AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Red Sox Get Third Consecutive Shutout

The Boston Red Sox, usually known for power, are winning this year with pitching.

Despite playing in Fenway Park, with its inviting Green Monster in left field, the Red Sox have only 76 home runs in 126 games. Only three teams have fewer runs.

But, oh, that pitching.

Greg Harris and Jeff Gray combined on a two-hitter Sunday at Toronto to beat the Blue Jays, 1-0, for the Red Sox’s third consecutive shutout and a four-game lead in the American League East. The Red Sox scored only four runs to win three games.

Jody Reed singled with two out in the eighth inning to score Tom Brunansky from second base for the only run.

Toronto’s Todd Stottlemyre (11-14) gave up only four hits, but he walked Brunansky to open the inning and put him in scoring position with a wild pitch.

The Blue Jays, after winning the opener of the important four-game series Thursday night to pull within a game of first place, went all weekend without scoring another run.

They managed only 10 hits in 27 innings, and they were 0 for 27 with runners in scoring position.

On Friday night, Dana Kiecker, with help from Gray, who has replaced injured Jeff Reardon as the bullpen stopper, beat the Blue Jays, 2-0. Then Roger Clemens beat them Saturday, 1-0.

Harris, who had pitched relief for most of a career that began with the New York Mets in 1981, had been a 10-game winner as a starter for the Red Sox.

He was trying to get his first complete game. He was four outs short, but improved his record to 11-5 and gave the Red Sox their biggest lead of the season.

“The way the other two guys pitched I knew it would be hard to match them,” Harris said. “But I knew from the start I had good stuff. In the first inning I was throwing strikes and everything was feeling great.

“When you first go out there, you don’t think you’re going to need a shutout to win. But I guess the best thing to do is keep putting zeroes on the board. Sooner or later, you’ll get a run.”

Harris, 34, saved 20 games for the Rangers in 1986, but this is the seventh major league roster he’s been on.

The last time the Red Sox had three shutouts in a row was in 1962 when Bill Monboquette, Gene Conley and Ike Delock did it.

Detroit 7, Oakland 3--With only three days of rest, Bob Welch, the major leagues’ leading winner, was no puzzle at Detroit.

Lou Whitaker and Tony Phillips hit home runs for the Tigers, who knocked Welch (21-5) out in the fifth inning after scoring six runs.

Jeff Robinson (10-9) gave up only two hits in seven innings, one of them a two-run home run by Terry Steinbach.

Welch ended a five-game winning streak and the Athletics’ remained five games ahead in the West.

Texas 1, Minnesota 0--The Rangers’ patience with once-wild Bobby Witt is paying dividends every fifth day.

The hard-throwing right-hander (13-8) pitched a four-hitter and won his 10th in a row. It was his fourth shutout this season.

Julio Franco, who was out trying to stretch a double into a triple in the second inning, singled in the ninth for his third hit. He went to third on Harold Baines’ single and scored the run on Pete Incaviglia’s sacrifice fly.

Cleveland 8, Baltimore 3--The Indians, having dismantled the Orioles in the last two games at Baltimore, are looking to move up.

The Indians, after getting 11 runs and 18 hits Saturday night, came right back to get eight more runs and 12 hits and move to within half a game of the third-place Orioles in the East.

Runs may be a little tougher to come by in their next series--four at home with the Red Sox.

“We’re 10 games behind the Red Sox,” said Brook Jacoby, whose two-run single capped a four-run fifth. “But we are looking for third place.”

New York 4, Milwaukee 3--It had to be frustrating for Steve Sax, mired in a season-long slump, when he hit in the ninth spot of the batting order at New York.

He had to take it out on someone. With two out in the 11th inning, Sax drove a single to right, scoring Jesse Barfield from third base with the winning run.