finished within six games of first place since 1959. The Indians remained 3 1/2 games behind Baltimore, the closest the Indians have been to the lead at this point of a non-strike season since 1974.

The Yankees, like the Indians, have not been able to stay at the .500 mark. They slipped six games behind the Orioles despite a strong effort by Chuck Cary (2-1), who struck out a career-high 10.

Oakland 3, Chicago 2--Shortstop Ozzie Guillen’s 10th-inning error allowed the go-ahead run to score as the Athletics defeated the White Sox at Chicago.

Melido Perez pitched a three-hitter through nine innings, struck out nine and walked three. Don Pall (4-3) relieved to start the 10th and walked Stan Javier. Walt Weiss sacrificed and Mark McGwire hit an infield single to shortstop to end an 0-for-21 slump. Guillen’s throw bounced into first-base dugout as Javier scored.

Rick Honeycutt (2-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings and Dennis Eckersley got two outs for his 22nd save. Oakland starter Dave Stewart gave up nine hits in eight innings, struck out four and walked one.

Jose Canseco and McGwire did not start. Canseco, who suffered a strained right quadriceps Monday, pinch-hit in the eighth inning and took a called third strike. McGwire entered in the eighth as a defensive replacement.

Kansas City 8, Boston 1--Tom Gordon gave up four hits in seven innings to improve to 13-4 as the Royals defeated the Red Sox at Kansas City.

Gordon struck out five and walked three before Terry Leach finished with hitless relief.

After Tom Bolton (0-2) walked the bases loaded in the first, Frank White’s two-run single and Gary Thurman’s RBI groundout gave the Royals a 3-0 lead.

Wade Boggs hit a run-scoring single in the third, but consecutive run-scoring singles by Kevin Seitzer and George Brett chased Bolton in the fifth. Seitzer scored on Tabler’s sacrifice fly off Bob Stanley for a 6-1 lead.

Kurt Stillwell hit a run-scoring groundout in the sixth and a run-scoring triple in the eighth.

Royal outfielder Bo Jackson was activated from the 15-day disabled list after the game.

Toronto 7, Texas 0--Mauro Gozzo gave up three hits in eight innings in his major league debut as the Blue Jays went over .500 for the first time since opening day by defeating the Rangers at Toronto.

Nelson Liriano drove in a career-high four runs and Fred McGriff hit his league-leading 30th home run for the Blue Jays, 57-56, who had reached .500 eight times only to lose the next game.

Bobby Witt (9-10) gave up six runs and five hits in 4 2/3 innings as the Rangers lost their fourth in a row.

Detroit 6, Milwaukee 3--Jeff Robinson won for the first time since April 13 and Mike Heath hit a three-run homer to lead the Tigers over the Brewers at Detroit.

Robinson (2-2), on the disabled list twice this season, gave up six hits in seven innings. Guillermo Hernandez, making his first appearance since coming off the disabled list Monday, pitched two innings for his 13th save.

Robin Yount’s second-inning homer, his 14th, gave Milwaukee the lead but Detroit tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Dave Bergman reached on shortstop Bill Spiers’ throwing error and scored on Doug Strange’s single.

Detroit went ahead with a five-run third. Alan Trammell walked, Lou Whitaker singled and Fred Lynn walked to load the bases. Bill Krueger relieved Don August (9-11) and pinch-hitter Gary Ward walked to force in the go-ahead run.

Chet Lemon’s run-scoring groundout scored Whitaker, and, with two out, Heath hit his ninth home run for a 6-1 lead.

Baltimore 6, Minnesota 1--At Baltimore, Dave Johnson gave up eight hits in his second major league start as the Orioles beat the Twins.

Mike Devereaux drove in three runs for the Orioles with an RBI double in the third and a two-run triple in the seventh.

Johnson (1-1) struck out three and walked four. Rick Aguilera lost his second start for the Twins since he was acquired from the New York Mets last week in the Frank Viola trade.