An Unintentional Victory for Tigers

It was an unusual way to win a game, to say the least.

Detroit’s Curtis Pride was being intentionally walked in the eighth inning when Baltimore reliever Terry Mathews threw the ball over catcher Lenny Webster’s mitt for a wild pitch, allowing Travis Fryman to score from third.

With Phil Nevin hitting a two-run pinch-homer earlier in the inning, the Tigers defeated the Orioles, 6-5, Saturday before 37,074 at Detroit.

“That was the most exciting game since I’ve been here, and what makes it most exciting is that the last two nights we’ve had 30,000 people here and we’ve been able to show them what kind of baseball we can play,” Nevin said.

On Friday night, 30,100 saw Detroit come back for an 11-8 victory in the second game of a doubleheader.

Before the last two days, the Tigers averaged 14,165 fans at home.

Saturday’s game featured a matchup of All-Star starting pitchers, but neither Baltimore’s Mike Mussina nor Justin Thompson of the Tigers figured in the decision.

Mussina matched his career high with 14 strikeouts and left with a 5-3 lead after Brian Hunter singled to lead off the eighth.

Jesse Orosco (2-1) relieved, and Nevin tied the score with his home run to the upper deck in right.

“It was a fastball and I just got it up,” Orosco said. “I feel bad for Mike Mussina; he threw a fine game and I let it get away.”

Orosco left after Fryman singled and Tony Clark walked. Mathews relieved to face pinch-hitter Brian Johnson and threw a wild pitch that moved the runners to second and third.

After Johnson and Raul Casanova struck out, Mathews let fly with his embarrassing wild pitch. Fryman scored easily as the ball went all the way to the screen.

Dan Miceli (2-1) pitched a perfect eighth for the win. Todd Jones pitched the ninth for his 13th save.

Jeffrey Hammonds homered twice and Tony Tarasco also hit a home run for Baltimore.

Mussina gave up four runs and six hits and walked three. He matched his previous high of 14 strikeouts.

Cleveland 8, Kansas City 4--Pat Borders, replacing the hot-hitting Sandy Alomar, had three hits at Cleveland and Charles Nagy won his ninth game.

Alomar, the Indians’ catcher who has a 29-game hitting streak, did not play after going two for four Friday, tying the second-longest hitting streak in club history.

A crowd of 42,892--Cleveland’s 170th consecutive sellout--turned out for Larry Doby Day. Doby, the first black player in the American League, was honored before the game on the 50th anniversary of his debut with the Indians.

New York 8, Toronto 0--At Toronto, Andy Pettitte pitched a six-hitter for his first career shutout and Cecil Fielder hit his 299th career home run as the Yankees won for the fifth time in their last six road games.

Pettitte (9-5) struck out six and walked two in his fourth complete game of the season, winning for the first time in his last five starts. Pat Hentgen (8-6) gave up five runs on 10 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Chicago 11, Boston 8--Tony Pena drove in four runs and Mike Cameron had three RBIs to lead the White Sox at Chicago.

Frank Thomas, who will miss Tuesday’s All-Star game because of sore rib muscles, hit his 17th home run to lead off the fifth.

Milwaukee 2, Minnesota 1--Cal Eldred rebounded from a terrible month of June with seven innings of three-hit ball at Milwaukee and the Brewers ended a five-game losing streak.

The Twins managed two singles through the first six innings off Eldred (8-8), who compiled an 8.13 ERA in six June starts.

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BESTS OF THE DAY

BATTING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Juan Gonzalez Texas 2 for 3, two home runs, 6 RBIs Win J. Hammonds Baltimore 3 for 4, triple, two home runs, 3 RBIs, 3 runs Loss Mike Cameron Chicago 2 for 5, home run, double, 3 RBIs, 2 runs Win

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PITCHING

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Player Team Performance Team’s Result Andy Pettitte New York 9 innings, shutout, 6 hits, 6 strikeouts Win Bobby Witt Texas 8 innings, 3 hits, 1 run Win Cal Eldred Milwaukee 7 innings, 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk Win

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