American League Roundup : Tigers Trade for Lynn, Power; Beat White Sox

The only team in the three-way battle for the American League East title to make any moves before the midnight deadline Wednesday was the Detroit Tigers. The injury-riddled Tigers acquired outfielder Fred Lynn from the Baltimore Orioles for three players to be name1679843694Kansas City Royals for catcher Rey Palacios and left-handed reliever Mark Lee, both minor leaguers.

The Tigers also helped themselves on the field Wednesday night at Chicago when Jack Morris ended the team’s four-game losing streak with a 9-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox. With the second-place Boston Red Sox losing, the Tigers increased their lead to two games.

Morris, who faced the minimum 15 batters in the first 5 innings, yielded 5 hits in 8 innings and improved his record to 12-12.

The dormant Tiger bats came alive with 13 hits. Lou Whitaker drove in three runs, and Gary Pettis had three hits and scored twice.

Lynn, batting .252 with 18 home runs and 37 RBIs, had the right to refuse the trade. Lynn, 36, said it only took him a second or two to decide he wanted to go from a last-place team to a first-place club. He gained 29 games in the standings.

Power, who had gone to Kansas City in the trade that sent Danny Jackson to Cincinnati, is 5-6 with a 5.94 ERA. He can become a free agent after the season.

“We’ve got a few tired arms,” Tiger General Manager Bill Lajoie said. “Ted Power will help as a reliever or starter. Right now I’d take Cy Young, if I could.

“We’re hoping Lynn will provide a spark for our lagging offense.”

Oakland 7, Boston 2--Most of the Oakland players have performed about as expected this season. A couple of exceptions are pitcher Storm Davis and outfielder Dave Henderson.

Both continued to be pleasant surprises as the Athletics ruined the Red Sox’s final trip to Oakland this season.

Davis (14-4), with help from four relievers, won his ninth game in a row, while Henderson doubled, homered and made two fine catches as the Athletics completed a three-game sweep.

Davis gave up both Boston runs in 5 innings, but he also had the benefit of Mark McGwire’s 27th home run and Jose Canseco’s 100th RBI.

Henderson, 30, has established career highs in home runs (21), RBIs (76), doubles (33) and total bases (225). His .305 average is also a career high.

The Red Sox had only three runs in the three games against the A’s. One reason is that Wade Boggs, the top hitter in the majors, went 0 for 10 as his average dropped to .355.

The Red Sox also had to put pitcher Dennis (Oil Can) Boyd on the disabled list. Boyd has a blood clot in his right shoulder and may miss the rest of the season.

“I’m hoping we’ll be back (to Oakland) for the Championship Series,” Manager Joe Morgan of the Red Sox said. “We’ll do better then.”

New York 4, Seattle 1--Rick Rhoden gave the beleaguered Yankee pitching staff a lift when he pitched a six-hitter at Seattle to end the Yankees’ six-game losing streak.

Dave Winfield drove in three runs, two in the first inning, to provide Rhoden (8-10) with the support he needed. Rhoden was the first Yankee starter to win since Aug. 14.

In their losing streak, Yankee pitchers gave up 62 runs.

Milwaukee 4, Toronto 2--Robin Yount, penciled into the lineup only once in this game at Milwaukee, drove in two runs with a single and a home run to pace the Brewers.

Don August (8-6) and two relievers gave up nine hits but only two runs. In a game last week, Milwaukee Manager Tom Trebelhorn put Yount on his lineup card twice. Yount had to leave the game in the second inning.

Kansas City 1, Cleveland 0--Danny Tartabull raced home on Bill Pecota’s suicide squeeze bunt in the seventh inning at Kansas City to give Charlie Leibrandt the victory.

It was another tough defeat for Greg Swindell (14-13), who pitched a four-hitter.

Bo Jackson returned to the Royal lineup after injuring a hamstring Tuesday night. He went 0 for 2.