AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Gibson’s Three-Run Shot Out of Tiger Stadium Adds to McDowell’s Woes

Kirk Gibson hit a three-run home run out of Tiger Stadium on Sunday, leading the Detroit Tigers to an 8-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox and their struggling ace, Jack McDowell.

Gibson’s home run against McDowell (1-4) in the third inning, his third, hit the right field roof and bounced over to give Detroit a 6-1 lead.

“When you hit a ball like that, you know it’s in the third deck, but you don’t expect it to go all the way out on a cold day like this,” Gibson said. “It didn’t seem like the ball was carrying that much. It really had some backspin on it because it just kept elevating.”

It was the 26th time a ball had been hit out of Tiger Stadium and the third time Gibson has done it. He accomplished the feat against Boston’s Mike Brown on June 14, 1983, and Milwaukee’s Chris Bosio on Sept. 10, 1986.

McDowell, who won 22 games and the American League Cy Young Award last season, lasted only three innings, giving up six earned runs and seven hits.

Oakland 8, New York 1--Bobby Witt, in his best outing of the season, gave up one run in 7 2/3 innings at Oakland, helping the A’s end a 12-game losing streak.

Troy Neel drove in four runs with two singles and Geronimo Berroa tripled and singled to drive in three runs, helping the A’s end their second-longest losing streak since coming to Oakland in 1968. The A’s lost 14 in a row from July 29 to Aug. 12, 1977.

Witt (2-2), who pitched out of trouble in the sixth inning by striking out the side after giving up consecutive singles, took a shutout into the eighth before Paul O’Neill hit a run-scoring double with two out. Witt walked three and struck out eight.

Kansas City 6-7, Milwaukee 2-3--Mark Gubicza won as a starter for the first time in two years, getting home run support from Mike Macfarlane and Wally Joyner to help the Royals complete a doubleheader sweep at Kansas City.

David Cone (4-1) won his fourth consecutive start in the opener and Gary Gaetti and Felix Jose each had two runs batted in.

Gubicza (1-2), who underwent rotator-cuff surgery in 1990, went five innings. He gave up seven hits and three runs, walked one and did not get a strikeout. It was his first victory as a starter since June 19, 1992, a span of 13 starts.

Seattle 6, Baltimore 0--Ken Griffey Jr.’s two-run home run at Seattle helped Chris Bosio to his first victory of the season.

Eric Anthony went four for five for the Mariners, who have won six of their last eight games.

Bosio (1-3) gave up seven singles, struck out two and walked one in seven innings. Tim Davis and Bobby Ayala closed out the Orioles, who were shut out for the first time this season.

Arthur Rhodes (1-4) matched a career high with eight strikeouts.

Texas 5, Cleveland 4--Will Clark’s sacrifice fly capped a two-run ninth inning at Cleveland, helping the Rangers win for the fifth time in six games.

The Indians took a 4-3 lead into the ninth, but their bullpen blew the save for the eighth time in 16 chances this year.

Derek Lilliquist gave up a leadoff double to Manuel Lee, who moved to third on a fly ball to right and scored on Oddibe McDowell’s infield single against Jose Mesa (3-1). Jose Canseco singled McDowell to third--Canseco’s third hit of the game--and Clark followed with the winning fly ball against Brian Barnes.

Cleveland’s Eddie Murray hit a two-run home run in the first inning, then put the Indians ahead, 4-3, with a leadoff homer in the seventh, his sixth of the season.

Minnesota 7, Toronto 3--Scott Leius hit a key homer for the second consecutive game, this time a three-run shot to cap a four-run seventh inning at Minneapolis.

Leius, whose two-run homer capped a five-run fourth inning in Saturday’s 11-9 victory, has a team-high five home runs.