AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Twins’ Bats Carry Erickson to 16th Victory, 10-5

Until he injured his elbow June 29 and had to go on the disabled list, Minnesota’s Scott Erickson was the most effective pitcher in the majors. He won 12 in a row and in his previous six starts gave up only four runs in 47 innings.

From the time he was hurt the 23-year-old right-hander hasn’t been merely mediocre, he has been terrible.

But, the way the Twins bat when he’s on the mound, it may not make much difference. He may become the first pitcher to win 20 games this season.

Erickson turned in another weak performance Tuesday night at Minneapolis, but when the Twins hammered the Seattle Mariners, 10-5, he became the first 16-game winner.

Kent Hrbek doubled in three runs and Shane Mack had two triples as the Twins increased their lead in the American League West to 4 1/2 games.

Although the offense helped Erickson (16-5) end his two-game losing streak, he was again ineffective. He gave up seven hits and five runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Since he came off the disabled list July 15, Erickson, 8-4 as a rookie last season, has made eight starts. In four of them he failed to get past four innings. In his best outing, he held Boston without a run in seven innings. His earned-run average is 6.88.

Because he brings out the best in the Twins’ bats, Erickson is 4-2 over that span. In his last four victories, the Twins have 30 runs.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with Scott’s arm,” Manager Tom Kelly said. “But he isn’t pitching the way he did earlier. He was so good in June it was hard to believe anyone could pitch that well.”

Seattle fell 7 1/2 games behind the Twins, who have won four of five.

Toronto 3, Milwaukee 1--The Blue Jays are showing signs of coming out of a monthlong slump.

With Todd Stottlemyre pitching a strong seven innings at Toronto, the Toronto won its third in a row.

When they lost to the Detroit Tigers last Friday, the Blue Jays had lost 16 of 24 games and their once formidable lead dwindled to a single game.

But, they won the last two games of the Detroit series and returned home to win again.

A sacrifice fly by Pat Borders and a bloop single by Manny Lee put Toronto ahead, 2-0, in the second inning and that’s all that was needed.

After Duane Ward pitched a scoreless eighth, Tom Henke came on to pitch the ninth and get his 29th save in 30 chances.

The SkyDome crowd of 50,311 sent the attendance over 3 million in 62 dates. It is the earliest any team has reached that figure.

Brewer Manager Tom Trebelhorn was ejected by second base umpire Durwood Merrill in the eighth when argued a call that Darryl Hamilton was out stealing.

Detroit 5, Chicago 0--Walt Terrell, hammered by the White Sox last Wednesday, came back to pitch a six-hit shutout at Chicago, his second shutout in 10 days.

The Tigers welcomed back Lloyd Moseby, who hit a home run after being out since Aug. 5 with an inflamed right ear.

Terrell (9-10) lasted only 3 1/3 innings in his previous outing and the White Sox pounded him for eight hits and six runs.

The White Sox lost for the eighth time in 10 games and fell 4 1/2 games behind Minnesota in the West.

“We’re at a stage where we’re struggling,” Manager Jeff Torborg of the White Sox said. “We haven’t been getting the hits. But I saw signs we are ready to snap out of it.”

Baltimore 8, Texas 6--The Orioles are getting a taste of what they missed almost all season.

Glenn Davis, in just his second game after spending four months on the disabled list with a neck injury, put on a hitting display.

Davis hit a two-run double in the first inning and a three-run home run in the fifth.

However, it took Leo Gomez’s 11th home run to break the 6-6 tie in the sixth to end the Orioles’ four-game losing streak.

New York 7, Kansas City 3--The Yankees scored three runs on a missed double-play ball in the second inning at Kansas City and went on to win.

The Yankees had the bases loaded with none out when Kevin Maas hit a sharp grounder to second baseman Terry Shumpert. He was willing to let the run score to get the double play. But his throw sailed into left field and everybody scored.

Don Mattingly was two for five and scored a run to help Scott Sanderson post his 13th victory.