AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gibson’s 200th Homer Gives Royals Victory

Kirk Gibson’s flair for the dramatic was in evidence Thursday night at Baltimore and it etched his name deeper into baseball history.

Gibson’s ninth-inning home run off left-hander Paul Kilgus gave the Kansas City Royals a 6-4 victory over the Orioles and made Gibson one of 13 players in major league history to hit 200 homers and steal 200 bases.

Gibson entered the game batting .221 without a home run since May 11. But after Brian McRae’s infield hit, Gibson drove a 2-and-1 pitch into the right-field seats.

“I’ve been pretty inconsistent,” Gibson said. “Brian and I have both been pressing at the top of the lineup. We’ve got to get on. If it’s not him, it’s got to be me.”

Gibson’s eighth homer gave the Royals their first three-game sweep of the Orioles since August, 1988. Danny Tartabull hit his third homer in two games and drove in two runs.

Mark Davis (3-1) earned the victory after replacing Kevin Appier in the eighth. Jeff Montgomery finished for his 13th save.

Minnesota 10, New York 3--At Minneapolis, the Twins broke a team record with their 12th consecutive victory and Scott Erickson set a club mark with his 10th consecutive win.

Chili Davis hit his 13th and 14th homers as the Twins, who have won 15 of their last 16, eclipsed the record of 11 wins in a row set in 1980.

Erickson (10-2), leading the majors with a 1.60 earned-run average, broke the Twins’ record for consecutive victories in one season, held by Frank Viola and Stan Williams.

Erickson gave up two runs on nine hits, struck out five and walked none in seven innings. He became the fastest 10-game winner in Twins’ history, edging Viola, who got his 10th victory on June 17, 1988.

Mike Witt (0-1) left the game with a sore right elbow after retiring one hitter.

Toronto 1, Cleveland 0--Jimmy Key (10-2) pitched his second two-hitter of the season, retiring the final 20 batters at Cleveland to move into a tie for the league lead in victories.

Key gave up consecutive singles by Joel Skinner and Felix Fermin with one out in the third inning. He struck out five and walked none.

Charles Nagy (2-7) took the loss as the Indians, the lowest-scoring team in the league, were shut out for the second consecutive night and ninth time this season.

Texas 8, Chicago 4--Julio Franco hit a three-run homer and Ruben Sierra added a two-run shot at Arlington, Tex.

Gerald Alexander (4-1) gave up three runs in five innings for the victory. Kenny Rogers pitched four innings for his first save.

Franco hit his sixth home run in the third inning off Greg Hibbard (4-5).

Sierra hit a two-out two-run homer, his ninth, in the fourth.

Seattle 6, Detroit 5--Alvin Davis hit a two-run homer in the eighth at Seattle, giving him 100 homers in the Kingdome.

The Mariners were behind, 5-3, when Ken Griffey Jr. led off the eighth with a double against Paul Gibson (2-3). Pete O’Brien drove Griffey in with a single and Davis followed with his sixth homer of the season.

Bill Swift (1-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the victory. Mike Jackson worked the ninth inning to get his ninth save.

Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer and Milt Cuyler hit home runs for Detroit.