AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays Get Off the Deck to Beat Twins

Just when the Blue Jays seemed ready to go quietly to their sixth consecutive defeat, the Minnesota Twins woke them up Wednesday night at Toronto.

A two-run home run by Greg Gagne had helped the Twins, who had won four in a row, take a 6-2 lead in the top of the fourth.

In the bottom of the inning, Scott Erickson threw a 1-2 pitch behind rookie Derek Bell. The Blue Jays, already upset when umpire Larry Young wouldn’t check Gagne’s bat after his homer, stormed out onto the field.

Although no blows were struck, the Blue Jays woke up. They hammered four home runs and won, 8-7, when Pat Borders singled with the bases loaded in the 10th.

One of the home runs was by Bell, his first in the majors. The 392-foot drive off Mark Guthrie broke a 6-6 tie in the sixth.

Erickson couldn’t hold the four-run lead and was gone in the fifth when Kelly Gruber and Joe Carter hit home runs.

Oakland 4, Baltimore 2--The Athletics had lost four of the five games on their trip East before entering Baltimore. They were playing the leaders of the East, who had won four of five.

The A’s head for home with a three-game winning streak and a 1 1/2-game lead in the West.

Although the big hitters--Rickey Henderson, Carney Lansford, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco--get the headlines, the batters in the bottom of the lineup have been delivering all season.

Mike Bordick, the No. 8 hitter, drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly and Lance Blankenship followed with a run-scoring single.

Willie Wilson, the No. 7 hitter, is batting .270, Bordick .351 and Blankenship .275.

And then, of course, there is Dennis Eckersley. With the Athletics playing well, the bullpen ace is getting the saves. He threw 14 pitches to retire the side in the ninth for his 16th save. His earned-run average is 0.45.

Kansas City 7, Chicago 2--Gregg Jefferies has struggled in the American League. A lifetime .276 hitter for the New York Mets, he has barely been above .200 for the Royals.

In this game at Chicago, he struck out and grounded into a double play in his first two tries.

But with the bases loaded in the fifth, Jefferies hit a grand slam, his first home run of the season, to help Hipolito Pichardo win his first major league start. Pichardo, after seven relief appearances, gave up three hits in five innings.

Mike Boddicker took over in the sixth and earned the first save of his career.

Boston 6, Seattle 4--Mariner rookie Dave Fleming, who has five of his team’s 15 victories, battled Roger Clemens on even terms for 6 2/3 innings at Boston.

In the eighth, though, after Fleming departed, the Red Sox won it when Ellis Burks’ grand slam broke a 2-2 tie.

Clemens (6-3) who had pitched consecutive shutouts, gave up two runs and six hits, striking out five.

When the Mariners scored twice in the ninth, Jeff Reardon came in to get the last two outs. Reardon has 10 saves this season and 337 in his career, four short of Rollie Fingers’ all-time record.

Detroit 4, Milwaukee 3--Chris Bosio held the Tigers to three hits in eight innings at Detroit and seemed on his way to another victory.

But after he gave up a hit and struck out a batter in the ninth, Doug Henry relieved him and let it get away.

Henry walked Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton followed with a three-run home run to win the game.

Texas 1, Cleveland 0--Jeff Russell definitely earned his 12th save.

Russell relieved Jose Guzman (3-3) with runners on first and third with one out in the ninth inning at Cleveland.

Russell got Sandy Alomar to hit a short fly that forced the runner to hold at third, then he disposed of Thomas Howard on a grounder.

Guzman, a doubtful starter because of flu, gave up five singles before needing help. In eight of his nine starts, Guzman has given up three or fewer runs.