Yankees 7, Blue Jays 4
Phil Niekro has had a great season. This wasn’t his finest effort, as he allowed a grand slam to Cliff Johnson in the 6th inning. But a win’s a win, and the 45-year old knuckle-baller went 7.1 innings to improve to 9-2. Don Mattingly went 3-for-4 (.349) and Don Baylor poked his 10th tater of the season.
Mariners 7, Red Sox 3
The Boston Red Sox won’t make the playoffs, but they got a nice look at their future this season with rookie Roger Clemens. Clemens took the loss in this one, allowing 4 runs in the 4th inning and finishing with 7 innings of work, striking out 8. Clemens fell to 4-4 with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 9.3 men per 9 innings. It may be his last start of the season, but it was a great start to his career. Spike Owen had three hits for Seattle in the win.
Orioles 3, Angels 2
Storm Davis continued the Cy Young bid, improving to 11-1 with another complete game effort, allowing 2 runs. Davis worked around an 8-walk effort, supported by a trio of solo Baltimore homers, including Wayne Gross’ 10th of the season. Davis leads the AL in both ERA and Wins now, so it’s starting to look like a sure thing that he’ll be collecting an award at the conclusion of this season.
Rangers 12, Indians 2
Texas won their 4th in a row, crushing the Cleveland pitching staff with 15 hits. Danny Darwin went the distance, striking out 8 and improving to just 3-8 on the season for the Rangers. Buddy Bell and Larry Parrish had three hits each for Texas and Charlie O’Brien hit his 8th homer of the season.
White Sox 9, Athletics 5
Chicago snapped a three-game losing streak as Greg Walker connected for a pair of home runs (8th), driving in 4 runs for the Pale Hose. Carlton Fisk hit his 11th homer of the season for the White Sox, reaching base three times. Both teams are still technically alive still, though they can each now fare no better than a tie for the division lead.
Brewers 2, Twins 1
Milwaukee has sure played well of late, winning 8 of their last 12. They ended up taking both games of a 2-game series in Minnesota, winning each game 2-1. In this contest it was Moose Haas with the win, improving to 2-6. Rollie Fingers loaded the bases with two outs in the 9th before retiring Darrell Brown on a grounder to short, notching his 9th save. Fingers now has a ridiculous 0.36 ERA. Milwaukee got both runs on a two-run homer by Rick Manning in the 6th – his 3rd of the season. John Butcher threw well for Minnesota, but fell to 7-4 with a 1.96 ERA, throwing 5.1 innings.
STANDINGS
=========
AL EAST W L PCT GB STR
Detroit Tigers 40 15 .727 - L 2
New York Yankees 30 24 .556 9.5 W 3
Boston Red Sox 30 25 .545 10 L 2
Cleveland Indians 30 25 .545 10 L 2
Baltimore Orioles 27 28 .491 13 W 2
Toronto Blue Jays 26 27 .491 13 L 2
Milwaukee Brewers 16 39 .291 24 W 2
AL WEST W L PCT GB STR
Kansas City Royals 35 19 .648 - W 3
Seattle Mariners 26 28 .481 9 W 1
Chicago White Sox 25 29 .463 10 W 1
Oakland Athletics 25 29 .463 10 L 1
Texas Rangers 25 31 .446 11 W 4
Minnesota Twins 24 31 .436 11.5 L 4
California Angels 23 32 .418 12.5 L 2
TEAM STARS
==========
BATTER PITCHER
BAL Cal Ripken Storm Davis
.293, 8 HR, 27 RBI 11-1, 1.63, 47 K
BOS Dwight Evans Bob Ojeda
.298, 10 HR, 44 RBI 8-4, 3.06, 70 K
CAL Fred Lynn Geoff Zahn
.316, 8 HR, 31 RBI 5-1, 2.79
CHW Harold Baines LaMarr Hoyt
.323, 10 HR, 32 RBI 9-5, 2.60, 62 K
CLE Julio Franco Bert Blyleven
.322, 33 RBI, 9 SB 5-3, 1.85, 58 K
DET Kirk Gibson Jack Morris
.274, 15 HR, 54 RBI, 8 SB 10-2, 2.86, 60 K
KCR Willie Wilson Dan Quisenberry
.302, 17 SB 5-0, 9 Sv, 1.17
MIL Cecil Cooper Rollie Fingers
.290 9 Sv, 0.36
MIN Kent Hrbek John Butcher
.295, 7 HR, 31 RBI 7-4, 1.96
NYY Don Mattingly Phil Niekro
.349, 44 RBI 9-2, 2.63, 73 K
OAK Rickey Henderson Bill Caudill
.368, 7 HR, 25 RBI, 30 SB 12 Sv, 2.73
SEA Alvin Davis Jim Beattie
.255, 10 HR, 31 RBI 7-4, 3.25, 55 K
TEX Buddy Bell Frank Tanana
.305 7-6, 3.15, 60 K
TOR George Bell Dave Stieb
.316, 9 HR, 35 RBI 7-5, 2.71, 85 K
LEADERS
=======
BATTING AVERAGE
1. Henderson, Rickey (OAK) .368
2. Mattingly, Don (NYY) .349
3. Lansford, Carney (OAK) .346
4. Tabler, Pat (CLE) .330
5. Baines, Harold (CHW) .323
6. Franco, Julio (CLE) .322
7. Boggs, Wade (BOS) .320
Puckett, Kirby (MIN) .320
9. Bell, George (TOR) .316
Lynn, Fred (CAL) .316
HOME RUNS
1. Armas, Tony (BOS) 19
2. Gibson, Kirk (DET) 15
Kittle, Ron (CHW) 15
4. Brunansky, Tom (MIN) 12
Gedman, Rich (BOS) 12
Kingman, Dave (OAK) 12
RUNS BATTED IN
1. Gibson, Kirk (DET) 54
2. Armas, Tony (BOS) 53
3. Parrish, Larry (TEX) 48
4. Evans, Dwight (BOS) 44
Mattingly, Don (NYY) 44
STOLEN BASES
1. Henderson, Rickey (OAK) 30
2. Garcia, Damaso (TOR) 25
3. Pettis, Gary (CAL) 23
EARNED RUN AVERAGE
1. Davis, Storm (BAL) 1.63
2. Blyleven, Bert (CLE) 1.85
3. Butcher, John (MIN) 1.96
4. Berenguer, Juan (DET) 1.98
5. Saberhagen, Bret (KCR) 2.11
6. Gubicza, Mark (KCR) 2.26
7. Boddicker, Mike (BAL) 2.47
8. Hoyt, LaMarr (CHW) 2.60
9. Niekro, Phil (NYY) 2.63
Romanick, Ron (CAL) 2.63
WINS-LOSSES
1. Davis, Storm (BAL) 11-1
2. Morris, Jack (DET) 10-2
3. Petry, Dan (DET) 10-3
4. Niekro, Phil (NYY) 9-2
5. Smithson, Mike (MIN) 9-4
STRIKEOUTS
1. Langston, Mark (SEA) 101
2. Witt, Mike (CAL) 90
3. Stieb, Dave (TOR) 85
4. Moore, Mike (SEA) 73
Niekro, Phil (NYY) 73
SAVES
1. Hernandez, Willie (DET) 13
2. Caudill, Bill (OAK) 12
3. Righetti, Dave (NYY) 11
SCHEDULE
========
TOR 26-27 Alexander, D (3-7, 3.48)
NYY 30-24 Guidry, R (2-7, 6.28)
BOS 30-25 Boyd, O (2-5, 5.81)
SEA 26-28 Young, M (2-3, 7.68)
CHW 25-29 Seaver, T (5-6, 5.53)
OAK 25-29 Young, C (4-4, 4.92)
BAL 27-28 McGregor, S (1-5, 2.98)
CAL 23-32 John, T (2-5, 4.20)
