AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : This Time, 13 Hits Not Enough for Chicago

The Chicago White Sox won a game Sunday without a hit, but they had 13 hits Tuesday night and were never in the game.

Cecil Fielder and Lou Whitaker provided the power and the Detroit Tigers pounded the White Sox, 13-7, at Chicago to knock them out of first place in the West.

Fielder, the major league leader in home runs and runs batted in, hit his 27th home run and drove in three runs to reach 70. Whitaker hit his 11th home run and a triple and drove in five runs.

The White Sox won, 4-0, over the New York Yankees when errors did in Andy Hawkins, who held the White Sox without a hit.

But Eric King (8-2), who has pitched brilliantly for the White Sox and had won four in a row, was no mystery to the Tigers. Whitaker’s three-run home run capped a five-run fourth inning that put the Tigers ahead to stay.

Carlton Fisk hit a home run for the White Sox, his 343rd. Fisk has hit 322 as a catcher, leaving him just five behind Johnny Bench, who hit the most home runs by a catcher.

Manager Jeff Torborg of the White Sox shrugged off the defeat.

“We were due for a night like this,” he said. “It was Eric’s turn. He had been going pretty well.”

The Tigers won even though they made four errors, three of them by shortstop Alan Trammell.

“That’s the first time that ever happened to me,” Trammell said. “I hope it’s the last time, too. But you can put it behind you when the team wins anyhow.”

Trammell eased his pain with three hits.

“Trammell shouldn’t feel so bad,” Fisk said. “I once saw Brooks Robinson make three errors in one game, and he’s still the best third baseman I ever saw. Now I can tell my grandchildren I saw Trammell do it, too.”

Oakland 5, Milwaukee 0--Curt Young, who always pitches well against the Brewers, needed help from three relievers at Milwaukee to put the Athletics back into first place.

Young (4-2) gave up six hits in 5 1/3 innings. Before the shutout was completed, Todd Burns, Rick Honeycutt and Gene Nelson also pitched.

Willie Randolph, who has been in a slump almost from the time he was obtained from the Dodgers, paced the Athletics’ attack. Randolph was three for three, including a double and triple, and drove in two runs.

It was the 900th managerial victory for Tony LaRussa and gave the Athletics a one-game lead in the West.

Minnesota 7, Boston 3--Tom Brunansky, who has been providing plenty of punch in Boston’s drive to the top of the East, was the goat at Minneapolis.

Brunansky dropped Kirby Puckett’s fly ball near the warning track with two out in the sixth inning, and the Twins responded with three runs to hand Roger Clemens (12-4) his second loss in his last three games.

Gary Gaetti’s triple was the big blow in the inning as the Twins built a 4-0 lead for Kevin Tapani (9-5).

Tapani had a shutout until the eighth and Rick Aguilera, although he gave up two runs in the ninth, picked up his 19th save.

Clemens gave up seven hits and only one earned run in seven innings but struck out only three.

With Toronto winning, Boston’s lead was trimmed to 3 1/2 games.

Kansas City 6, New York 1--Bo Jackson had three hits, including his 14th home run, and the Royals continued to beat up on the hapless Yankees at Kansas City.

The Royals beat the last place club in the East, 11-5, Monday night. In both games the Yankees have been without their best player, Don Mattingly, who has an ailing back.

Frank White had a single and double.

Steve Farr (6-3), making just his third start after spending most of his career in the bullpen, was the winner.

Cleveland 9, Seattle 4--Mitch Webster tripled home a run in the Indians’ five-run first inning and added two RBI singles.

The 13-hit attack helped Al Nipper win his second in a row. He gave up seven hits but only two earned runs in five innings.

The first four Cleveland batters hit safely off Matt Young (2-9) and each of them scored.

Texas 7, Baltimore 2--In his first two starts against the Orioles this season, Bobby Witt was 0-2 and had an earned-run average of 11.33.

But in this game at Arlington, Texas, Witt (5-8) was superb. He struck out seven, gave up only six hits and one earned run in his first complete game of the season.

Jack Daugherty was three for four, with two doubles to lead the Ranger attack.

Ben McDonald, the No. 1 pick in the 1989 draft, pitched two hitless innings for the Orioles. McDonald was called up from Rochester of the International League just before the game.