AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Henderson Hits Another Timely Homer

Dave Henderson is on a pace for what could be his first 30-homer season, but he’s more interested in quality than quantity.

“A lot of guys talk about hitting 30 or 40 homers,� Henderson said after his 19th homer of the season helped the Oakland Athletics defeat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2, Thursday at Oakland. “But it’s not how many you hit, it’s when you hit them.�

Henderson’s two-run homer off Dave Johnson in the sixth inning gave Oakland a three-run lead as Mike Moore (10-10), with help from four relievers, became the fourth 10-game winner on the A’s.

Henderson has moved into the cleanup spot in place of slumping Mark McGwire, but he’s not sure if the switch has much to do with his recent success. He’s 17 for 47 (.362), with two homers and 10 RBIs over the last 11 games.

Moore (10-10) gave up six hits in 5 2/3 innings, struck out three and walked four. He joined Bob Welch (18-4), Dave Stewart (15-8) and Scott Sanderson (11-7) to form the only major league staff with four 10-game winners. Dennis Eckersley, the fifth A’s pitcher, got his 37th save in 38 opportunities.

Henderson, who also had an RBI double in the first, hit the major league-leading 24th homer given up by Johnson, who yielded five runs and five hits in six-plus innings. Johnson came into the game with six consecutive road victories since losing at Seattle on May 5.

Texas 13, Cleveland 5--At Cleveland, the Rangers made it easy for Bobby Witt to win his eighth decision in a row by scoring nine runs in the sixth inning on nine consecutive hits, one short of the major league record.

In all, 11 consecutive Rangers--nine on hits and two on walks--reached safely in the sixth against three Cleveland pitchers. Walks do not break up a consecutive hits streak. Texas finished with 21 hits.

Four National League teams and two American League teams have had 10 consecutive hits, most recently Detroit against Baltimore on Sept. 20, 1983.

Ruben Sierra, whose 15-game hitting streak Wednesday night, had four hits for Texas, which has won nine of its last 13 games. Pete Incaviglia had a two-run homer in the second and a two-run single in the sixth.

Witt (11-8) is 8-0 in his last 10 starts, matching the 10-year-old club record of Danny Darwin. Witt struck out 10 while yielding three runs and five hits in seven innings.

New York 1, Seattle 0--Tim Leary yielded only allowed two hits in 8 1/3 innings at Seattle to beat Matt Young, his former UCLA teammate, who gave up only three hits, as the Yankees won their fifth in a row.

Leary (6-14), gave up a double to Jeffrey Leonard in the second inning and an infield single to Harold Reynolds in the sixth. He struck out eight and walked four to lead the Yankees to their 10th victory in 13 games.

Lee Guetterman got the last two outs, retiring Ken Griffey Jr. on strikes and Alvin Davis on a grounder with two Mariners on base.

Bob Geren singled in the only run in the second inning, as the Yankees swept the three-game series. It was only their second sweep of the season, the other coming against the Angels May 4-6.

Young (5-12) struck out six and walked three in pitching his fifth complete game, but was the victim of the 13th shutout of the Mariners.

Kansas City 5, Chicago 3--George Brett drove in three runs at Kansas City as the Royals dropped the White Sox four games behind Oakland in the West.

Detroit 5, Toronto 4--A three-run homer by Larry Sheets in the sixth inning erased a two-run deficit at Toronto and helped prevent the Blue Jays from moving into a tie for the East lead with Boston.