American League Roundup : Ripken Marks His Milestone With Homer in Orioles’ 11-6 Win

Cal Ripken celebrated moving into third place on the all-time list for consecutive games played by hitting a two-run homer in an eight-run fourth inning as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 11-6, Thursday night at Baltimore.

Stanley Jefferson had a three-run home run in the fourth for the Orioles, who benefited from two errors in the inning. Jefferson added a two-run single in the seventh for a career-high five runs batted in.

Ripken’s 1,208th consecutive game moved him into third place behind Lou Gehrig’s 2,130 and Everett Scott’s 1,307. Steve Garvey dropped to fourth with 1,207.

“It’s always been a topic of conversation everywhere I go,” Ripken said. “They always ask me about the consecutive-game streak. Tonight, I know what the number is, but I’m not sure I know what the meaning is.

“I’m proud of it because there’s nine people out there on the field, and each of them has a job and they’re counting on the other guy to do his job. I take pride in being counted on to be in the lineup every day.”

Jefferson’s homer was the first the switch-hitting outfielder has hit right-handed since 1987. Eleven of his 13 career homers have come from the left side.

New York 2, Detroit 1--Mel Hall’s two-run single in the first inning held up for the Yankees at Detroit.

New York’s Greg Cadaret (4-3), acquired from Oakland in the Rickey Henderson trade in June, allowed five hits, struck out a career-high seven and walked two before being relieved by Lance McCullers with two on and none out in the eighth.

McCullers got Alan Trammell on a fly ball to right field, sending Mike Brumley, who doubled, to third with one out. Dave Righetti relieved McCullers and struck out pinch-hitter Greg Nokes, but Gary Ward followed with a single for Detroit’s only run. Righetti got the last four outs for his 20th save.

Oakland 1, Cleveland 0--Bob Welch, taking advantage of Dave Henderson’s fifth-inning home run, improved to 5-0 in his career against the Indians in the win at Oakland.

Welch (13-7) allowed six hits, struck out six and walked one in eight innings. He has 21 consecutive scoreless innings against Cleveland. Dennis Eckersley pitched a hitless ninth for his 25th save.

Losing pitcher John Farrell (7-12) struck out a career-high 11 and gave up only three hits other than Henderson’s homer.

Chicago 6, Texas 1--Rookie Greg Hibbard pitched a four-hitter for his first major league complete game, and Ivan Calderon had three hits and two RBIs to lead the White Sox at Chicago.

It was the first meeting between the two clubs since they made their big trade three weeks ago, when Harold Baines went to the Rangers for Scott Fletcher and minor leaguers Sam Sosa and Wilson Alvarez. Baines had three of the hits off Hibbard and received ovations each time he came to bat.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Baines said. “I know the fans always treated me well here and I didn’t expect anything negative.”

Carlton Fisk also drove in two runs, and Carlos Martinez and Lance Johnson each had one RBI to get Hibbard (3-4) the win.

Ranger rookie Kevin Brown dropped to 11-7.

Milwaukee 8, Boston 4--Greg Vaughn went three for four and hit his first major league homer, keying a four-run fourth inning at Milwaukee that carried the Brewers to their seventh straight win.

“About three weeks ago, I was worrying about coming up in September,” Vaughn said.

“Now, all of a sudden, I’m in a pennant race. They say everything has a reason for happening, and hopefully mine is to help Milwaukee win a pennant.”

The loss was a season-high fifth straight for Boston and marked the first time since Manager Joe Morgan took over last season that the Red Sox have lost five in arow.

Boston’s fielding set the tone in the first inning, when the Red Sox allowed Paul Molitor to escape a rundown. The Brewers, in fact, scored their first four runs with only one hit.

Kansas City 4, Seattle 2--Mark Gubicza pitched a three-hitter for eight innings and was backed by homers from Kurt Stillwell, Bo Jackson and George Brett as the Royals won at Seattle.

Gubicza (11-10) struck out six, walked four and had three wild pitches in eight innings. But he also had an early 4-0 cushion.

ALL-TIME LEADERS IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES THROUGH GAMES OF AUG. 17

PLAYER GAMES 1 LOU GEHRIG 2,130 2 EVERETT SCOTT 1,307 3 CAL RIPKEN 1,208 4 STEVE GARVEY 1,207 5 BILLY WILLIAMS 1,117 6 JOE SEWELL 1,103 7 STAN MUSIAL 895 8 ED YOST 829 9 GUS SUHR 822 10 NELLIE FOX 798