Brett Singles, Near 3rd Batting Title at .329

Kansas City’s George Brett singled in his only official at-bat to close in on his third career batting title, but Cleveland’s Sergio Valdez won for the fourth time in five decisions as the Indians beat the Royals 5-2 today at Cleveland.

Meanwhile in Cincinnati, Ken Caminiti tripled home the winning run in the top of the ninth inning as the Houston Astros beat the Reds 3-2 to leave Cincinnati with a losing second-half record.

The Royals finished 75-86 and in sixth place in the American League West, the second worst showing in their 22-year history. The Indians clinched fourth place in the AL East, matching their best finish since they were third in 1968.

Brett, trying to become the first player to win batting titles in three decades, was inserted as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning and hit a sacrifice fly. He singled in his next at-bat to improve his batting average one point to .329.

Oakland’s Rickey Henderson began the day at .325 and needed to go at least 3-for-3 or 4-for-5 to overtake Brett. Henderson and the A’s host California later today.

Brett also won batting titles in 1976 at .333 and in 1980 at .390. At age 37, he would be the third-oldest player to win a batting championship, behind Ted Williams (40 in 1958) and Honus Wagner (37 in 1911).

Brett drove in Kansas City’s first run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth after Royals Manager John Wathan created an excellent situation for him. Russ Morman started the inning with a double, and Wathan, following a pregame promise, had Jeff Schulz bunt him to third to make Brett’s at-bat less risky. Brett’s routine fly to center off Valdez scored Morman.

In the seventh, Brett lined a single to right off reliever Mauro Gozzo.

The Reds finished the season at 91-71 overall but were 41-42 since the All-Star break and 58-59 since June 4.

Glenn Davis led off the ninth with a walk off Tim Birtsas (1-3), and pinch-runner Gerald Young came around when Caminiti tripled off the wall in center for his second RBI of the game. Dave Smith (6-6) got the last four outs.

Also today, Frank Viola became the 18th pitcher in history to win 20 games in each league as the New York Mets ended the season with a 6-3 victory over the Pirates in Pittsburgh.

Viola had lost three previous attempts at his 20th. He worked seven innings, allowing seven hits, striking out five and walking two. Alejandro Pena pitched the final inning for his fifth save.

In Montreal, Spike Owen and Nelson Santovenia hit run-scoring triples to highlight a seven-run seventh inning as the Expos handed the St. Louis Cardinals their seventh straight loss, 9-2.