Tigers 10, Angels 0
Jack Morris improved to 7-1 with a 2.94 ERA, tossing a shutout in California that handed the Angels their 5th straight defeat. It was Detroit’s 11th straight win as they pounded Mike Witt and Bruce Kison to the tune of 10 runs on 15 hits, including homers by Kirk Gibson (10th), Alan Trammel (4th) and Marty Castillo (1st). Gibby went 3-for-4 with a long ball, a pair of doubles, and 5 runs driven in. He’s hitting .285 with 35 RBI in 33 games so far.
Royals 15, Red Sox 5
They can’t be stopped now, can they? K.C. won for the 11th time in their last 12 games and are 19-7 since a tough start to the season. Willie Wilson had three hits including his 2nd homer, while Hal McRae, Darryl Motley, Don Slaught and Onix Concepcion each joined the three-hit parade. Marty Barrett went 4-for-4 with a double and RBI in Boston’s loss and is hitting .325 this season.
Athletics 3, Blue Jays 2
Back to the L column for Toronto, with Doyle Alexander falling to 2-5 despite an ERA just a shade over 3. Lary Sorensen, meanwhile, improved to 4-2 with a 5.32 ERA. But Wins are a great stat for pitchers, right? Rant aside, Mike Heath went 4-for-4 with a quartet of singles for Oakland and is now almost over the Mendoza line. Rickey Henderson is now 0-for-6 with a pair of walks since returning from the DL.
Orioles 8, Twins 4
Mike Boddicker didn’t have his best stuff, allowing 4 earned runs in 8-plus innings of work, but he still improved to 3-3 on the season as the Baltimore offense roughed up Frank Viola (L 3-3). The O’s put 6 on the board in the 2nd inning and cruised from there. Kent Hrbek hit his 7th homer of the year for Minnesota in the loss, coming up a triple shy of hitting for the cycle.
Yankees 5, Rangers 3
New York nearly gave this one away, taking a 5-2 lead into the 9th and Dennis Rasmussen (W 3-1) looking for the complete game. He ran out of gas, however, and Dave Righetti was called upon with 2 out and the tying run at plate. Rags picked up his 5th save. Don Mattingly went 3-for-4 with a HR (3rd) and, after a brutally slow start, is suddenly hitting .328. Lesson learned: never trust smaller sample sizes.
Indians 6, Brewers 3
Milwaukee’s losing streak “improved” to eight games, done in by a 5-run bottom of the 7th for the Tribe. Ernie Camacho came on with 2 on and 2 out to notch his AL-best 8th save, retiring Robin Yount on a fielder’s choice. Brett Butler went 3-for-4 at the top of the Cleveland order while Mel Hall hit his 4th homer of the season. The Brew Crew are now 7-24 for a woeful .226 winning percentage. After one more game against Cleveland (20-14), they face Boston (18-15) and Detroit (25-8), so good luck with that…
White Sox 7, Mariners 6
Hey, look who picked up a win! Floyd Bannister improved to 1-6, going 5-plus innings and allowing 5 runs (2 earned), which isn’t exactly good. But he’ll take it. The offense scored 6 runs in the first three innings of work, which certainly improves your chances of picking up a W.
STANDINGS
=========
AL EAST W L PCT GB STR
Detroit Tigers 25 8 .758 - W11
Cleveland Indians 20 14 .588 5.5 W 2
Boston Red Sox 18 15 .545 7 L 3
New York Yankees 16 15 .516 8 W 2
Toronto Blue Jays 14 18 .438 10. L 1
Baltimore Orioles 14 19 .424 11 W 1
Milwaukee Brewers 7 24 .226 17 L 8
AL WEST W L PCT GB STR
Kansas City Royals 20 11 .645 - W 2
Oakland Athletics 19 15 .559 2.5 W 1
Minnesota Twins 18 17 .514 4 L 1
Seattle Mariners 16 16 .500 4.5 L 1
California Angels 15 18 .455 6 L 5
Chicago White Sox 13 18 .419 7 W 1
Texas Rangers 12 19 .387 8 L 2
TEAM STARS
==========
BATTER PITCHER
BAL Cal Ripken Storm Davis
.270, 16 RBI 6-1, 1.27, 32 K
BOS Tony Armas Al Nipper
.284, 11 HR, 35 RBI 4-0, 1.84, 25 K
CAL Fred Lynn Mike Witt
.317, 18 RBI 3-4, 3.58, 55 K
CHW Harold Baines LaMarr Hoyt
.304, 4 HR, 15 RBI 6-2, 2.15, 35 K
CLE Julio Franco Bert Blyleven
.319, 26 RBI, 6 SB 4-2, 1.76, 34 K
DET Kirk Gibson Jack Morris
.285, 10 HR, 35 RBI, 6 SB 7-1, 2.94, 38 K
KCR Willie Wilson Mark Gubicza
.306, 13 SB 5-0, 1.86, 27 K
MIL Robin Yount Bob McClure
.266 2-2, 2.02, 24 K
MIN Kent Hrbek Mike Smithson
.318, 7 HR, 24 RBI 6-2, 3.76, 43 K
NYY Don Mattingly Phil Niekro
.328, 23 RBI 5-2, 3.40, 34 K
OAK Carney Lansford Keith Atherton
.331, 6 HR, 27 RBI 4-1, 1.77
SEA Alvin Davis Jim Beattie
.242, 5 HR, 19 RBI 5-1, 2.56, 37 K
TEX Larry Parrish Mike Mason
.322, 9 HR, 27 RBI 3-0, 1.75, 25 K
TOR George Bell Luis Leal
.304, 6 HR, 18 RBI 4-3, 2.09, 44 K
LEADERS
=======
BATTING AVERAGE
1. Henderson, Rickey (OAK) .349
2. Trammell, Alan (DET) .341
3. Lansford, Carney (OAK) .331
4. Buckner, Bill (BOS) .330
5. Puckett, Kirby (MIN) .329
6. Mattingly, Don (NYY) .328
7. Tabler, Pat (CLE) .325
8. Johnson, Howard (DET) .323
9. Parrish, Larry (TEX) .322
10. Franco, Julio (CLE) .319
HOME RUNS
1. Armas, Tony (BOS) 11
2. Gibson, Kirk (DET) 10
3. Brunansky, Tom (MIN) 9
Easler, Mike (BOS) 9
Parrish, Larry (TEX) 9
RUNS BATTED IN
1. Armas, Tony (BOS) 35
Gibson, Kirk (DET) 35
3. Brunansky, Tom (MIN) 29
4. Lansford, Carney (OAK) 27
Parrish, Larry (TEX) 27
STOLEN BASES
1. Garcia, Damaso (TOR) 16
Henderson, Rickey (OAK) 16
3. Pettis, Gary (CAL) 15
EARNED RUN AVERAGE
1. Davis, Storm (BAL) 1.27
2. Mason, Mike (TEX) 1.75
3. Blyleven, Bert (CLE) 1.76
4. Nipper, Al (BOS) 1.84
5. Gubicza, Mark (KCR) 1.86
6. McClure, Bob (MIL) 2.02
7. Leal, Luis (TOR) 2.09
8. Romanick, Ron (CAL) 2.11
9. Hoyt, LaMarr (CHW) 2.15
10. Boddicker, Mike (BAL) 2.21
WINS-LOSSES
1. Morris, Jack (DET) 7-1
Petry, Dan (DET) 7-1
3. Davis, Storm (BAL) 6-1
4. Hoyt, LaMarr (CHW) 6-2
Smithson, Mike (MIN) 6-2
STRIKEOUTS
1. Langston, Mark (SEA) 65
2. Stieb, Dave (TOR) 58
3. Witt, Mike (CAL) 55
4. Leal, Luis (TOR) 44
5. Smithson, Mike (MIN) 43
SAVES
1. Camacho, Ernie (CLE) 8
2. Caudill, Bill (OAK) 7
Hernandez, Willie (DET) 7
SCHEDULE
========
NYY 16-15 Bystrom, M (1-2, 6.33)
TEX 12-19 Darwin, D (2-4, 5.14)
SEA 16-16 Langston, M (1-7, 4.13)
CHW 13-18 Dotson, R (1-4, 4.66)
MIL 7-24 Sutton, D (0-3, 5.36)
CLE 20-14 Schulze, D (1-2, 7.42)