AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Power Pitching Lets Tigers Sweep Yankees

There is much more to the Detroit Tigers lately than home runs and strikeouts.

Suddenly, away from Tiger Stadium, the pitching is beginning to assert itself.

Saturday night at New York, Mark Leiter and Walt Terrell helped move the Tigers within 3 1/2 games of the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East.

The pitching carried the Tigers to 5-1 and 4-0 victories over the slumping Yankees.

Leiter (4-2) gave up six hits in seven innings in the first game and became a winner when Lou Whitaker hit a two-run home run.

Then Terrell (8-10) pitched a four-hitter and Dave Bergman drove in two runs. Cecil Fielder missed a home run in the opener when umpire Chuck Meriwether ruled that a fan interfered with left fielder Hensley Meulens’ attempt to catch Fielder’s drive. But Fielder singled in a run in each game and has 93 runs batted in.

A rainout Friday night resulted in the doubleheader. Only two innings were played before rain wiped things out. But it was a costly two innings for the Yankees, who have lost five in a row.

Don Mattingly, with a history of back problems, suffered a back injury while trying to catch a bad throw at first base. He might have to go on the disabled list.

For most of the season, the Tigers have relied on their power to keep them within striking distance of the Blue Jays. But on this trip, they have been getting solid pitching. Although they won only one of three games in Toronto, Tiger pitchers gave up a total of seven runs. In the finale, they held the Blue Jays scoreless for 14 innings.

When the Tigers lost Jack Morris to free agency, they were expected to have dreadful pitching. It hasn’t turned out that way.

Terrell wasn’t overly impressed by his performance.

“It wasn’t so much anything I did,” Terrell said. “We just played very well. I felt like I’ve thrown the same way every time out. Sometimes the results have been different.”

Manager Sparky Anderson is excited about his pitching.

“Break up the Tigers,” he joked. “We have pitched well the last five games. In the last 32 innings, we’ve given up just one run.”

The pitching will be tested again today when they play another doubleheader against the Yankees.

Chicago 6, Baltimore 4--With the bullpen sizzling, the White Sox don’t worry about falling behind.

They trailed at Baltimore, 4-3, despite a three-run home run by Carlton Fisk, until the seventh.

They came from behind with three runs to extend their winning streak to six games and move to within a game of first place in the West.

The big blow was a two-run home run by Ozzie Guillen, his eighth career homer and the first since he hit one against the Texas Rangers’ Nolan Ryan on Aug. 10, 1990. This is the shortstop’s seventh season.

The bullpen then took over. Bobby Thigpen got his 26th save and the relievers extended their string of scoreless innings to 31.

Boston 7, Toronto 1--The SkyDome did not fall in on the Blue Jays, it merely seemed that way.

In the third inning, after a rare delay during which the stadium crew needed 14 minutes to close the roof because of a sudden rain, the Red Sox resumed hammering Toronto pitching.

The Red Sox got 21 hits and 12 runs Friday night against the league’s most effective pitching. They had 13 hits in this one and sent the Blue Jays to their third loss in a row.

Greg Harris (8-11) gave up only four hits and pitched his first nine-inning complete game in his 95th start.

Wade Boggs had three hits and scored twice to lead the Red Sox attack. Jack Clark had only one hit but drove in three runs.

Boggs improved his average to .342, but he still trails Rafael Palmeiro by 10 points in the league race.

Seattle 8, Minnesota 0--Scott Erickson was trying to become the first 16-game winner in the majors.

However, he couldn’t make it through the first inning at Seattle and wound up the loser. The loss cut the Twins’ lead in the West to a game over Chicago and three over Oakland.

The Mariners sent 10 men to the plate in the first inning and Erickson was gone after getting two outs and giving up five runs. He fell to 15-4.

Erik Hanson (7-5) gave up eight hits in eight innings and Mike Schooler finished.

Erickson went into the game with a league-leading 2.36 ERA and it increased to 2.65.

Milwaukee 5, Texas 2--Dan Plesac, a flop this season as a relief pitcher, made a strong debut as a starter at Arlington, Tex.

Plesac (1-4), after five seasons of only relief work, gave up four hits and a run in five innings and struck out three.

Paul Molitor gave Plesac all the offense he needed. The leadoff hitter went three for four, scored a run and drove in another. He improved his average to .333.

Cleveland 1, Kansas City 0--Dave Otto outdueled Bret Saberhagen and got his first major league victory when Albert Belle singled home the only run in the seventh inning at Kansas City.

Otto (1-2), who lost a 2-0 decision to Saberhagen six days earlier in Cleveland, gave up five hits in eight innings as Cleveland ended the Royals’ five-game winning streak.