AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Haselman Breaks Hearts of Blue Jays

Relief pitcher Woody Williams sawed off some wood in Bill Haselman’s hands in the 11th inning Tuesday night at Boston, then learned how far a ball can go off a broken bat.

The answer is 359 feet--over the screen above Fenway Park’s Green Monster in left field to beat Toronto, 6-5.

“I got good wood on it. Whatever good wood there was, there was just enough to get it out of here,” Haselman said. “I don’t know how a ball could go that far with a bat splitting like that.”

Neither did anybody else.

“It was the longest ball I’ve ever seen hit off a broken bat,” said Manager Cito Gaston, whose Blue Jays lost their eighth game in a row.

“I’ve never seen that before in my entire life,” said Jose Canseco. “That was amazing. That was an awesome win right there.”

It was Haselman’s first homer of the year, accomplished when the barrel of the bat--split diagonally across the label--landed in the infield, and it was the only hit in 4 1/3 innings off Williams (0-2). Derek Lilliquist (2-1) earned the victory with a perfect 11th.

Lee Tinsley, Mo Vaughn and Troy O’Leary also homered for Boston--also all solo shots.

New York 7, Detroit 1--It was truly a team victory for the Yankees, who used relief pitchers Scott Bankhead, Bob McDonald (1-1) and Joe Ausanio in spring training fashion to beat the Tigers at New York.

With the Yankee starting rotation in something of tatters because of injuries, Manager Buck Showalter gave the pitchers a pep talk before the game, then sent them out to get New York’s sixth consecutive victory and allow the normal starters an extra day of rest.

Tony Fernandez had his first three-hit game of the season, and it included a three-run homer.

Baltimore 11, Milwaukee 3--John DeSilva won his first major league start and rookie Manny Alexander drove in four runs for the Orioles, who won at Milwaukee.

Alexander, who had five RBIs in his first 40 games, drove in three on a bases-loaded double in the sixth inning in the Brewers’ fifth loss in a row. He also had an RBI single in the fifth inning off knuckleballer Steve Sparks (3-3).

DeSilva, in his fifth major league game and his first appearance this season after being recalled from triple-A Rochester on Sunday, scattered five hits and gave up three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Chicago 8, Minnesota 6--Ray Durham hit a three-run triple in the seventh inning as the White Sox finally gave Jim Abbott (4-3) some support in winning at Minneapolis.

Abbott pitched six-plus innings--his shortest outing in his last six starts--allowing 10 hits. Chicago had scored 13 runs in Abbott’s previous five starts.

Cleveland 7, Kansas City 1--Back from the minor leagues only a few hours, Mark Clark (3-2) gave up five hits over eight innings for the Indians, who won at Kansas City and extended their AL Central lead over the Royals to 7 1/2 games.

Clark got plenty of help from Eddie Murray, who raised his hit total to 2,996 with a single and two doubles, including one he thought at first was a three-run homer.

Oakland 6, Seattle 4--Craig Paquette and Ruben Sierra had home runs at Seattle for the Athletics, who won their third in a row.

Paquette hit a two-run homer, his seventh of the season, in a four-run second inning, which the A’s opened with five hits off Tim Belcher (3-3). Sierra led off the fifth with his 12th homer for a 5-1 lead.