American League East Roundup : Bottom of Lineup Lifts Milacki, Orioles, 10-2

About the time Baltimore fans are ready to give up on their team, the Orioles come charging back.

Bob Milacki pitched another strong game Saturday night at Baltimore, and the Orioles routed the New York Yankees, 10-2, to pull within one game of first place in the American League East.

Milacki (13-12) gave up seven hits in seven innings to win his fourth game in a row. The Orioles have won in Milacki’s last five starts and in eight of his last 10.

The bottom four in the lineup accounted for eight of the Orioles’ 14 hits and scored seven of the runs. The No. 9 hitter, Tim Hulett, was two for three and drove in three runs. Craig Worthington, the sixth hitter, was two for five, scored two runs and drove in a run. Stan Jefferson, No. 7, was three for four, scored three runs and drove in one. Jamie Quirk, in eighth, was one for three, scored a run and drove in one.

Early in the season, when Milacki was losing more often than he was winning, Oriole Manager Frank Robinson paid him a compliment.

“He’s a pitcher,” Robinson said. “What I like about Milacki is that he goes out there and gets the ball over.”

In this game, for one of the few times this season, Milacki had control problems. He walked six and that kept him in trouble.

Hulett’s single drove in two runs in the second inning and gave him a five-for-five mark with the bases loaded since joining the Orioles.

The Orioles broke it open in the fourth inning, scoring four times, as Worthington led off the inning with his 15th home run of the season. They scored three more in the fifth.

The Yankees, who thought they had a chance to win the East at the All-Star break, have won only 10 of their last 32 road games.

The Orioles, who are below .500 on the road, play their final home game today against the Yankees.

After that they play three games at Milwaukee, then wind up the season with three at Toronto.

“We have a good chance to win it,” Milacki said.

Milwaukee 4, Toronto 1--Is the pressure getting to the Blue Jays?

In this loss at Milwaukee, the Blue Jays had a monumental mental lapse not expected from a team leading a division race in the closing days of the season.

They were trailing, 4-1, when they came to bat in the sixth inning. Tony Fernandez, scheduled to lead off the inning, didn’t.

Instead, Kelly Gruber batted. He flied out, so the Brewers didn’t protest.

“I didn’t think it was my turn, but Tony wasn’t out there,” Gruber said. “Sometimes this game can play tricks on you.”

Manager Cito Gaston accepted the blame. “I’ll just put it like this because I don’t want to have an excuse for anyone or anything like that,” he said. “I just take the blame for it. It was my fault.”

The Brewers’ Paul Molitor, who had four hits Friday night, hit his 10th home run of the season in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games.

“We don’t have much of a chance,” Molitor said, “but we’re going to keep trying.”

B.J. Surhoff also homered for the Brewers, who kept their slim hopes alive and moved within 6 1/2 games of the Blue Jays.

Don August (12-11) worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and lasted until one was out in the seventh. The only run off him was unearned. Dan Plesac got the final out for his 32nd save.

Boston 6, Detroit 1--The Tigers, trying to build for next year, sent three of their pitching prospects against the Red Sox at Detroit.

Kevin Ritz (4-5), Steve Searcy and Scott Holman gave up 13 hits and walked 10 to make it easy for Boston’s Mike Boddicker to improve to 14-11.

Wade Boggs had three hits, scored a run and drove in two runs for the Red Sox. He has 195 hits with eight more games left to try to reach 200 for the seventh consecutive season.