AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees Pay Again for Trading Henderson

Many New York Yankee followers believe the worst trade the club has made in recent years was the one last June that sent Rickey Henderson back to Oakland.

Not only has the 31-year-old outfielder added another dimension to the powerful World Series champions, he has played like a man possessed against the Yankees.

Henderson’s baserunning--he scored from second on an infield out--got the Athletics’ even in the eighth Wednesday at Oakland. In the 11th, Henderson walked on four pitches with the bases loaded to give the A’s a 2-1 victory.

The A’s, who completed a three-game sweep, have won four in a row and are 21-6 and threatening to run away with the AL West.

Eric Plunk, involved in both Henderson trades--the first from Oakland to New York in 1984--walked Stan Javier after one-out singles by Mike Gallego and Walt Weiss to fill the bases. None of the pitches to Henderson was close.

After the deal last season, Henderson was five for 14 upon his return to Yankee Stadium in August. Last week in the Athletics’ sweep in New York, he was again five for 14, including two home runs in the first game.

“A lot of people in New York thought I was washed up,” Henderson said. “They thought I couldn’t play any more. You always like to play well against your old club, but I have an extra incentive for the Yankees.”

Dave Stewart gave up six hits and a run in 8 1/3 innings, but was fortunate to avoid his first loss after six victories.

Dennis Eckersley came to the rescue in a 1-1 game with the tiebreaking run on third and one out. He threw two pitches and got two outs. The first was hit by Steve Sax. Shortstop Weiss, playing up for a play at the plate, made a diving stop, threw Sax out and kept the runner on third.

“The ball came up after he dove,” Eckersley said. “It was a great play.”

The Yankees, with Dave LaPoint giving them a strong six innings, led, 1-0, in the eighth. Henderson doubled with one out. Henderson, running on Carney Lansford’s slow roller to short, rounded third, hesitated briefly, then raced home ahead of first baseman Don Mattingly’s throw.

Stewart hit two batters. When he hit Mattingly in the fourth, the benches emptied, but no punches were thrown.

Boston 4, Seattle 1--After two tough losses to Stewart and the Athletics, it was a breeze for Roger Clemens at Seattle.

He pitched a four-hitter for his 100th victory.

Clemens (5-2) struck out six, losing his shutout when Alvin Davis homered in the seventh.

Mike Greenwell singled in a run for Boston in the first and the other runs came on homers by Tony Pena, Carlos Quintana and Luis Rivera.

Quintana and Rivera hit consecutive home runs in the seventh to chase Gary Eave (0-3).

Detroit 2, Milwaukee 1--The Tigers have hit 31 home runs in 29 games, but terrible pitching has made them losers most of the time.

Consecutive homers by Lou Whitaker and Lloyd Moseby off Chris Bosio (3-1) with two out in the first at Milwaukee held up for the Tigers’ 10th win in 29 games.

Dan Petry (3-1) pitched six strong innings, and rain cut short the game with the Tigers at bat in the top of the ninth.

Toronto 4, Chicago 3--The Blue Jays spotted the White Sox a 3-0 lead, then battled back to win at Toronto.

Nelson Liriano led the comeback, driving in two runs, including the game-winner in the sixth to give the Blue Jays their 1,000th victory in 14 seasons.

Chicago’s Robin Ventura was 0 for 3 and is hitless in 40 consecutive at-bats. A sensational catch of his liner by shortstop Tony Fernandez prolonged the slump.

Texas 9, Kansas City 3--Once Charlie Hough was able to get control of his knuckler, it was easy for him to win at Arlington, Tex.

Hough walked six batters in the first two innings, walking in two runs. He retired 11 in a row from the third through the sixth. He gave up just two hits in six innings.

Julio Franco was three for three and Ruben Sierra had two hits, including a homer, to lead the Rangers’ 14-hit attack.

Cleveland 7, Minnesota 3--Tom Brookens, playing because of an injury to Keith Hernandez, drove in his first run of the season.

It came in the sixth at Minneapolis and led to the end of the Twins’ six-game winning streak.

Sergio Valdez, picked up from Atlanta on waivers April 30, gave up seven hits in seven innings in his first start for the Indians.