AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Morris Not Too Ill to Win 200th

Jack Morris pitched with only three days of rest and 30 minutes sleep Sunday at Minneapolis, but he still had the 200th victory of his career.

Morris, suffering from flu that raised his temperature above 100 degrees, lasted six innings as the Minnesota Twins routed the slumping Seattle Mariners, 8-2.

After a virtually sleepless night, Morris wasn’t sure he could pitch. But he persuaded Manager Tom Kelly to let him try.

Morris struggled. He gave up six hits, walked two batters and made two wild pitches. He left with a 4-2 lead and the Twins, winning their fifth in a row, put the game away with four in the seventh.

Kirby Puckett hit his third home run and drove in three runs while raising his average to .355. He could sympathize with Morris, having suffered from the same symptoms earlier this month.

“I told Jack, ‘If you feel like I felt, you’re in big trouble today,’ ” Puckett said.

Kent Hrbek doubled in the tie-breaking run.

It was only Morris’ second victory for the Twins, who signed him as a free agent after 14 seasons with Detroit.

“That was a remarkable effort by Mr. Morris,” Kelly said. “I wouldn’t have given you a dime for his chances out there today. He told me how he felt, then asked for the ball. I don’t know of any pitcher I ever had pitching under such circumstances.”

Morris became the 89th pitcher to win 200. He said he started thinking about 200 a few years ago when Jerry Koosman, then with the Chicago White Sox reached the figure.

“I knew I would give it a try, unless I fell off the mound in the bullpen,” Morris said. “I appreciate T.K. (Kelly) giving me the ball, because I’m sure he had his doubts. I gave it all I had and the guys came through for me.”

Minnesota is batting .338 (91 of 272) in its past eight games.

The Mariners are a team of streaks. They opened the season by losing six. Then they won eight in a row. Now, they have lost five in a row.

Chicago 4, New York 1--The last time Frank Thomas faced Chuck Cary, he couldn’t hit the Yankee left-hander’s changeup.

Thomas solved that at Chicago. He refused to swing at the off-speed pitch.

The hot White Sox hitter drew a walk and scored in the first inning. In the third, he hit his third home run on a fastball. In the seventh he drove in another run with a single.

With Thomas’ support, Jack McDowell improved his record to 4-1. He is 3-0 lifetime against the Yankees. Despite five walks and five hits, he lasted until two were out in the eighth inning. Bobby Thigpen pitched the ninth for his sixth save.

Thomas is batting .412 with nine runs batted in in his past nine games. The hits include three homers and two doubles.

“I didn’t bite on his change today,” he said. “He threw it a couple of times with two strikes, but I laid off. In the last week or so, I’ve really put it together.”

Toronto 9, Detroit 6--The Tigers’ bullpen came down with a thud at Toronto.

Devon White’s two-run single in the sixth inning gave the Blue Jays the lead. It also ended the string of shutout innings for Detroit relievers at 36 2/3 innings.

Glenallen Hill, a spot player, made the most of his opportunity as the Blue Jays’ designated hitter. Hill went four for four, hit his first home run and scored three runs.

The highlight for the Tigers was a long two-run home run by Cecil Fielder. Fielder’s drive hit the upper-deck facing in left field at Toronto’s SkyDome. Only Jose Canseco of Oakland ever put a ball in the upper deck. Canseco’s carried 20 feet farther than Fielder’s.

Baltimore 5, Milwaukee 4--Ben McDonald had another miserable outing for the Orioles at Baltimore. He was shelled for nine hits and four runs in 2 2/3 innings. But nothing else went wrong for the Orioles.

Cal Ripken had three hits and drove in four runs, Bob Milacki gave up one hit in 5 1/3 innings and Gregg Olson pitched a perfect ninth.

Cleveland 4, Texas 2--The more than two-hour delay because of rain at the start didn’t appear to bother the Indians’ Eric King at Arlington, Tex.

But it may have contributed to the wildness of Bobby Witt and the defeat of the Rangers.

While the hard-throwing Witt was walking seven batters and in trouble throughout, King held the Rangers to four hits until he tired in the ninth inning and needed help from Doug Jones.

Boston 2, Kansas City 1--Dana Kiecker, starting in place of the suspended Roger Clemens, combined with three relievers for a rain-delayed seven-hitter and Mike Greenwell twice drove in Wade Boggs for the Red Sox at Kansas City.

Kiecker went 5 1/3 innings in his first start, giving up one run and five hits and striking out six.

Clemens, 4-0 with an 0.28 ERA, was scheduled to start but learned on Friday that Commissioner Fay Vincent had upheld his five-game suspension for an incident involving umpire Terry Cooney in last year’s American League playoffs.