American League Roundup : McGwire Hits 3 Homers, Nearly Gets a 4th in A’s 13-3 Victory

Rookie Mark McGwire hit three home runs and drove in five runs Saturday to power the Oakland A’s to a 13-3 victory over the Indians at Cleveland.

Reggie Jackson and Carney Lansford each hit a two-run homer for the Athletics.

McGwire, whose 25 home runs put him one behind major league leader George Bell of the Toronto Blue Jays, went 4 for 5 and tied a team record with 5 runs scored.

Jackson, in 1969, and Dave Kingman, in 1984, are the only other Oakland players to hit three homers in a game.

McGwire, 23, nearly had four home runs, sending right fielder Cory Snyder to the warning track in the third inning for a drive that Snyder dropped for a three-base error.

“Mark put on a tremendous exhibition,” said Jackson, who has 5 home runs and 17 RBIs in his last 15 games. “He showed why he’s deserving of the publicity he’s getting.”

McGwire’s two-run homer in the ninth inning carried about 450 feet into the temporary center-field bleachers. McGwire also hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the fifth.

Joaquin Andujar (2-1), making his first start since going on the disabled list with a pulled left hamstring June 10, pitched the first 5 innings, giving up 3 runs and 4 hits. Dennis Eckersley and Dennis Lamp each pitched two scoreless innings in relief.

Ken Schrom (4-7) remained winless since May 24. In all, the Athletics had 19 hits off four Indian pitchers, with every Oakland starter getting at least one hit.

It was Cleveland’s sixth straight defeat.

Kansas City 6, Seattle 0--Bret Saberhagen, coming off only his second loss of the season, allowed three hits, all singles, at Kansas City en route to his 13th win, best in the majors, and career victory No. 50.

Saberhagen (13-2), who retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced, allowed two singles to Jim Presley and one to Scott Bradley.

The Royals scored three runs in the first inning off Lee Guetterman, 5-1 since being called up May 21.

Baltimore 4, Detroit 2--Lee Lacy’s double with two outs in the ninth inning at Detroit scored Eddie Murray and Ray Knight, and Lacy later scored on a single by Rene Gonzales for the final run to give the Orioles, who had lost 8 of their last 10 games, the win.

Former Dodger Tom Niedenfuer got his first American League victory with 2 innings of perfect relief.

Detroit’s Darrell Evans homered in the first inning for the 2,000th hit of his 19-year career. It was also his 14th home run of the season and the 361st of his career, tying Joe DiMaggio for 32nd place on the all-time list.

Toronto 8, Milwaukee 1--After failing in his last six tries, Jim Clancy finally won his eighth game, pitching a four-hitter at Milwaukee with offensive support from Lloyd Moseby, who drove in five runs.

Clancy (8-5) gave up three hits in the first two innings and then retired 22 of the next 24 batters, including 11 straight. The victory was his first since May 23 at Seattle and lowered his earned-run average from 2.85 to 2.72.

New York 9, Boston 1--Don Mattingly, who went 4 for 6 Friday night, came back in this game at Yankee Stadium to hit a three-run, first-inning home run, and Bob Tewksbury scattered 6 hits over 7 innings to lead the Yankees.

Tewksbury (1-2), recently recalled from the minors, gave up a run in the first inning on three singles but then shut down the Red Sox until Tim Stoddard took over in the eighth. Dave Righetti pitched the ninth.

Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd, making his second start of the season after being sidelined with a shoulder injury, left the game with discomfort in his right shoulder after pitching to two batters in the sixth.

Boston designated hitter Don Baylor tied Ron Hunt’s major league record when he was hit by a pitch for the 243rd time in his career.

Texas 11-7, Minnesota 6-2--Mike Stanley greeted reliever Jeff Reardon with a pinch grand slam home run in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie and give the Rangers a doubleheader sweep at Arlington, Tex.

In the first game, Ruben Sierra hit a three-run homer, and Larry Parrish added a two-run shot, both in the fourth.

Charlie Hough (8-3) pitched a six-hitter in the second game, walking two and striking out four. Keith Atherton (4-2) took the loss, allowing two runs in 1 innings of relief.

Edwin Correa (3-5) got the first-game victory despite allowing 10 hits and 6 runs in 5 innings.