AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Nine-Run Third Keys 19-11 White Sox Victory

The Minnesota Twins have the second-most effective pitching in the American League. And one of their most effective pitchers has been Bill Krueger.

The hot White Sox showed no respect for Krueger or the Twins on Tuesday night at Chicago. They pounded Krueger and three successors for 19 hits and won a 19-11 victory that dropped the Twins into a tie with Oakland for first place in the West.

The Twins led, 4-0, in the second inning, but before they scored again in the fourth, the White Sox had a 12-4 lead, getting nine runs in the third inning.

The Twins also had 19 hits.

George Bell hit a two-run home run and drove in five runs to lead the White Sox to their sixth victory in the last seven games. Rookie Esteban Beltre hit his first major league home run and Carlton Fisk hit his 374th.

In the third inning, though, the big hits were two-run doubles by Steve Sax and Robin Ventura.

“It’s the explosion we’ve been looking for,” White Sox Manager Gene Lamont said. “The home run by Beltre got us started. We were down, 4-1, and that put us within a run. The nine-run inning was what we’ve waited all season to see.”

In an understatement, Manager Tom Kelly of the Twins said: “Our pitching was lousy. We stunk. I can’t emphasize it enough. The hitters controlled the game. They kept swinging the bats. It was pretty impressive.”

The White Sox pitching was only a little better than Minnesota’s. Wilson Alvarez was the winner, although he gave up four runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Included in the 38 hits were nine doubles.

Krueger, in two-plus innings, gave up eight hits and seven runs, all earned.

Oakland 9, Texas 0--An impressive performance by Dave Stewart at Arlington, Tex., did more than just lift the Athletics into a tie for first place.

When Stewart gave up just two hits in six innings, it gave the A’s hope for his future.

Carney Lansford and Terry Steinbach each drove in three runs to spark Oakland to its third victory in a row.

Stewart, who spent 24 days on the disabled list with an elbow injury, showed no signs of an arm problem. He struck out three and was hardly extended.

The Rangers pitched extremely carefully to Jose Canseco, walking him five times. Canseco, without an official at-bat, scored twice.

Baltimore 6, Detroit 3--Struggling Rick Sutcliffe went 7 2/3 innings at Baltimore to win his 150th game and move the Orioles within 2 1/2 games of Toronto in the East.

Sutcliffe, who was 0-5 with an earned-run average of 6.75 in his previous six starts, gave up six hits and three runs to improve his record to 11-11.

Leo Gomez and Bill Ripken each drove in two runs for the Orioles, who improved their record against the Tigers at home to 6-0.

Gregg Olson pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his 26th save.

Boston 9, Toronto 4--Wade Boggs hit a three-run home run at Boston, and the Red Sox beat the Eastern Division leaders for the second time in a row.

The Red Sox went into the game with only 61 home runs in 104 games. But they had three in this one. Mo Vaughn had a two-run smash and Tom Brunansky added a solo home run.

“We haven’t had too many like this,” Boggs said. “We scored seven runs last night, so maybe we’re starting to hit.”

Joe Hesketh (6-8) didn’t pitch well, but he made it through five innings for the victory.

Milwaukee 5, Seattle 2--Another strong effort by Chris Bosio at Milwaukee ended the Brewers’ three-game losing streak.

Bosio gave up a run and five hits in seven innings to win his third in a row and improve his record to 9-5.

The Brewers pulled to within 6 1/2 games of Toronto in the East.

New York 4, Cleveland 3--Curt Young improved to 3-0 as a Yankee in this game at New York, but he left after 6 2/3 innings with an injured left hamstring. It was the same injury that put him on the disabled list last season at Oakland.

Young had given up two runs on eight hits when he was injured covering first base.