AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Boddicker Caps Day of Boston Good News

After two weeks of almost daily bad news, the good news came in bunches for the Boston Red Sox Wednesday.

The best was that Roger Clemens’ shoulder injury is not serious and he can start throwing again. Clemens may be ready to start in a few days.

Also, bullpen star Jeff Reardon, who underwent disk surgery Aug. 4, pitched in the bullpen and was restored to the roster.

And Mike Boddicker pitched a six-hitter against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Red Sox getting 13 hits in a 6-1 victory. The Brewers had hammered Boddicker in three previous starts in which the Red Sox were beaten, 18-0, 5-0 and 13-0.

“I called my father-in-law (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) today and he took the hex off me, the Milwaukee hex,” Boddicker said with a grin.

“I called him on April 1 and told him as an April Fool’s joke that I had been traded to Milwaukee. He got on the phone and called everybody he knew. I called him again about four hours later and he said, ‘You’re gonna pay for this.’ He put the curse on me and I got blasted every time I played them.”

In a fitting climax, the Red Sox improved their lead in the American League East to four games over Toronto, which lost to Kansas City.

Boddicker (15-8) pitched the Red Sox to only their fourth victory in 10 games.

Boston has had trouble scoring runs. Ellis Burks, Carlos Quintana and Wade Boggs remedied that against one of the league’s better pitchers, Teddy Higuera (10-7).

Burks and Quintana each had three hits and Boggs two. They drove in four runs among them.

Doctors reported no ligament damage in the shoulder Clemens (20-5) hurt in a game against the Oakland Athletics on Sept. 5. They also said the swelling had gone down. He will accompany the team on a 10-game trip that begins at Chicago tonight.

Reardon, who has 18 saves, was not expected to make it back this season.

“I feel I can help this club,” Reardon said.

Oakland 9, Seattle 3--Befitting a trip on which they all but wrapped up their third consecutive division title, the Athletics trotted out their best road pitcher to complete it.

Scott Sanderson (16-9), buoyed by a five-run sixth inning, pitched six innings and improved his record away from Oakland to 11-3 and give the A’s an 8-1 mark on a trip that began with them leading the West by 5 1/2 games. They returned home with a 11-game lead and 20 games to play.

After hitting four home runs on the trip, Mark McGwire was given the day off. In his place at first base, they unveiled another potential power hitter, Dann Howitt.

With the score tied, 3-3, Howitt triggered the five-run inning when he tripled into the gap in right-center field to drive in the tiebreaking run. Terry Steinbach doubled in two runs later in the inning.

“My first major league hit was meaningful and that’s good,” said Howitt, a 26-year-old former Cal State Fullerton star. “It was a good time to get it, too.”

Sanderson was 3-0 on the trip, winning in Boston and New York, too.

“When our offense gets nine runs like today, I don’t think there’s any need to make a big deal of our starting pitching,” Sanderson said.

The Griffeys, father and son, provided the Mariners’ offense. Ken Sr. walked in the first inning and his son hit his 19th home run. In the fifth Ken Sr. singled in the other run.

The A’s were 5-1 in the Kingdome and won the season series with Seattle, 9-4.

Kansas City 7, Toronto 5--On the day that Manager John Wathan’s contract was extended, the Royals ended their nine-game losing streak.

Bo Jackson hit a tremendous three-run home run, his 24th of the season, and George Brett went four for four, including two triples, for the Royals.

Mark Davis, who led the majors with 44 saves last season but has been a disappointment for the Royals, pitched two scoreless innings, striking out two, for his first save since May 7 and only his sixth this season.

Jackson’s home run landed beside the televison camera in center field, far over the fence.

Brett, who talked about retirement early in the season, pulled into a virtual tie with Oakland’s Rickey Henderson for the batting lead. Brett is batting .3266, Henderson .3272.

Cleveland 12, Chicago 2--Brook Jacoby and Alex Cole each had four of the Indians’ 17 hits at Cleveland in handing the White Sox their sixth loss in seven games.

The attack enabled Bud Black (11-10) to win for the first time in more than a month. He gave up eight hits in seven innings but didn’t walk a batter and struck out eight.

Baltimore 2, Detroit 1--Jack Morris, twice a 20-game winner, is getting closer to 20 defeats. He had a two-hitter and a 1-0 lead going into the eighth at Baltimore.

But Jeff McKnight, one for 20, hit his first major league home run and later in the inning Cal Ripken singled in the winning run with a smash off shortstop Alan Trammell’s glove with two out and the bases loaded. Until the hit Ripken was four for 25 with the bases loaded.

Morris is 11-18, although he has pitched nine complete games, most in the majors.

Texas 5, New York 4--It was anything but an auspicious major league debut for Yankee pitcher Steve Adkins at New York.

He lasted 1 1/3 wild innings without giving up a hit, but walking eight.

Kevin Maas hit his 17th home run and Hensley Meulens hit his first for the Yankees.