AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gladden Helps Tigers Push Twins 7 Games Back

Dan Gladden helped the Minnesota Twins win two World Series. Monday night he helped push them in the other direction.

Playing his first game against the Twins, Gladden capped a four-run fifth inning with a two-run homer and made two leaping catches as the Detroit Tigers beat Minnesota, 6-2, at Minneapolis.

The Twins fell seven games behind the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics, their biggest deficit since May, 1991, when there was still plenty of time to win the division title and go on to the World Series.

“I’m just concentrating on the Tigers right now,” said Gladden, who started for Minnesota in the 1987 and 1991 World Series. “I don’t care . . . about what’s going on over here.”

Minnesota led the West by three games before beginning a 9-18 skid July 27. The A’s are 19-8 over that same span.

The Twins have lost seven of the last nine games.

“I have no answers,” Minnesota’s Chuck Knoblauch said. “You could stab me till I bleed to death and I’d have no idea. No clue. No answer. Everybody’s trying hard. Everybody’s playing hard. It’s just not happening.”

Detroit’s Eric King (4-4) allowed one run and four hits in seven innings as Detroit ended an eight-game Metrodome losing streak dating to May 9, 1991.

Minnesota’s Bill Krueger (10-5) lost consecutive decisions for the first time this year.

Cecil Fielder hit his 28th homer for the Tigers.

Oakland 9, Boston 3--Terry Steinbach hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run third inning and Dave Stewart won his 13th consecutive decision over the Red Sox in the Athletics’ victory at Boston.

Stewart (9-8), whose streak against Boston includes three victories in the AL playoffs, last loss to the Red Sox on Aug. 19, 1988. He went 5 1/3 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks as he ended a three-game losing streak.

Stewart is 13-5 lifetime against Boston, 2-0 this season.

Jose Canseco drove in two runs for Oakland with a fielder’s choice grounder in the third against John Dopson (6-6) and a run-scoring single in the eighth, when the A’s added four runs--two on Carney Lansford’s double.

New York 9, Milwaukee 8--Mike Stanley’s run-scoring double capped a four-run rally in the eighth to lift the Yankees over the Brewers at New York.

Robin Yount singled to start a three-run seventh that tied the score for Milwaukee, then doubled home the go-ahead run in the eighth as the Brewers took an 8-5 lead. Yount has 2,984 hits in his career.

New York came back against Doug Henry (1-2) with two out in the eighth on Danny Tartabull’s two-run double, Mel Hall’s RBI single and Stanley’s double.

Jerry Nielsen (1-0) got three outs for his first major league victory. Steve Farr pitched the ninth for his 20th save as Milwaukee lost its seventh consecutive road game.

Chicago 8, Toronto 4--Lance Johnson, Carlton Fisk and George Bell homered to lead the White Sox past the struggling Blue Jays at Chicago.

Toronto, which leads the East by three games, has been outscored, 43-17, while losing five of six games.

Alex Fernandez (6-7) won his third consecutive decision, giving up two runs and seven hits in seven innings. He hasn’t lost in 10 starts since June 11.

Doug Linton (1-3) gave up five runs to the White Sox in the second inning, when Johnson and Fisk opened the inning with consecutive homers.