BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Two Hits Raise Dykstra’s Average to .384

Len Dykstra, the major leagues’ leading batter, raised his average to .384 with two hits, and scored three times, sparking the Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates today.

Dykstra was 2 for 3, with two walks and two stolen bases, as the Phillies handed the East Division-leading Pirates their third straight loss.

Tom Herr drove in three runs and Bruce Ruffin allowed five hits over eight innings. Dickie Thon, playing on his 32nd birthday, hit his second homer of the year in the second.

Ruffin (5-6) struck out seven and walked three before being relieved by Roger McDowell, who pitched a hitless ninth.

The Pirates’ Bobby Bonilla hit his 16th homer in the sixth.

At Detroit, Oakland’s Bob Welch won his eighth consecutive game and Terry Steinbach had six RBIs with a grand slam and a single today as the Athletics beat the Tigers 12-7 to avoid their first sweep of the season.

Mark McGwire had a two-run homer for Oakland.

The loss cost the Tigers a chance to reach .500 for the first time since the end of the 1988. Detroit hasn’t swept a three-game series from Oakland since 1984.

Welch (11-2), who hasn’t lost since May 5, gave up two runs on six hits in six innings to tie Boston’s Roger Clemens for the American League lead in wins. Welch’s last eight-game winning streak was in 1985 while pitching for the Dodgers.

For Oakland, Dennis Eckersley pitched a hitless ninth.

After getting a second opinion on his injured right shoulder, New York Yankees pitcher Pascual Perez might be able to avoid season-ending arthroscopic surgery.

Surgery will be delayed for at least three weeks so Perez, who signed a $5.7-million, three-year contract as a free agent during the off-season, can try more rest and rehabilitation, the New York Times and New York Post reported today.

Perez was examined by Dr. James Andrews, an orthopedic surgeon, in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday. Andrews agreed with Yankees team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon that Perez has a chronic inflammation in the rear of the shoulder joint.

Andrews suggested that Perez, who last pitched for the Yankees on April 25, rest the shoulder for three weeks and then begin throwing in a rehabilitation program. Hershon and Dr. Louis Bigliani, an orthopedist and shoulder specialist at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, had recommended surgery.

Perez was 1-2 with a 1.29 earned run average in three starts for the Yankees.