AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Move Closer to Red Sox With 4-3 Victory

Kelly Gruber’s grounder scored Mookie Wilson from third base in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night as the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, in the opener of a four-game series at Toronto.

The victory moved the Blue Jays to within one game of the Eastern Division-leading Red Sox. Wilson began the rally with a single to right, his third hit of the game, and took third when Joe Hesketh (0-1) threw a pickoff attempt down the right-field line.

Tony Fernandez was walked intentionally and Jeff Gray relieved Hesketh. With the infield in, Gruber broke his bat on a 1-and-1 pitch and grounded softly to third baseman Wade Boggs. But Wilson beat the throw to the plate, sliding in ahead of Tony Pena’s tag.

Tom Henke (1-2) was the winner for the Blue Jays.

Tom Bolton started for the Red Sox and allowed three runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two. Toronto’s Dave Stieb struck out four and walked one.

Milwaukee 8, New York 2--At New York, Dave Parker drove in four runs to back Jaime Navarro’s first complete game of the season as the Brewers ended the Yankees’ six-game winning streak.

Milwaukee got 14 hits, including homers by Parker and Rob Deer. Parker singled in a run in the first inning and hit a three-run homer off Mike Witt (2-6) in the fifth. Deer hit his 25th homer in the fourth and doubled in the Brewers’ final run in a four-run fifth inning.

Navarro (4-5), who entered the game with a 5.71 earned-run average, allowed eight hits, struck out four and walked none.

Kansas City 4, Seattle 1--George Brett and Mike Macfarlane each drove in two runs and Kevin Appier won his fifth consecutive decision to lead the Royals at Kansas City.

Appier (10-4) pitched six innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits for his eighth win in nine decisions. Steve Farr pitched two innings before Jeff Montgomery got the last three outs for his 19th save.

Brian Holman (11-10) allowed only six hits in eight innings but gave up all four runs. He walked two and struck out five. The Mariners have scored 14 runs in his 10 defeats and 58 runs in their last 21 games.