AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Henderson Turns Rare Doubleheader Feat

Rickey Henderson hit leadoff homers in both games of a doubleheader Monday and the Athletics split the two games with the Cleveland Indians at Oakland.

In the first game, Henderson’s homer helped the A’s to their sixth consecutive victory, 6-5. In the second, Cleveland came back to win, 6-2, in a doubleheader that featured six homers.

Henderson did what baseball historians believe has not been done in more than 80 years. The Elias Sports Bureau, baseball’s statistician, said that the only other instance it could find of a player leading off both games of a doubleheader with home runs was Harry Hooper for the Boston Red Sox on May 30, 1913, against Washington.

“That’s a long time,” Henderson said, “but we don’t play many doubleheaders.”

Henderson, who defined the leadoff role in the 1980s and owns the all-time stolen base record, was glad to be a part of history.

“It’s a great feeling in that sense, but for me, the biggest thing is getting our team a run and getting us in the ballgame,” he said.

Henderson, who has homered in three consecutive games, hit leadoff shots against Paul Abbott in the first game and Mark Clark in the second. He extended his record for leadoff home runs to 61.

Although the statistic is a relatively specialized and obscure one--Bobby Bonds held the record before him--Henderson believes it can give a team a boost.

“It helps the hitters and it also helps the pitcher, because he knows he’s got a lead,” he said. “He can go out there and throw his type of game.”

In the second game, Albert Belle hit solo and two-run shots, and Felix Fermin homered with one aboard, his first homer since April 1990. In the first game, Mike Aldrete’s two-run homer was the decisive blow.

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Chicago 4, Toronto 3--Frank Thomas hit his 18th home run and Lance Johnson tripled twice to lead the White Sox at Toronto, the Blue Jays’ fifth loss in a row.

The losing streak is a season-high for the American League East-leading Blue Jays.

Johnson’s two triples, which give him a major league-leading nine, came in support of Wilson Alvarez (8-4), who gave up two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings.

Roberto Hernandez pitched the ninth for his 16th save. The Blue Jays scored against him on a triple by Ed Sprague and a throwing error by shortstop Ozzie Guillen. Hernandez finished by striking out Turner Ward and getting Roberto Alomar to line out with runners on first and second.

Pat Hentgen (11-3) gave up four runs on 11 hits. He failed in his first bid to become the only pitcher in Blue Jay history to reach the All-Star break with more than 11 victories. He struck out four and didn’t walk a batter in his first complete game.

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Kansas City 7, Baltimore 1--Rico Rossy and Brian McRae hit consecutive home runs, triggering a seven-run eighth inning at Kansas City.

Fernando Valenzuela shut out Kansas City for 6 2/3 innings, and left with a 1-0 lead after issuing two two-out walks. Brad Pennington (3-2) struck out Phil Hiatt to end the seventh, but gave up homers to Rossy and McRae with one out in the eighth.

Valenzuela, who beat Toronto, 6-0, in his previous start, gave up three hits, struck out three and walked four before tiring in the muggy heat.

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Texas 5, Milwaukee 4--Juan Gonzalez hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning to lead the Rangers at Milwaukee.

With the score tied, 3-3, in the eighth, Rafael Palmeiro singled with one out against Graeme Lloyd (2-1), who relieved to start the inning. Gonzalez greeted James Austin with his 21st homer, driving a 2-and-0 pitch over the left-field fence.

The victory was the fourth in five games for the Rangers, who opened their 11-game trip by winning three of four in Detroit.

Milwaukee overcame a 3-0 deficit with runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, tying the score, 3-3, in the sixth on Robin Yount’s run-scoring single against Todd Burns. With the bases loaded and two outs, Mike Schooler (3-0) relieved and retired Tom Brunansky on a popout to shortstop.

Bob Patterson, the sixth Texas pitcher, struck out the final two batters for his first save of the season.

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Minnesota 13, Detroit 3--Dave Winfield and Brian Harper hit Minnesota’s first consecutive home runs in more than a year, igniting a seven-run third inning at Minneapolis.

The Twins have been under .500 since Detroit outscored them, 45-10, while sweeping a three-game series in Minnesota in April. This time, Harper drove in four runs to lead a 17-hit attack as Minnesota won successive games for the first time since June 11-12.

Detroit has lost 13 of its last 14 games to go from two games up in the American League East to 3 1/2 games behind Toronto. Since leading Baltimore, 7-3, in the sixth inning June 22, the Tigers have been outscored, 113-44.

David Wells (9-4) lasted only 2 1/3 innings, giving up six runs and seven hits and getting no help from reliever Tom Bolton.

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New York 6, Seattle 3--Scott Kamieniecki won on the road for the first time in nearly a year, and Hensley Meulens and Mike Stanley homered against Randy Johnson at Seattle.

The Yankees ended their three-game losing streak and sent Seattle to its fourth successive loss.

Kamieniecki (3-2) had lost 13 consecutive decisions on the road since last July 18 in Oakland.

He pitched seven innings and gave up three runs, two of them unearned, on six hits. Steve Howe got the final six outs for his third save.

The Yankees took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Johnson (10-5) gave up six hits, walked four and struck out seven in his sixth complete game. It was the first time in six games that Johnson, the major league strikeout leader with 164, had failed to strike out at least 10 batters.

Johnson walked Bernie Williams to lead off the game and Mike Gallego singled. Don Mattingly doubled home both runners, went to third on the throw home and scored on a wild pitch. Meulens hit his second homer of the season, a 411-foot blast into the right-field stands.

Stanley hit a solo home run, his 11th, in the eighth inning for a 6-2 lead. The Mariners scored in the eighth on Dave Magadan’s double-play grounder.