AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Greenwell’s Ground Slam Leads Red Sox

From a team that lacked power and struggled for runs, the Boston Red Sox have become the powerhouse of the American League East--so powerful they can turn a ground ball into a grand slam.

It happened in the fifth inning Saturday at Boston where the Red Sox pounded the New York Yankees, 15-1, for their ninth consecutive victory.

A three-run home run by Ellis Burks helped the Red Sox knock out Andy Hawkins with a five-run first inning. The lead was 5-1 when Mike Greenwell came to the plate against Greg Cadaret with the bases loaded in the fifth.

Greenwell, who had four of Boston’s 19 hits, lashed a hot grounder just inside first base and it caromed off the wall at the 320-foot mark. When Yankee right fielder Jesse Barfield fell down trying to retrieve the ball, everybody scored, including Greenwell with the second inside-the-park home run of his career. The other, a little more than a year ago, was also off Cadaret.

“When’s the last time you saw a grand slam on a grounder?” asked Joe Morgan, Red Sox manager. “Maybe it’s the first time ever. Call Willie Wilson. If he hasn’t done it, nobody has.”

The Red Sox went on to get three more runs in the inning to make it easy for Mike Boddicker (14-8). Boddicker gave up four hits and a run in six innings.

“It’s a long way around the bases,” Greenwell said jokingly after his 10th home run. “I’ve got two in my career, and both have been against the same guy. That’s unbelievable.”

What’s also unbelievable is the Red Sox’s sudden power. After 126 games they were next-to-last in home runs with 77 and 10th in runs scored, averaging barely four runs per game, although they were leading the league in batting.

In the first three games of the streak, they scored four runs.

In the last six they have scored 56, with a low of six, and have hit 12 home runs, five by Burks. They have been in double figures in hits in all six, with a total of 87.

Burks has led the emergence of the hitters. He is 13 for 25 in the six games and has driven in 12 runs. He has raised his average to .312, fifth in the league. Greenwell is 11 for 27 and has driven in nine runs.

Hawkins gave up five runs in one-third of an inning. In his third Fenway Park appearance, he actually lowered his ERA from 175.50 to 162.00.

Texas 3, Oakland 2--The Rangers made Bobby Witt of Oklahoma their No. 1 pick in 1985 because he could throw hard, his wildness notwithstanding.

There are times when the 6-2 right-hander still doesn’t know where the ball is going, but he has learned how to win.

He walked 10 and struck out 10 in winning his 11th in a row. He gave up only four hits in seven innings at Oakland.

Going into the June 28 game at Minneapolis, Witt, 26, was 3-8 this season and 42-50 in his career.

In his last 13 starts, he has won 11 and the Rangers won the two in which he didn’t get a decision. His record is 14-8.

Three times he produced a strikeout when the A’s loaded the bases, but the fourth time Jamie Quirk blooped a single and the two Oakland runs scored. Witt threw 138 pitches before leaving in the eighth inning.

“Bobby walked 10 guys? That’s amazing,” Manager Bobby Valentine said. “He had pretty good stuff for walking that many. The box score doesn’t tell the story.

The loss cut the A’s lead in the West to 5 1/2 games over Chicago.

Toronto 8, Cleveland 0--Fred McGriff had five hits, including his 29th home run, and drove in three runs at Cleveland to lead the Blue Jays to their third victory in a row.

They made it easy for Todd Stottlemyre (12-14), who held the Indians to six hits in 7 1/3 innings. John Candelaria finished.

McGriff is hitting .421 in his last 31 games and has raised his average to .308. It was his first five-hit game.

Kelly Gruber, who didn’t homer in August, hit his 24th.

Milwaukee 4, Baltimore 3--Ben McDonald won his first five starts for the Orioles, but he has now lost his last four.

Robin Yount hit a two-run single and Paul Molitor hit a home run at Milwaukee to enable Ted Higuera (9-7) beat the 6-foot-7 rookie.

Only two of the four runs McDonald gave up in seven innings were earned.

Detroit 9, Minnesota 5--Mike Heath broke out of a 3-for-25 slump with a two-run single at Minneapolis that keyed a two-out five-run second inning.

Allan Anderson, a 17-game winner last season became a 17-game loser. Anderson, who has won six, gave up six runs and seven hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Randy Nosek (1-0) gave up five runs in six innings.

Seattle 3, Kansas City 0--Russ Swan (2-2) lost his no-hitter at Seattle when Al Pecota singled with one out in the seventh inning, but combined with Bill Swift for a two-hitter.

Swan was just back from rehabilitation after being on the disabled list since July 8.