BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Brewers, Orioles Gain Ground on Blue Jays

Milwaukee’s Chris Bosio wasn’t thinking about the pennant race or his impending free agency. He didn’t have time.

Pitching with crisp efficiency, Bosio threw only 71 pitches--and only 19 balls--in eight innings to help beat the Red Sox, 6-0, at Boston and tie a Brewer record by winning his eighth consecutive decision.

The victory in 2 hours 14 minutes, the shortest game of the year at Fenway Park, brought Milwaukee within five games of East-leading Toronto, which lost.

Bosio (14-5), who hasn’t lost since July 9 and is unbeaten in 12 starts since the All-Star break, retired the leadoff batter on the first pitch in four innings and on the second pitch in three.

Baltimore 2, Kansas City 1--Cal Ripken ended his 73-game homerless streak to help the Orioles close to within four games of Toronto with the victory at Baltimore.

Ripken entered the game in a three-for-29 slump that had dropped his batting average to .239. But he went three for three, including his first home run in 292 at-bats since June 23. Brady Anderson also homered for the Orioles, who have stayed in the race despite winning for only the second time in eight games.

Chicago 8, New York 6--Lance Johnson of the White Sox tripled twice and drove in two runs at New York in a game interrupted by a bench-clearing incident in the eighth inning.

White Sox designated hitter George Bell thought reliever Greg Cadaret was throwing at him and took a few steps toward the mound as the benches and bullpens came onto the field. Frank Howard, the Yankees’ 6-foot-8 batting coach, walked to the plate and challenged Bell, but the player was held by teammates. Order was soon restored.

Oakland 3, Minnesota 2--Terry Steinbach’s run-scoring grounder in the eighth inning broke a tie and helped give the West-leading Athletics a seven-game lead over the second-place Twins.

Ruben Sierra led off the eighth at Oakland with a double off Tom Edens (5-3). After a walk and a fielder’s choice, Steinbach drove in the winning run off reliever Gary Wayne.

Jim Corsi (4-1) got the victory and Dennis Eckersley got the final three outs--two on strikeouts--for his 46th save. It was the A’s seventh consecutive victory.

Cleveland 2, Toronto 1--Jose Mesa threw four-hit ball for 8 2/3 innings at Toronto as the Indians matched their season high with their fifth consecutive victory.

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NATIONAL LEAGUE

Pittsburgh 5, St. Louis 4--The Pirates victimized Lee Smith again, beating the Cardinals and their relief ace on Cecil Espy’s run-scoring single in the 10th inning at St. Louis. Smith leads the league with 38 saves, but is 0-3 with two blown saves in three games against Pittsburgh.

Houston 5, San Francisco 0--Willie Blair limited the Giants to an infield single during six innings at Houston before being lifted for a pinch-hitter. Xavier Hernandez allowed three hits over the last three innings for his seventh save.

New York 10, Chicago 8--Andre Dawson and Derrick May each went four for five and Charlie O’Brien’s three-run double with two out in the top of the ninth led the Mets at Chicago.

Philadelphia 6, Montreal 2--Braulio Castillo hit his first major league home run, a three-run shot, and Darren Daulton added a run-scoring single at Philadelphia to become the first Phillie to drive in 100 runs since Mike Schmidt and Juan Samuel in 1980.