AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Strawberry’s Bat Is Practically Shouting

For the time being, Darryl Strawberry wants to let his bat do the talking. In his first two games with the New York Yankees, that bat has been productive if not loud.

Strawberry had three hits with two runs batted in and Sterling Hitchcock pitched a five-hitter Saturday night to lead the Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Tigers at Detroit.

Strawberry had an RBI triple in the second inning, singled in the sixth and added a run-scoring single in the seventh. He is four for nine (.444) since being called up from triple-A Columbus.

As was the case after his Yankee debut Friday, he wasn’t talking to reporters after the game.

Strawberry was interviewed on the Baseball Network telecast before the game but gave the silent treatment afterward.

“That’s my choice,” he said. “It has nothing to do with you. I’m just not talking right now.”

Randy Velarde added two run-scoring singles and Wade Boggs had three hits for New York, which won its third game in a row and 14th in the last 17.

Boston 9, Toronto 3--Mo Vaughn homered, doubled and drove in four runs in the first three innings as the Red Sox scored five times in the first and cruised to an easy victory at Toronto.

Vaughn had a run-scoring double in the first, hit his 29th homer--tying him with Frank Thomas for the major league lead--in the second and hit a two-run double in the third.

Rheal Cormier (4-2) gave up six hits over 6 1/3 innings for his first victory since June 24.

Cleveland 11, Chicago 7--Albert Belle hit two of the Indians’ season-high six home runs and they collected 21 hits at Cleveland.

Belle and Eddie Murray hit consecutive home runs off Alex Fernandez in the first inning, and Belle added the finishing touches with his fourth hit of the game and 24th home run of the season, off Kirk McCaskill in the eighth.

Paul Sorrento, Kenny Lofton and Carlos Baerga also homered for Cleveland, which leads the majors with 142 home runs. All nine Indian starters had at least one hit.

Baltimore 6, Milwaukee 5--Jeff Huson’s bases-loaded single capped a three-run rally that gave the Orioles a victory over the Brewers at Baltimore.

Baltimore entered the ninth inning trailing, 5-3, and facing closer Mike Fetters (0-1), who hadn’t blown a save since July 22, 1994.

Minnesota 13, Kansas City 8--Mike Trombley won for the first time in a month and Kirby Puckett continued his hot hitting with a home run and a double at Minneapolis.

Puckett has hit .384 since the All-Star break and .476 over the past 11 games, raising his average to .306.

Seattle 15, Oakland 9--After blowing a 4-0 lead, the Mariners put together a seven-run sixth inning, highlighted by Mike Blowers’ three-run double, to defeat the Athletics at Oakland.