AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : A’s Quirk Gets Mad, Steinbach Gets Even

The Boston Red Sox made several bad pitches in their 7-6 defeat Wednesday at Oakland.

Jose Canseco hit two of them for home runs and Mark McGwire hit another for his major league leading 20th homer.

But maybe the worst was the one starter John Dopson threw behind Jamie Quirk, the next batter after third-inning home runs by Canseco and McGwire.

Quirk charged the mound, was tackled by Red Sox catcher John Flaherty and both dugouts emptied. No punches were thrown, but Dopson, who was pitching poorly, and Quirk were ejected.

When Quirk left, his replacement behind the plate was Terry Steinbach, who wound up with the biggest hit of the game.

With runners on second and third, the score tied, 4-4, and one out in the seventh inning, the Red Sox gave McGwire an intentional walk. Steinbach, who tripled in two runs for the key hit Tuesday night after an intentional walk to McGwire, settled for a single this time. It drove in two runs and the Athletics had the lead for good. Steinbach drove in three runs in the opener Monday night.

“Jamie reacted probably the way 99% of the players would have,” Steinbach said. “It’s not right to throw behind a guy. Every player’s got a big behind. Shoot for that instead.”

Even Boston Manager Butch Hobson sympathized with Quirk. “The fact that Dopson’s pitch went behind Quirk surprised me as much as anybody,” Hobson said. “I’d have been mad, too.”

Although he gave up two runs in the ninth inning, Dennis Eckersley picked up his 20th save in 20 opportunities. Going back to last season, Eckersley has saved 24 in a row. The record is 25 by Tom Henke. Eckersley’s streak is alive even though he has given up five runs in the last 3 2/3 innings.

Minnesota 11, Toronto 3--Kirby Puckett hit his second grand slam in six days and led the Twins’ assault on Juan Guzman (6-1) at Minneapolis.

Guzman had lost only once in 17 decisions since the middle of last June. Although he struck out seven batters in five innings, he also gave up seven hits and seven runs.

Kevin Tapani (6-4) gave up 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings but picked up the victory.

Detroit 10, Milwaukee 4--Cecil Fielder came out of a lengthy slump and put a halt to the Tigers latest slide.

Fielder, who had hit only one home run since April 23, hit two at Milwaukee, drove in five runs and the Tigers ended a six-game losing streak.

Fielder singled in a run in the five-run first inning, then hit two two-run home runs. He has 10 home runs.

“The main thing was to get the bear off our back,” Fielder said. “Not being consistent has been frustrating. I know I’m a better hitter than I’ve been showing. That’s the thing that really gets me.”

Cleveland 8, Seattle 3--Sandy Alomar hit the first grand slam of his career in a seven-run fourth inning.

The big inning gave the Indians their third victory in a row and the seventh in the last eight games.

It also enabled Scott Scudder to improve his record to 4-5, even though he gave up 10 hits in six innings.

Kansas City 3, Chicago 1--Brian McRae singled home the go-ahead run at Kansas City and the Royals handed the slumping White Sox their eighth loss in the last nine games.

McRae’s run-scoring hit in the seventh inning saddled Greg Hibbard (5-4) with his fourth loss in his last five decisions.

Rookie Mike Magnante (2-4) gave up a run and three hits in seven innings.

Texas 4, New York 3--An error by pitcher Shawn Hillegas allowed John Cangelosi to score the winning run in the 13th inning for the Rangers.