AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Welch, Mates Pitch A’s Past White Sox, 7-1

In a season in which injuries and lack of runs have been a problem, the one constant for the Oakland Athletics has been their pitching.

They led with their ace Wednesday night at Chicago and Bob Welch pitched another outstanding game. The A’s avoided a three-game sweep by beating the Chicago White Sox, 7-1. By salvaging the series finale, the A’s lead the Western Division by 5 1/2 games.

The White Sox failed to complete some key plays, and the Athletics, playing without shortstop Walt Weiss and center fielder Dave Henderson, scored in five of the first six innings.

For six innings Welch was brilliant. He gave up three hits and no runs and improved his record to 21-4.

Welch had a three-hitter and had not walked a runner until the seventh inning when two walks and Sammy Sosa’s double accounted for a run.

With the infield drawn in, Jose Canseco singled in a run in the first inning. White Sox starter Melido Perez (11-11) had faulty support and gave up three hits to Willie Randolph.

Randolph tripled in the second inning and scored on rookie Darren Lewis’ single, his third hit in three at-bats in the majors.

An error by Sosa and a wild pitch by Perez helped the A’s to a 5-0 lead in the fifth.

Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley each pitched a scoreless inning for the A’s.

Boston 13, Baltimore 2--Ben McDonald finally had a poor outing, and the Red Sox took advantage and added a game to their lead in the East.

Before being bombed in the fourth inning at Boston, the 6-foot-7 rookie had made six effective starts for the Orioles. He won five and lost last Saturday to Oakland, 3-1.

From the start Wednesday he had control trouble. He walked Wade Boggs to open the fourth inning and Ellis Burks followed with a home run. McDonald did not make it out of the inning.

Given a 5-0 cushion, Mike Boddicker (12-8) won for the first time in seven weeks. He gave up seven hits in 7 2/3 innings and benefited from three home runs.

“I made the pitches that I needed to, they made the plays and they got runs for me,” Boddicker, who won 10 in a row before going into his slump, said. “We haven’t shown power for a long time.”

The Red Sox won two out of three in the series and stretched their lead over Toronto to two games.

New York 4, Toronto 2--Roberto Kelly homered, doubled and drove in three runs to lead the Yankees to their sixth victory in a row. They have won eight in a row at home.

In the three-game sweep, Kelly was seven for 14 and stole three bases.

He doubled in a run in the second inning and, after the Blue Jays tied it in the top of the fifth, lashed a drive to right field that carried well into the seats for his 11th home run and scored Alvaro Espinosa ahead of him.

Kelly made a winner of Andy Hawkins (4-10). Hawkins gave up seven hits before Dave Righetti took over with one on in the ninth inning to earn his 27th save.

Texas 5, Seattle 4--Nolan Ryan overcame a shaky start at Arlington, Tex., and, in his fourth try, won his 301st game.

Ryan had a no-decision and two defeats since winning No. 300 July 31 in Milwaukee.

Ryan (12-6) gave up runs in each of the first two innings but wound up giving up only five hits and three earned runs in seven innings.

Kansas City 6, Minnesota 2--Tom Gordon (9-9) gave up seven hits at Kansas City and pitched his fourth consecutive complete game to hand the Twins their eighth loss in a row.

Gordon has given up just six runs in the past 35 innings.

Jim Eisenreich and Mike Macfarlane each drove in two runs for the Royals, who won their third in a row and moved into fourth place in the West.

Cleveland 4, Milwaukee 2--Tom Brookens hit his first home run in 13 months to break a tie in the eighth inning at Milwaukee and end the Indians’ four-game losing streak.

Tom Candiotti (13-8) gave up 10 hits in seven innings but beat the Brewers for the third time this season.