AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Puckett Hits Slam as Twins Win, 17-5

Kirby Puckett hit a grand slam, the first of his nine-year career, in an eight-run fourth inning as the Minnesota Twins routed the Detroit Tigers, 17-5, Friday night at Minneapolis.

The Twins, who had 16 hits, spotted the Tigers four runs in the second inning, then stormed back to make it easy for Kevin Tapani (5-4) to win his fourth in a row.

Five days ago at Detroit, the Twins routed the Tigers, 15-0.

Puckett, who broke off contract negotiations with the Twins this week and could become a free agent, hit his homer off Les Lancaster to give the Twins a 14-4 lead.

Puckett, who also had a single, raised his average to .332 and the Twins won for the eighth time in 11 games.

Although management claimed talks were broken off so Puckett could relax and concentrate on the rest of the season, he was doing rather well during three months of negotiations.

“I’m in the last year of my contract and I’m being paid to perform on the field,” he said. “I can’t worry about negotiations. I have an agent to do that. I just show up and play hard.”

Toronto 3, Chicago 0--Juan Guzman walked the bases loaded in the first inning before settling down to pitch seven shutout innings, giving up only four hits.

Although he walked the bases loaded in the first inning, Guzman, who is 6-0 this season, pitched seven shutout innings, giving up just four hits.

But he didn’t get the victory. Greg Hibbard (5-3) matched him through seven innings, and the Blue Jays didn’t score until Guzman was replaced by Duane Ward.

In the eighth inning, Roberto Alomar tagged Hibbard for a 405-foot home run and made a winner out of Ward. Before the inning was over, the Blue Jays scored two more runs off Terry Leach.

Alomar injured his finger sliding into second base Tuesday night and couldn’t grip a bat until Friday.

After walking the bases full in the first, Guzman struck out George Bell and induced Dan Pasqua to ground out.

“I hadn’t pitched in a week and I was wild,” Guzman said.

It was the fourth loss in a row for the White Sox.

Texas 5, Kansas City 3--Kevin Brown became the major leagues’ first eight-game winner when Dean Palmer hit a two-run home run with two out in the ninth inning at Kansas City.

Brown (8-3) gave up 10 hits, but it seemed likely he would settle for a no-decision when the first two Rangers went quietly in the ninth. But Geno Petralli singled and Palmer followed with his eighth home run.

It was the seventh victory in a row for the Rangers, who remained in front by half a game in the West.

“It wasn’t a pitch I was looking for,” said Palmer, who leads the league with 57 strikeouts. “He threw me a slider, and I didn’t expect him to come right back with another. He sort of left it over the plate.”

The Royals jumped on Brown for four singles and three runs in the third. Gregg Jefferies singled to start the rally, extending his hitting streak to 15 games. But after the third, Brown shut down the Royals.

Milwaukee 8, New York 3--B.J. Surhoff, mired in a hitting slump all season, delivered the big blow at Milwaukee.

Surhoff hit a three-run home run in the fourth inning to build the Brewers’ lead to 5-0. It raised Surhoff’s average to .171.

It was enough for Bill Wegman to improve his record to 5-4 with his third victory in a row. Wegman gave up 10 hits in eight innings.

Greg Vaughn, another Brewer in a deep slump, had a two-run single in the fifth. He raised his average to .305.

Seattle 7, Boston 3--David Valle hit his second home run of the season and Tino Martinez doubled in a couple of runs at Seattle to help the Mariners end the Red Sox’s three-game winning streak.

Dennis Powell, who relieved Clay Parker in the fifth and pitched three shutout innings, was the winner.

John Dopson, making his third start after recovering from arm problems, was the loser.