AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : This Time, Toronto Uses Its Pitching

A day after routing Texas, 13-0, Toronto managed only one run on Roberto Alomar’s RBI groundout in the sixth inning. But that was enough, because David Cone combined with two relievers on a four-hit shutout as the Blue Jays won for the 15th time in 20 games and maintained a five-game lead in the East.

Cone (3-2) gave up four hits in seven innings. He struck out five and walked three. Duane Ward and Tom Henke each followed with a hitless inning, with Henke getting his 30th save.

Scott Chiamparino (0-3) did not give up a hit until Dave Winfield singled to start the fifth. Chiamparino gave up one run and four hits in seven innings, striking out six and walking one.

Alfredo Griffin blooped a one-out double in the sixth and Devon White followed with a single. White made a wide turn around first and got caught in a rundown, and when Griffin took a few quick steps toward the plate, second baseman Jeff Frye threw home. Griffin dove back into third ahead of catcher Ivan Rodriguez’s throw, allowing White to advance to second. Alomar then hit a slow bouncer to second, scoring Griffin.

“It’s nice to only have to pitch seven innings and have guys like Duane Ward and Tom Henke finish up,� Cone said. “In New York we had John Franco. If I was still there I would have had to throw 150 pitches.�

Cone needed only 115 pitches to stop the Rangers. His biggest jam came in the third inning. David Hulse led off with a double. Cone struck out Dean Palmer, and after a wild pitch allowed Hulse to take third, Cone struck out Jose Canseco and Juan Gonzalez to end the inning.

“To be able to pitch out of that situation was probably the biggest point of the game,� Cone said.

Milwaukee 4, Baltimore 1--At Milwaukee, Chris Bosio won his team-record ninth consecutive game and the Brewers moved past the Orioles and into second place in the AL East.

The Brewers have 14 games remaining. The loss marked the first time since April 28 that Baltimore has not been in either first or second place. At 5 1/2 games back, they are farther behind the Blue Jays than they have been all season.

Bosio (15-5), who has not lost since July 9, a span of 13 starts, broke the club record that rookie Cal Eldred tied Friday night. Pete Vuckovich, Moose Haas and Mike Caldwell also won eight in a row with the Brewers.

Milwaukee broke through with two runs in the fourth inning. Paul Molitor walked with one out and when Robin Yount hit back to the mound, Ben McDonald looked to second but threw to first to get Yount. Greg Vaughn then hit a two-out single to score Molitor and tie the score. Vaughn stole second and scored on B.J. Surhoff’s single for a 2-1 lead.

Chris Hoiles gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead in the second with his 20th homer, making him only the second Baltimore catcher to hit 20 in one season. Gus Triandos hit 30 in 1958 and 25 in 1959.

Seattle 6, Oakland 4--The Mariners ended their club-record losing streak at 14 games and stopped Oakland’s winning streak at 10 with a victory at Seattle.

Bret Boone’s two-run single capped a six-run rally in the third inning. Oakland’s AL West lead remained at 8 1/2 games over Minnesota. The A’s magic number for their fourth division title in five years is six.

Seattle trailed, 3-0, before scoring six runs on six hits in the third off Bob Welch (10-6). Tim Leary (7-9) got the victory. Ruben Sierra was three for four with a two-run homer, his 16th.

Tim Leary (7-9) gave up four runs and five hits in five innings, and Jeff Nelson got six outs for his fifth save.

Kansas City 7, New York 4--George Brett doubled and tripled to raise his career hits total to 2,987 as the Royals won at Kansas City.

Brett tied Hall of Famer Sam Rice for 18th place on the career list. He has 15 games remaining in his attempt to join Milwaukee’s Robin Yount as the second player to reach 3,000 hits this season.

Dennis Rasmussen (2-0), who beat New York last week for his first AL victory since 1987, made it two in a row against his former teammates.

Cleveland 5, Chicago 4--Reggie Jefferson, recalled two days ago after helping Colorado Springs win the Pacific Coast League title, had three hits, including a two-run double in the eighth inning at Cleveland, as the Indians prevented Jack McDowell from getting his 21st victory.

The Indians, who overcame an early four-run deficit with the help of Albert Belle’s 100th RBI, ended Chicago’s four-game winning streak. Eric Plunk (9-4) pitched one scoreless inning for the victory. Steve Olin got the final two outs for his 27th save.

Cleveland, trailing 4-3, chased McDowell (20-8) in the eighth, putting runners at second and third on a walk, Mark Whiten’s single and a sacrifice. Jefferson then doubled off Scott Radinsky.

Detroit 3, Boston 2--Tim Naehring, whose solo home run gave the Red Sox the lead in the eighth inning, made a throwing error with two out in the ninth at Detroit that enabled two runs to score and give the Tigers the victory.

Scott Livingstone doubled and pinch-hitter Dave Bergman walked. Chad Kreuter then hit a grounder down the third base line that Naehring charged, but his high throw skipped off first baseman Mo Vaughn’s glove and into the right-field bullpen, allowing both runners to score.