AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : White Sox, Athletics Are Making a Race of It

With one-third of the season remaining, the stage is set for a close race in the American League West.

At the moment, the Minnesota Twins are on top, but the Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics are charging.

The White Sox probably wish they had more games left with the New York Yankees.

Wednesday, the White Sox again hit Yankee pitching hard at Chicago. Robin Ventura drove in three runs with two doubles and a single and Jack McDowell gave up seven hits in a 10-2 victory.

Tuesday night, the White Sox spotted the Yankees five runs before winning, 14-5.

McDowell (14-6) pitched his 10th complete game, tops in the majors.

Last Saturday night, he gave up 10 hits and six runs in two innings against Baltimore.

“This time I had a better fastball, better command and things went my way,” McDowell said.

The White Sox gave McDowell all the offense he needed in the first inning, scoring three runs. The key hit was a run-scoring double by Carlton Fisk.

The White Sox, who moved within 2 1/2 games of the Twins, had 12 hits after getting 15 the previous game.

Oakland 6, Seattle 1--The three-game sweep of the Mariners at Oakland has given the Athletics a lift as they try to win the West for the fourth year in a row.

Most of the season, weak pitching has held the club back.

But in this series, the Athletics had two shutouts, and in this game Bob Welch (10-6) showed his Cy Young form of last season, allowing five hits in seven innings.

The A’s gave Jose Canseco the day off to rest his back and his replacement, Scott Brosius, made an auspicious major league debut. Usually a third baseman, Brosius made a great throw from right field to get a runner at the plate, and had a double and home run with two runs batted in.

About the only problem for the Athletics, who are four games out of first place, is their string of 11 consecutive home runs with nobody on base. Brosius, Mark McGwire and Harold Baines had solo home runs in this game.

Kansas City 2, Boston 0--When he can’t beat the Royals, Roger Clemens knows he is having a tough season.

Clemens (12-8 after a 6-0 start) went into this game at Kansas City with an 11-2 record against the Royals.

He went the distance, struck out seven and gave up seven hits. But, he was outpitched by Kevin Appier (9-7), who held the Red Sox to four hits and struck out nine.

Toronto 5, Detroit 2--The Blue Jays have put themselves in position for a blowout in the East.

The Tigers went into Toronto excited about their chances to overtake the Blue Jays.

Travis Fryman hit a two-run home run in the second inning off Juan Guzman (4-2), but the rest of the Tiger sluggers were at his mercy.

Guzman struck out nine in seven innings to enable the Blue Jays to beat the Tigers for the third game in a row and stretch their lead to 6 1/2 games.

Tom Henke picked up his 25th save in 25 opportunities. Henke, with a three-run lead to protect, put the first two Tigers on base in the ninth, then struck out the side.

Texas 12, Cleveland 10--Brian Downing’s two-run single through a drawn-in infield climaxed a three-run eighth inning that enabled the Rangers to come from behind at Arlington, Tex.

The Indians had a 10-6 lead, but the Rangers scored three runs in the sixth, then pulled out the victory in the eighth.

The Rangers had 16 hits, with Rafael Palmeiro, the leading hitter in the majors, going 2 for 4 to raise his average to .352.

The Rangers are 6 1/2 games behind Minnesota.

Milwaukee 4, Baltimore 2--The Brewers’ bullpen has been struggling, so Jaime Navarro (9-9) was allowed to go the distance though he gave up nine hits at Baltimore.

Since the All-Star break, the Milwaukee bullpen has an earned-run average of 7.82 and only two saves.