AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Darwin Misses a No-Hitter by Inches

The next time he’s working on a no-hitter in the eighth inning, Danny Darwin should make sure there’s a tall guy playing center field.

Darwin came within five outs of pitching the first no-hitter at Boston’s Fenway Park in 28 years, giving up only one hit as the Red Sox defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-0, Wednesday.

Dan Pasqua hit a triple off the center-field fence to break up the no-hit bid with one out in the eighth.

Pasqua, a .182 hitter, slammed the first pitch from Darwin--a split-finger fastball--399 feet to straightaway center. The ball landed inches above the glove of 5-foot-10 Billy Hatcher.

“Once I got back to the wall, the wind was blowing (the ball) all over the place, and then I jumped and it was out of my reach,” Hatcher said. “It hit the wall and then hit my nose.”

Darwin’s middle finger on his pitching hand was still numb after fielding a hard grounder from the previous batter, Ellis Burks. But Darwin (13-8), who pitched his third career one-hitter, refused to make excuses.

“I just made a bad pitch, and major league hitters are going to hit mistakes,” he said. “I thought it was a homer when he hit it. I thought it was in the bleachers.”

Pasqua, however, thought the ball was going to be caught on the warning track.

“The ball wasn’t carrying at all,” he said. “But Hatcher kept drifting back on it, so it was hit farther than I thought.”

Before Pasqua’s triple, the only baserunners were Tim Raines, who led off the fourth with a walk on a 3-2 count, and Joey Cora, who walked on a 3-2 pitch with one out in the seventh.

There has not been a no-hitter at Fenway nor an official no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead held the Cleveland Indians hitless on Sept. 16, 1965. Matt Young held the Indians hitless on April 12, 1992, but lost the game, 2-1, and did not get credit for a no-hitter.

The Red Sox scored on three walks and an error in the first inning. John Valentin hit his seventh home run of the season in the sixth, and the Red Sox added two runs in the seventh on a run-scoring triple by Hatcher and Andre Dawson’s sacrifice fly.

Texas 4, New York 2--The Rangers turned four double plays in the first five innings and escaped with a victory at New York.

Roger Pavlik (7-6) scattered nine hits in seven innings in winning for the second time in seven starts. He allowed at least one base runner in every inning.

Toronto 7, Cleveland 6--Paul Molitor singled home John Olerud with two out in the 11th to give the Blue Jays their fifth consecutive victory at Cleveland.

The Blue Jays trailed, 6-2, after four innings, but came back to move 20 games over .500 for the first time this year. They also increased their lead over New York in the American League East to two games.

Olerud hit a two-out single against Derek Lilliquist (2-2) and moved to second on a wild pitch. Molitor then grounded a single through the middle, scoring the run.

Olerud went three for five to increase his average to .389.

Reliever Danny Cox (6-5) pitched four scoreless innings for the victory, retiring 12 of 13.

Kansas City 5, Minnesota 2--Kevin Appier held the Twins hitless until the sixth inning and helped the Royals win at Minneapolis.

Appier (14-6) pitched eight innings and gave up five hits to win his third consecutive game and ninth in his last 11 decisions. Jeff Montgomery worked the ninth for his 38th save.

Kevin Tapani (7-12) had his four-game winning streak ended, losing for the first time since July 8.

The Royals’ Gary Gaetti hit a solo home run in the eighth.

Baltimore 8, Seattle 1--Harold Reynolds hit a three-run homer and Jamie Moyer gave up eight hits at Seattle as the Orioles ended an eight-game losing streak, their longest since 1988.

The homer by Reynolds, who signed with Baltimore in the off-season after playing second base for the Mariners since 1983, highlighted a five-run fifth inning in which the Orioles got six hits.

Moyer (8-6) got his first victory in five starts and second complete game of the season by walking one and striking out eight.

Oakland 2, Milwaukee 1--Scott Brosius hit a two-run homer and Ron Darling gave up four hits in seven innings at Oakland as the Athletics won their third consecutive game and sent Milwaukee to its third consecutive loss.

Brosius’ third homer came in the second inning against starter Angel Miranda (2-3).

Darling (5-6) struck out seven and walked three to earn his first victory in three starts. Dennis Eckersley pitched the ninth for his 28th save.