AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Yankees Shrink Blue Jays’ Lead in the East

Veteran outfielder Dave Winfield says the Toronto Blue Jays are not worried, even though their lead in the AL East is shrinking.

The Blue Jays’ lead was cut to 2 1/2 games Saturday when Danny Tartabull hit a two-run home run that gave the New York Yankees a 2-1 victory at New York.

“There’s no sense of urgency,” said Winfield, who struck out with a runner at second to end the sixth. “We just feel we’re in control of our destiny, and if we play the way we’ve been playing, we’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Toronto’s magic number remained at five for its second consecutive division title and its third in four years. Second-place Milwaukee closed the gap by defeating Oakland, 2-1.

The Yankees ended a 10-game losing streak against the Blue Jays by beating Juan Guzman (15-5), who lost consecutive decisions for only the third time in his career.

Guzman walked four and struck out two in six innings.

Tartabull’s third-inning homer, his 24th, was only the sixth against Guzman this season, the first since Aug. 3.

Bob Wickman (5-1) won for the fifth time in six decisions, giving up six hits in seven innings, striking out four and walking one. Rich Monteleone pitched a perfect eighth and Steve Farr finished for his 28th save in 34 chances.

Toronto’s clubhouse was calm after the loss as players wondered about the Milwaukee-Oakland game.

“We know that if we play well, we’ll be OK,” Winfield said.

Milwaukee 2, Oakland 1--The victory at Milwaukee moved the Brewers to within 2 1/2 games of Toronto in the East with seven games left. It also prevented the Athletics from clinching the championship in the West.

Greg Vaughn broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with his 22nd homer. Jesse Orosco (3-1) pitched 1 2/3 innings and benefited from two double plays.

Vaughn made a diving catch in the seventh and Darryl Hamilton made a diving catch in the eighth to rob the A’s of extra base hits. Doug Henry pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 31 chances.

Ron Darling (15-10) lost after winning seven of his last eight decisions.

Minnesota 9, Kansas City 2--Kirby Puckett singled twice at Minneapolis to help the Twins stave off elimination in the West.

A loss by the Twins would have given Oakland the AL West championship for the fourth time in five years. Instead, the Athletics’ magic number remained at one.

Puckett has 200 hits. He is the only Twins player to reach the mark five times, and only the 18th player overall. Pedro Munoz drove in four runs with three hits.

George Brett got two hits, increasing his career total to 2,996.

Kevin Tapani (16-11) pitched six innings. He struck out five and walked one.

Boston 7-0, Baltimore 3-2--Craig Lefferts gave up five hits in 7 1/3 innings in the nightcap at Baltimore to earn his first American League victory.

The Red Sox scored four runs in the 14th inning to win the first game.

The split moved the Orioles closer to elimination in the AL East. Any combination of Toronto victories and Baltimore losses totaling two will eliminate the Orioles, who have lost 12 of 19.

Lefferts (1-2), in his fourth start since joining the Orioles in a trade with the San Diego Padres on Aug. 31, did not allow a runner to reach second base.

Gregg Olson got the last five outs for his 35th save.

Seattle 8, Texas 4--Dann Howitt ended an 0-for-43 slump with a run-scoring triple that began a six-run rally at Arlington, Tex.

Howitt’s last hit had been on June 7 when he played for Oakland. He was cut by the A’s in July, signed as a free agent with Seattle and had been 0 for 12 with the Mariners.

Mariner rookie Dave Fleming (16-10) gave up three runs and seven hits in five innings.

Cleveland 7, Detroit 4--Jesse Levis’ first major league home run broke a 4-4 tie at Detroit.

Jack Armstrong (6-15) pitched four shutout innings for the victory. Steve Olin pitched 1 1/3 innings for his 28th save.

Cecil Fielder hit his 33rd homer and Rob Deer hit his 31st for the Tigers.