AMERICAN LEAGUE : Without Bad Luck, Garner Has No Luck

It might have well been raining in Milwaukee. It sure was coming down on Phil Garner’s parade.

In the matter of a few hours, he:

--Learned that his Punch-and-Judy lineup wouldn’t be getting Danny Tartabull because the New York Yankees, as badly as they want to be rid of him, won’t pay him $4 million to play for the Brewers.

--Learned Cal Eldred, who pitched more innings than anyone in the major leagues the last two seasons, has ligament damage in his right elbow and might be out for the season after being on the disabled list since May 15.

--Lost a game to the Texas Rangers, 4-1.

--Fell to 1-5 in a 10-game stretch in which they play all three AL division leaders. The Brewers have lost 15 of 23 games at County Stadium, including three of four to the Cleveland Indians before the Rangers came into town. After two more games against Texas, the Brewers travel to Boston for three games.

“We’ve gotten no breaks,” Garner said, moaning.

Except bad ones.

Juan Gonzalez, who had been out for 35 games because of a bad back, hit his third homer in three games, a 407-foot smash of a Steve Sparks knuckleball for a 1-0 lead.

“I was surprised it stayed fair,” Gonzalez said. “Right now, I’m trying to be patient and concentrate and get a good pitch to hit because my back hurts. And it’s not easy to face a knuckleball pitcher.”

Or Gonzalez.

“I knew it was fair. It got out there too fast,” said Sparks (1-2). “It was a slow knuckler and it stayed out over the plate. He hit it so hard it hooked around the pole. It was a no-doubter.”

Roger Pavlik (4-1) won his fourth decision in a row and the Rangers won for the sixth consecutive time.

Detroit 6, New York 1--David Wells handcuffed New York on four hits through 8 2/3 innings in a victory at Detroit, and Yankee Manager Buck Showalter decided he’d had enough after watching his team lose for the 16th time in 20 games.

Shoddy play, particularly in the outfield, caused Showalter to hold a 15-minute, closed-door meeting after the game. Though the Yankees were only charged with one error (when center fielder Bernie Williams dropped a fly ball from Cecil Fielder), Williams also lost a ball in the lights and Detroit’s Travis Fryman was awarded a hit when his wind-blown fly ball to right glanced off Tartabull’s glove.

“I just expressed my displeasure at the way they’ve been playing,” Showalter said when the clubhouse door finally opened. “I just talked to everyone about the way I feel and I hope we can go on from there.”

It was the first such meeting of the season for the Yankees, who just completed a 3-7 home stand and have now lost 11 of 12 road games.

Wells (3-3) pitched hitless ball for 5 2/3 innings and Juan Samuel homered for the third time in as many games as the Tigers won their fourth in a row.

Tartabull’s clean two-out single to right broke up Wells’ no-hit bid in the sixth.

Toronto 4, Boston 3--Alex Gonzalez’s bases-loaded single with two outs in the 12th inning gave the Blue Jays a victory at Toronto.

Joe Carter led off the bottom of the 12th with a double before Ken Ryan (0-2) intentionally walked John Olerud. Ed Sprague sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Shawn Green was intentionally walked, loading the bases.

Ryan struck out Lance Parrish for the second out before Gonzalez, who homered earlier in the game, lined a 2-and-1 pitch into the gap in right-center sending Boston, first in the AL East, to its third loss in a row.

Mike Timlin (3-0) pitched three innings of one-hit ball.

Cleveland 4, Baltimore 3--Wayne Kirby tripled, singled and drove in the go-ahead run as the Indians won at home, going 20 games over .500 for the first time since 1959.

Their 31-11 record is the best in the major leagues and represents the best start in team history. They have won nine of their last 10 games overall and six in a row at home.

Charles Nagy (4-2) gave up three runs, two of them unearned, and five hits in seven innings, striking out seven and walking one. The Indians are 7-2 in his nine starts.

Paul Assenmacher worked one scoreless inning, and Jose Mesa pitched the ninth for his 15th save in 15 tries, striking out pinch-hitters Kevin Bass and Matt Nokes.

Oakland 1, Chicago 0--Steve Ontiveros, who needed a massage on the mound for neck spasms in the first inning, allowed five hits in seven innings for Athletics in a victory at home.

Rickey Henderson’s single in the third inning brought home the only run as the A’s won their third in a row and sent the White Sox to their fourth consecutive loss.

Mark McGwire, who hit five homers in his previous two games, went 0 for 2 with a walk.

Dennis Eckersley got four outs for his ninth save, making him the first pitcher in major league history to save 300 games for one club.

Kansas City 10, Seattle 9--Tom Goodwin’s run-scoring single in the ninth inning gave the Royals a victory at Seattle after they blew two seven-run leads.

Ron Villone (0-2) walked Chris Stynes to open the ninth. Stynes was safe at second when catcher Chad Kreuter’s throw pulled second baseman Joey Cora off the bag on Brent Mayne’s sacrifice. Goodwin then hit a ground ball sharply up the middle.

Rusty Meacham (2-2) gave up three runs, two of them unearned, on his throwing error in the bottom of the eighth when the Mariners, who trailed, 7-0, and, 8-1, tied the score, 9-9.