American League Roundup : Evans’ 5 Hits Help Tigers Defeat Yankees, 10-8

Darrell Evans has heard the trade rumors all season. On Saturday, he did something about them.

Showing the Tigers just how badly he wants to stay with them, Evans banged out five hits, including a two-run homer, and drove in three runs to pace Detroit to a 10-8 victory over New York before a regular-season record crowd of 55,623 at Yankee Stadium.

The win was the Tigers’ sixth in a row, while the Yankees lost their fourth straight.

“I’ve got four hours to the trading deadline, and I don’t want to go anywhere,” Evans said. “This is probably my best game, going 5-for-5 in Yankee Stadium.”

The fact wasn’t lost on Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson.

“It’s amazing” he said. “Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but about a month ago when we brought up Mike Laga (a left-handed hitting first baseman since sent back to the minors) that Darrell started to get hot. We certainly wouldn’t want to get rid of him now, but I wouldn’t deny there were talks before.”

Jack Morris, 8-5, went 7 innings, yielding 10 hits and eight earned runs. Willie Hernandez went the final 1 innings to earn his 13th save. Phil Niekro, 7-5, was blasted for eight hits, seven runs, six earned, in 2 innings.

“Frankly, I had nothing,” said Morris, who notched his 1,000th career strikeout in the second inning. “I just kept moving the ball around. They hit the hell out of it. Our hitters won this game.”

Evans’ single in the ninth produced the 1,000th RBI of his career.

Baltimore 7, Milwaukee 5--Rookie Larry Sheets, used as a pinch-hitter by rehired Manager Earl Weaver despite a 3-for-23 slump, delivered a go-ahead RBI single to cap a three-run rally in the sixth inning, lifting the Orioles over the Brewers at Baltimore.

Fred Lynn started the rally with a single and scored on Eddie Murray’s eighth homer for a 4-4 tie. Murray’s homer knocked out starter Ted Higuera.

Reliever Bob Gibson, 5-4, issued two walks around a sacrifice bunt before Sheets hit a single to center on a 2-2 pitch, scoring Cal Ripken Jr.

Nate Snell, 1-1, pitched 3 innings, allowing one run and four hits, for his first major league victory. He was relieved with two outs in the ninth by Tippy Martinez, who picked up his third save.

Oakland 8, Cleveland 6--Dave Kingman drove in four runs and Jay Howell recorded his 13th save to lead the A’s past the Indians at Cleveland.

Oakland rookie left-hander Tim Birtsas pitched 5 innings to improve to 3-1. He struck out five, gave up three hits and walked six. Howell went the final 1 innings for the save.

Neal Heaton, 4-6, took the loss.

Boston 7, Toronto 5--The Red Sox scored two runs on a pair of two-out, bases-loaded walks by Gary Lavelle in the eighth inning to rally for the win over the Blue Jays at Boston.

The victory, their third in a row over Toronto, their 12th in the last 13 games and 15th in the last 17, moved the Red Sox to within 4 1/2 games of the first-place Blue Jays in the AL East.

Seattle 2, Kansas City 1--Matt Young and two relievers combined on a six-hitter as the Mariners edged the Royals at the Kingdome.

Young, 5-8, walked four and struck out one over eight innings. Edwin Nunez pitched two-thirds of an inning before Ed Vande Berg got the final out for his third save. Seattle has won 22 straight games this season when leading after the sixth inning.

The Mariners tied the major league record of 21 assists by an infield, last accomplished in 1935 by the Brooklyn Dodgers. Young retired just one Royal on an outfield fly.

Charlie Leibrandt, 6-4, took the loss despite allowing just three hits over seven innings.