AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Beat Yankees, Gain Share of Lead

Toronto and Boston are tied for first place in the American League East after 149 games, but the Blue Jays are the team with the momentum.

Rance Mulliniks came through with a pinch-hit again Tuesday at Toronto to lead the Blue Jays to a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees.

Mulliniks singled home Kelly Gruber from third with two out in the ninth to give the Blue Jays their fifth victory in a row and pull them even with the Red Sox. Both are 81-68.

It was the fourth time in those five games that the Blue Jays won in their final at-bat. In two of those games the Blue Jays came from behind; in the other two they blew a lead and had to break the tie.

Mulliniks, who has three pinch-hits in the streak, is nine for 19 coming off the bench.

“I thought we would catch them,” Mulliniks said, “but I didn’t dream we could do it this quick.

“We were aware of what happened to Boston, but you can’t let it affect you. You have to go out and win your own game or it doesn’t do any good.”

Dave Stieb, seeking his 19th victory, had a 2-1 lead and a five-hitter after seven innings. In the eighth, the Blue Jays brought in left-hander Bud Black, acquired less than 24 hours earlier from Cleveland.

But left-handed hitting Kevin Maas spoiled the strategy, hitting a game-tying home run over the center-field fence. Black wound up getting the victory.

Kelly Gruber singled and Fred McGriff sacrificed--a play the Blue Jays often eschew. It was only the second bunt of McGriff’s career; Mulliniks’ two-out hit made it good strategy.

Former Angel Mike Witt gave up only two hits in eight innings, but George Bell’s single, a walk, Greg Myers’ double and a sacrifice fly in the fifth accounted for the first two Toronto runs.

Baltimore 4, Boston 1--There is no joy among the Red Sox. They are in a collective hitting slump, their bullpen has failed and they have lost a 5 1/2-game lead in 10 days.

In this game at Baltimore, left-hander Tom Bolton (9-4) had a no-hitter until Cal Ripken hit a single to left with one out in the seventh.

The next play was the turning point. Craig Worthington lined to second baseman Jody Reed, who had a chance to double up Ripken. But Ripken went into first baseman Carlos Quintana standing up and the ball hit him.

Two singles tied the score and rookie David Segui hit a three-run home run to break the game open. Jose Mesa (2-2) gave up only three hits in seven innings to get the victory.

The Red Sox appeared to be well on their way to the pennant until Roger Clemens suffered a shoulder injury against Oakland Sept. 5.

Morale stayed high for a few days before it was realized Clemens would miss several starts. The hitters slumped and now the Red Sox are trying to hang on.

There was some good news for Boston. After throwing for 15 minutes on the sidelines, Clemens said he had no pain and will face the New York Yankees Friday night.

Chicago 8, Oakland 2--The White Sox once again demonstrated to Oakland fans why they have the second-best record in major league baseball.

Three home runs, including a two-run shot by Ivan Calderon, led the White Sox to their sixth victory in a row at the home park of the World Series winners.

Although the White Sox are eight games behind the A’s, their 86-62 record would lead the other three divisions.

Cleveland 8, Milwaukee 3--Charles Nagy won his first game after four defeats. Nagy gave up three runs and nine hits in 7 1/3 innings at Cleveland, and the Indians won for the sixth time in the last seven games.

Seattle 7, Texas 3--Alvin Davis hit his eighth grand slam to highlight a seven-run seventh inning at Seattle that brought the Mariners within three games of .500.

Charlie Hough was breezing with a 2-0 lead when the Mariners rallied with two out in the seventh.

Rafael Palmeiro of the Rangers, who had five hits Monday night went 0 for 4 and fell to .322, third in the batting race.

Minnesota 10, Kansas City 4--Dan Gladden started the Twins’ six-run fifth inning rally at Minneapolis with a triple and climaxed it with a run-scoring single.

Scott Erickson gave up five hits in seven innings as the Twins won for only the second time in 10 games.