AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Johnson Erupts After Another Seattle Defeat

Seattle pitcher Randy Johnson struck out 11 and gave up only three runs, but his performance still was not good enough as the Mariners lost to the Tigers, 3-1, Wednesday at Detroit.

“I’m really tired of this,” said Johnson (11-6), who walked five but dropped to 0-5 in his career at Tiger Stadium. “I’ve been doing this for six years with this team, and I was really hoping it would be better this year. But if anything it is worse. Even if I won every time, this team would still be right where it is now.”

Travis Fryman, a career .348 hitter against Johnson, hit a two-run home run in the first inning and that proved to be enough for the Tigers. Manager Sparky Anderson, moved into a tie with Joe McCarthy for fourth place on the career managerial victory list with the victory.

Fryman, who is batting .382 against Seattle this season with three homers and 17 runs batted in, has hit four career homers against Johnson.

“It is fun to hit off him, because he makes you concentrate so much,” Fryman said. “You know that anything less than your best, and you’ll never touch him.”

The Mariners avoided becoming the first team to be shut out by the Tigers this season in the ninth. Ken Griffey Jr. doubled to lead off the inning, stole third and scored on a wild pitch.

Minnesota 1, Texas 0--Pat Mahomes pitched six solid innings and the Twins’ bullpen bailed him out of a jam in the seventh inning, making a first-inning RBI groundout by Kirby Puckett hold up at Arlington, Tex.

It was only the third time this season the Rangers have been blanked, surprising considering the Twins began the game with the worst earned-run average in the majors at 5.79.

Puckett’s one-out grounder scored Chuck Knoblauch, who opened the game with a double. Knoblauch also doubled in the fifth, upping his major league-leading total to 41.

Mahomes (8-4) wasn’t dominant with only two strikeouts, but in 6 2/3 innings he only allowed three hits and three walks.

Kansas City 4, Chicago 1--Brian McRae scored the go-ahead run when third baseman Robin Ventura bobbled Wally Joyner’s grounder in the eighth inning for the Royals at Kansas City.

Jason Bere held the Royals to three hits over seven innings before he was replaced by Kirk McCaskill (1-3) after giving up a leadoff double to Chico Lind.

Rusty Meacham (2-3) pitched to one batter in the eighth for the win, and Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.

Milwaukee 5, Toronto 0--Dave Nilsson hit his second three-run home run in as many games and drove in four runs to lead the Brewers at Toronto.

Bill Wegman (8-3) allowed four hits in seven-plus innings for the Brewers, who have won five of their last six road games. Mike Ignasiak completed the five-hit shutout with two innings of relief.

Pat Hentgen (12-7) gave up five runs in seven innings.

New York 3, Boston 3--The game between the Red Sox and Yankees was suspended because of rain in the bottom of the eighth inning. The game will pick up at the point it was stopped before today’s game between the teams.

Boston scored twice in the top of the eighth to tie, 3-3. Mike Stanley, who hit two homers, had singled with one out in the Yankee eighth and Bernie Williams was batting when play was halted.

Stanley has hit seven home runs in his last 10 games and has scored a run in 14 consecutive games, nearing the modern major league record of 18 set by Red Rolfe of the Yankees in 1939.