AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Fisk’s Home Run Helps Chicago Beat Baltimore

Carlton Fisk will probably always be remembered for his dramatic home run that won a game for the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series.

But, the 41-year-old catcher has played more games for the Chicago White Sox than he did for the Red Sox, a team he played on for more than a decade.

As the White Sox have built into a pennant contender, Fisk has continued to be a contributor.

Fisk hit his first home run of the season in dramatic fashion Tuesday night at Chicago. The two-run homer came with two out in the eighth inning and gave the surging White Sox a 3-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

The White Sox, who lost 92 games in 1989 and finished 29 1/2 games behind Oakland in the Western Division, are off to a solid start. With an 18-10 record, they are only two games behind the slumping Athletics. The teams are tied in the loss column.

The Orioles were leading, 2-1, behind Pete Harnisch (3-1). With two out Dan Pasqua batted for Ron Kittle and tripled. Fisk followed with his 337th home run, his 316th as a catcher.

Fisk, who lashed out at younger players recently for their refusal to spend more hours working on conditioning, didn’t change his own routine after the victory.

Long after his teammates were gone, Fisk was working on his weight program.

“I’ve learned you have to work,” he said. “I’ve learned to focus on each at-bat, each pitch. I try to waste nothing. The guys who are able to do that are the guys who do the best.”

Manager Jeff Torborg doesn’t worry about Fisk’s hitting. He knows just how valuable the veteran is.

“He makes a big difference to the young pitchers,” Torborg said. “He knows how to handle them, nurse them along, and they have great faith in him.

“Earlier in the season when he was on the disabled list, we were getting bombed out in nearly every game. Our staff was in shambles. He has straightened it out.”

Cleveland 5, Oakland 4--The Athletics are the best defensive team in baseball. They are also in a slump.

They were guilty of three errors at Cleveland in a rain-delayed contest and blew a 4-1 lead.

Two of the errors were in the seventh inning to help the Indians score four runs and hand the A’s their fourth defeat in a row.

Jose Canseco hit his 11th home run in the first inning, his third straight over two games, and Scott Sanderson pitched another strong game until the defense collapsed.

The big error was by left fielder Rickey Henderson. Henderson dropped a routine fly ball by Candy Maldonado with two out that permitted the tying and winning runs to score.

Detroit 3, Texas 2--The amazing Cecil Fielder hit his major league leading 14th home run to proved the Tigers with another victory at Arlington, Tex.

Lloyd Moseby opened the seventh with a single and Fielder followed with a 414-foot home run to win it. He has hit 12 home runs and driven in 29 runs in the last 21 games.

He leads the majors with 34 runs batted in and 14 home runs.

Dan Petry (4-1) won his third in a row to end the Tigers’ three-game losing streak.

New York 7, Minnesota 3--Don Mattingly became the 11th player to hit 100 home runs at Yankee Stadium. It was a three-run homer in the first inning and the Yankees never looked back.

The fast start helped Chuck Cary win his first start of the season. Cary, out since mid-April with an inflamed elbow, gave up four hits and a run and struck out eight in seven innings.

Seattle 4, Toronto 3--Mike Brumley tripled and Harold Reynolds singled him home with one out in the 10th inning at Toronto.