AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Another Yankee Rookie Beats the A’s, 5-1

When George Steinbrenner was in charge, everything with the New York Yankees was for the moment. Prospects often were sacrificed in usually futile attempts to win the pennant.

Among the talent traded away were pitchers Doug Drabek, Jose Rijo, Jim Deshaies and Jay Howell. Now, they are building with young pitchers.

And the strategy is paying dividends.

Wade Taylor, who has been struggling lately, became the third consecutive Yankee rookie pitcher to beat the struggling Athletics, Saturday at Oakland. Taylor gave up five hits in eight innings in the 5-1 victory.

Another rookie, hot-hitting Bernie Williams, and veteran Don Mattingly each drove in two runs and the Yankees pulled above .500.

It was the fourth consecutive defeat for the A’s. Wednesday, they lost to Cleveland’s Rod Nichols, who had not won in nearly two years. They got one run against him.

Thursday night, the Yankees’ Scott Kamieniecki held them to four hits and two runs in seven innings for a 3-2 victory. Friday night, Jeff Johnson pitched a three-hitter and beat them, 3-0. The A’s scored four runs in the four defeats.

Injuries to Mike Witt and Pascual Perez gave the Yankee rookies the chance to pitch, and they are making the most of it. Not one of the three had any major league experience, but now they apparently are in Manager Stump Merrill’s rotation to stay.

Kamieniecki, the newest addition, is 4-1. Johnson, who has a string of 16 scoreless innings, is 3-3, and Taylor is 5-4.

The only Oakland run against Taylor was tainted. With the bases loaded and one out in the second inning, Rickey Henderson grounded to third. Third baseman Randy Velarde fielded the ball, stepped on third for one out and threw home. The ball arrived long before baserunner Jamie Quirk, but catcher Matt Nokes stepped on the plate rather than tagging Quirk, not realizing there was no force play available.

Minnesota 5, Boston 0--The Twins’ Scott Erickson had not won in nearly a month. It was hot and humid in Boston, so the young right-hander from Long Beach tried to throw strikes and not waste any pitches.

Although he gave up seven hits, Erickson (13-3) used only 64 pitches in seven innings and won for the 13th time in 14 decisions. In his loss June 29, Erickson suffered a strained elbow. This was his second start since coming off the disabled list.

“I wasn’t overpowering today,” Erickson said, “but I felt all right. The layoff helped and I should be even stronger next out.”

Erickson was given all the help he needed by Kirby Puckett. He hit his 120th home run but his first at Fenway Park.

“We’re trying to score runs early for our pitchers so they can relax a little,” Puckett said. He is doing his part, going 34 for 81 (.420) in his first at-bats, with seven home runs and 14 runs batted in.

Kansas City 8, Detroit 4--On a steamy day in Kansas City, Danny Tartabull remained the man with the hot bat.

The Royals’ right fielder had three hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Tartabull is hitting .331 with 22 home runs and 66 RBIs.

The temperature on the artificial turf of Royals Stadium was 130 degrees.

“It’s tough being in last place,” Tartabull said. “If we were in the race, I’d be sky-high.”

Chicago 7, Milwaukee 6--Robin Ventura has suddenly developed into a power hitter and RBI man for the White Sox.

Ventura homered leading off in the bottom of the 10th at Chicago to give the White Sox the victory that kept them 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota.

In the first 77 games, the White Sox third baseman had four home runs and 28 RBIs. In the past 12, while batting .360, he has hit seven homers and driven in 23 runs.

Bobby Thigpen, who couldn’t hold a one-run lead in the ninth, escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 10th to get the victory.

Texas 11, Toronto 6--The Rangers had 17 hits at Arlington, Tex., to end a five-game losing streak.

The Rangers again jumped on Jimmy Key (10-6), who gave up 10 hits and six runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Rangers have beaten the veteran left-hander four times this season.

The Blue Jays retained their seven-game lead in the East.

Seattle 5, Baltimore 1--Jay Buhner hit a 430-foot home run, but the big surprise at Baltimore was that the Mariners had three home runs in a game for the first time this season.

Henry Cotto and Harold Reynolds hit consecutive home runs in the fifth and Buhner hit his 15th in the sixth inning.

Bill Krueger (7-3) left in the sixth after giving up Cal Ripken’s 21st home run.

The Mariners, who have won seven of 10, lost catcher Dave Valle when he hurt his thumb in the first inning.