Everyone's a Hit for Red Sox in 17-1 Win

L.A. Times Archives

Aug. 6, 1997 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

The Rangers were victims of peer pressure Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas.

“It’s a situation where everybody’s swinging well and nobody wants to make the third out,” said Boston’s Mo Vaughn, who went three for four with three RBIs in the Red Sox’s 17-1 win.

“Everybody was having quality at-bats and everybody was relaxed. We just capitalized on every chance we got.”

Chief among those capitalizing were Troy O’Leary, who hit two upper-deck homers; and Nomar Garciaparra, the Red Sox shortstop from Bellflower and St. John Bosco High who did little to hamper his rookie of the year campaign with a four for seven night, with a homer and two doubles.

Garciaparra had his league-leading 48th multi-hit game and improved his numbers to 20 homers, 30 doubles and 66 RBIs, all tops among AL rookies. It was his fourth four-hit game of the season.

Wil Cordero highlighted an eight-run third inning with a three-run homer, and O’Leary had four hits with three RBIs. John Valentin, Vaughn and Jeff Frye all had three hits to send the Red Sox to a two-game series sweep.

“We’re still fighting, still playing hard,” Boston Manager Jimy Williams said after the Red Sox raised their team batting average to .299, best in the majors. “All up and down our lineup we hit. It takes a lot of people contributing to get to that level [.299 as a team].”

Texas lost for the seventh time in eight games and continued its free-fall in the AL West.

“You just think, ‘How can I get through this game with the least embarrassment possible,’ ” Ranger Manager Johnny Oates said. “You pull the plug when you realize it’s going to be tough to come back.”

Boston had 24 hits, the most in the American League this season and a record for a Texas opponent in a nine-inning game.

Detroit 6, Cleveland 4--Justin Thompson struggled through six innings, but he got enough support at Detroit to earn his 10th win.

Phil Nevin homered for the Tigers, who ruined the Cleveland debut of Jeff Juden, obtained in a July 31 trade from Montreal.

A nervous Juden lasted only 3 2/3 innings, in his first American League start, giving up three runs on five hits and six walks.

Juden--who was 11-5 with the Expos--pitched a complete game on June 15 over the Tigers in Montreal. But he lost his last three starts in the National League and has not won since July 6.

Thompson (10-8) gave up three runs on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Manny Ramirez touched him for a solo home run in the fifth inning.

The Tigers, who have scored only six runs in Thompson’s eight losses, had eight hits and drew 10 walks off six Indian pitchers.

Toronto 8, Minnesota 3--The Blue Jays got a two-run homer from Jose Cruz Jr., his second in five games since being acquired from Seattle, and some strong pitching from Robert Person in ending a miserable trip with a win at Minneapolis.

Toronto heads home after a 2-8 trip, their worst 10-game trip in 20 years.

Ed Sprague had two hits and RBIs for the Blue Jays, and Person (5-7) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings. After a rocky first two innings, Person retired 16 of 20 batters.

Tim Crabtree pitched the eighth, giving up a home run to Rich Becker and Paul Quantrill pitched the ninth for Toronto.

New York 4, Kansas City 1--Kenny Rogers, making his first start in seven weeks, gave up one run in five innings and Paul O’Neill had two RBIs to lead the Yankees to a win at Kansas City.

Their seventh victory in eight outings boosted the Yankees to a season-best 20 games over .500 and left them 4 1/2 games behind Baltimore in the AL East.

Kevin Appier (6-10) gave up three runs in the first inning and lost his fifth decision in a row. Appier, whose 3.04 ERA and 138 strikeouts ranked among the AL leaders coming in, has not won in seven starts.

Rogers (5-4), the $20 million pitcher who was banished to the bullpen after an ineffective start on June 15, gave up six hits and one run in five innings, striking out two and walking two.

Chicago 3, Oakland 0--Robin Ventura homered and doubled to back seven shutout innings from Doug Drabek in the White Sox’s win at Oakland.

Drabek (8-7) walked one and struck out three to help Chicago break a three-game losing streak. He is 2-0 with a 0.90 earned-run average over his last three starts.

Matt Karchner relieved Tony Castillo in the ninth inning and recorded the final two outs for his second save.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

Player: N.Garciaparra

Team: Boston

Performance: 4 for 7, 2 2Bs, HR, 3 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win

Player: Troy O’Leary

Team: Boston

Performance: 4 for 6, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs

Team’s Result: Win