AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Royals Beat A’s Despite Ejections

The Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals threatened to stage an old-fashioned donnybrook Saturday, but the umpires took charge quickly.

Two innings into the Royals’ 8-4 victory at Kansas City, there were five hit batsmen, two angry managers and two ejected Kansas City pitchers.

Umpire-in-chief Dave Phillips ejected Hipolito Pichardo and Steve Shifflett during the second inning. Pichardo hit Rickey Henderson to open the game, and Kelly Downs retaliated in the bottom of the first, hitting lead-off batter Gregg Jefferies. This brought a warning.

Phillips decided Pichardo pitched too close to a batter during the second inning. Shifflett replaced him and threw only two strikes in 12 pitches. His 13th hit Henderson and he was ejected, too.

“As the crew chief, I decided we would warn both teams and try to prevent a bench-clearing brawl, which always entails ejections and suspensions,� Phillips said. “We were trying to prevent that.�

Royal Manager Hal McRae argued that neither of his pitchers was trying to hit anyone.

“I just wanted the game played the way it has been for 100 years,� McRae said. “Pichardo did not hit Henderson intentionally, and Shifflett was just wild.�

A’s Manager Tony La Russa didn’t want to discuss it. “The important thing is who had the most runs,� he said. “They did.�

Getting hit didn’t slow down Jefferies. Jefferies, who had four hits, including a game-winning single during the 10th Friday night, had two more hits, scored a run and drove in another. He and Curtis Wilkerson, who also has six hits in the last two games, drove in a run during a four-run fourth that put the Royals in front to stay.

Toronto 3, New York 1--Jack Morris, at 37, no longer overpowers hitters, but he still is doing what he has been doing so well for more than a decade--winning.

When Joe Carter hit a two-run double during the eighth inning at Toronto, it broke a tie and enabled Morris to improve to 13-4.

Morris, who gave up a run on seven hits in eight innings, lowered his earned-run average from 4.54 to 4.36.

But Morris gives the Blue Jays what they need. If it is a tight game, he keeps them close. If the Blue Jays are scoring, Morris seems easy to hit. In addition to his 13 victories, he has had three no decisions that the Blue Jays won. In his four losses, the Blue Jays have scored only six runs.

Cleveland 8, Detroit 5--Cecil Fielder hit a grand slam during the seventh inning at Cleveland, but all it did was get the Tigers even.

In the bottom of the inning, Glenallen Hill hit a tiebreaking home run to trigger a three-run rally that put the last-place Indians only 2 1/2 games behind the Tigers.

Fielder, who has 90 RBIs, has three home runs and 10 RBIs in the last two games.

Minnesota 9, Milwaukee 6--Brian Harper hit a grand slam at Minneapolis and the Twins built their lead in the West back to 1 1/2 games over Oakland.

John Smiley (11-5), given a three-run fifth inning, pitched 7 2/3 innings and won for the 11th time in his last 14 starts.

Smiley and Jaime Navarro were in a scoreless battle until the fifth when Mike Pagliarulo drove in a run and slumping Greg Gagne followed with a two-run single.

Chicago 8, Seattle 1--George Bell’s two-run double capped a four-run second inning at Chicago that enabled the White Sox to win for the fourth time in the last five games.

It may have been a costly victory. Kirk McCaskill (7-8), who gave up only two hits in five innings, had to leave in the sixth when he injured his right elbow.

Lance Johnson, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games, had two hits, one RBI and scored a run.

Baltimore 9, Boston 3--Even after hitting a three-run home run that led the Orioles to a victory at Boston, third baseman Leo Gomez preferred to talk about his defense.

“The home run is exciting, but defense is what makes me happy,� said Gomez, who has 11 home runs, 48 RBIs and is batting .280.