AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Replacement Baines Homers and A’s Win

One of the reasons the Oakland Athletics have been successful is their ability to replace players quickly.

But one of the few times General Manager Sandy Alderson has been slow to come up with a replacement was when Dave Parker opted for free agency last winter.

Parker had been the primary left-handed hitter on two pennant winners. It took most of this season for Alderson to find the right replacement.

Harold Baines is the man. Baines paid his first major dividend Sunday at Oakland when he homered to lead the Athletics to a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers. With Chicago losing, the Athletics stretched their lead in the American League West to 6 1/2 games.

Baines, in his fourth game with the Athletics after being obtained from the Rangers, led off the second inning with a home run over the center-field fence. He hit a 2-0 pitch from Charlie Hough for his 14th homer.

It triggered a three-run rally in which Willie Randolph, another timely replacement, tripled in one run and scored another.

Baines said his first home run for his new team was no big deal, but Manager Tony La Russa begged to differ.

“It was a big hit, and he’s had some big hits like that against us,” La Russa said. “I like having him doing it for us now.”

Mike Moore (12-12) gave up four hits in 6 1/3 innings, then La Russa brought in his left-right bullpen tandem of Rick Honeycutt and Dennis Eckersley. Eckersley struck out two of the three batters he faced for his 41st save. Moore left the game with a bruised right wrist after he tagged Jeff Kunkel in a rundown.

Baines enables La Russa to split his right-handed power duo of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. His presence will make it tougher to pitch to the two sluggers.

Rickey Henderson stole his 925th base and scored the extra run in the seventh on a single by Canseco. Henderson, bothered by a hamstring injury, has 29 games left this season to catch Lou Brock, the all-time leader, who stole 938.

Boston 7, New York 1--Mike Greenwell drove in four runs and Ellis Burks three at Boston and Tom Bolton (8-2) limited the Yankees to three hits in eight innings. It was the first time in the 88-year rivalry the Red Sox swept the home series, 7-0.

Burks has driven in seven runs in the last two games, is batting .536 in the last seven games and has driven in 15 of the 63 runs the Red Sox have scored in those games.

Greenwell has driven in nine runs in the last two games.

It was a reversal of form for Bolton. He had been knocked about early in his three previous starts and had not won since Aug. 12.

The Yankees put the first two batters on base in the ninth and Larry Andersen made his Red Sox debut. He hit pinch-hitter Kevin Maas to fill the bases. Andersen retired the next three batters, the run scoring on an infield out.

Milwaukee 4, Baltimore 2--Jaime Navarro, in his third strong outing in a row, carried a shutout into the ninth inning at Milwaukee and pitched the Brewers to their 10th victory in the last 13 games.

Mike Devereaux’s two-out, two-run home run spoiled Navarro’s bid for a shutout.

Navarro’s turnaround came after two appearances against Kansas City in which he gave up 11 runs in less than four innings.

Navarro (6-5) has won three in a row, during which his ERA is 1.71.

Minnesota 4, Detroit 3--Greg Gagne hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning at Minneapolis to give the Twins a lead, then had to make like a football player to save it in the ninth.

With the Twins leading, 4-2, Gary Ward was on first when Chet Lemon hit a pop fly into left field. Gagne collided with left fielder Dan Gladden, cartwheeled over him and held the ball. A walk and a single followed before Rick Aguilera got the save on a game-ending double play.

“Danny had told me he was going to play deep,” Gagne said, “so I didn’t expect him to be there. I knew I had to catch the ball.”

Kansas City 8, Seattle 0--Tom Gordon (10-9) pitched a six-hitter at Seattle for his fourth complete game in his last six starts.

Bo Jackson was out of the lineup again for the Royals, but he wasn’t missed. Danny Tartabull drove in five runs with a double and his 15th home run, and George Brett had three hits, two of them doubles.

Jackson strained his right shoulder in Saturday’s game.