Path: utzoo!telly!ddsw1!lll-winken!uunet!looking!clarinews From: clarinews@clarinet.com (ERIK K. LIEF, UPI Sports Writer) Newsgroups: clari.sports.baseball,biz.clarinet.sample Subject: American League Roundup Keywords: baseball, men's professional Message-ID: Date: 20 Sep 89 08:27:31 GMT Followup-To: biz.clarinet.sample Lines: 82 Approved: clarinews@clarinet.com ACategory: sports Slugword: bba-alrup Priority: regular Format: summary ANPA: Wc: 873; Id: s0468; Sel: ns--s; Adate: 9-20-420aed; Ver: sked Codes: ysbpmxx. Extra-inning victories have come in bunches for Toronto recently, to such an extent it even shocks the Blue Jays themselves. The Blue Jays won their fifth extra-inning game in their last 10 outings Tuesday night when Nelson Liriano drilled a two-run, bases-loaded double with two out in the bottom of the 13th, rallying Toronto to a 6-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Liriano's game-winning hit came on a 0-2 pitch from Greg Harris, 2-2, who took over from Dennis Boyd to start the 10th. It was a high curve on the outside part of the plate that the left-handed hitting Liriano turned on and pulled over the head of right-fielder Danny Heep. Liriano's ability to pull the ball shocked teammate George Bell. ``If that had been me at the plate I might have been able to get a hit,'' said Bell, whose two-out single in the 10th sparked a one-run rally that evened the score at 4-4. ``But there's no way I could have pulled the ball the way he did. He just smoked the ball.'' For the Blue Jays, who trailed by a run after the top of the 10th and again after the top of the 13th, the win preserved a two-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. ``I said to myself that I just had to try and touch the ball,'' said Liriano, who had a single to show for his first five at-bats in the game. ``I knew I only had one chance left, I had to stay alert and be ready to go on anything.'' It was a dramatic ending to a game which the Blue Jays nearly handed to the Red Sox in the 10th inning when reliever Duane Ward uncorked a bases-loaded wild pitch to force in a go-ahead run. Toronto also failed to advance runners in a number of clutch situations. ``This is the time of year when you have to win those kind of ballgames if you expect to win the division,'' said Toronto Manager Cito Gaston. Boston Manager Joe Morgan was incensed after the defeat. ``How could they possibly win that game as inept as they were?,'' asked Morgan, who kicked over a garbage can when Liriano's drive hit the fence. ``These guys are supposed to win (the division)? Can you see any way they should have won that ball game? There's no way they should have.'' Morgan suggested that the win should be credited to the umpiring crew, which gave close calls to the Blue Jays in a two-run fourth and two-run 13th. ``We were screwed left and right tonight,'' he said. ``They blew two calls, they were afraid to call anybody out.'' Tom Henke, who allowed a run in the top of the 13th, improved to 7-3. In the top of the 13th, Jeff Stone reached on an infield single off Henke and advanced to third on a bloop single by John Marzano. Boggs followed with a one-out flyout to deep left field and Stone scored without a play. Elsewhere in the American League, Oakland dropped Cleveland 5-1, Baltimore drubbed Detroit 6-2, California trimmed Minnesota 7-3, Kansas City clipped Chicago 5-3 and Texas sank Seattle 5-3. Milwaukee at New York was postponed by rain. In the NL, it was: New York 5, Chicago 2; St. Louis 5, Montreal 0; Pittsburgh 4, Philadelphia 2; San Diego 5, Cincinnati 0; Atlanta 3, Houston 0; and San Francisco 3, Los Angeles 2. _A_t_h_l_e_t_i_c_s_ _5_,_ _I_n_d_i_a_n_s_ _1 At Cleveland, Mike Moore allowed two hits over eight innings to earn his career-high 18th victory, handing Cleveland its fifth straight loss. Moore, 18-10, who walked one and struck out five, did not allow an earned run. Gene Nelson pitched the ninth. Rod Nichols fell to 4-5. _O_r_i_o_l_e_s_ _6_,_ _T_i_g_e_r_s_ _2 At Detroit, Tim Hulett and Jamie Quirk drove in two runs apiece to lead Baltimore. Bob Milacki, 12-12, pitched 5 2-3 innings and Mark Williamson pitched 3 1-3 perfect innings for his ninth save. Jack Morris, 7-11, lasted only 5 2-3 innings. _A_n_g_e_l_s_ _7_,_ _T_w_i_n_s_ _3 At Minneapolis, Chuck Finley, 16-8, allowed two earned runs and three hits in six innings and Claudell Washington belted a home run to lead California to its third straight win. Bryan Harvey notched his 24th save. Kevin Tapani, 2-1, allowed five runs and 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings. _R_o_y_a_l_s_ _5_,_ _W_h_i_t_e_ _S_o_x_ _3 At Kansas City, Mo., Danny Tartabull and Willie Wilson each knocked in two runs in the second inning for the Royals. Larry McWilliams, 2-0, scattered six hits over seven innings and Steve Farr picked up his 18th save. Rich Dotson, 4-11, allowed four unearned runs in the second inning. _R_a_n_g_e_r_s_ _5_,_ _M_a_r_i_n_e_r_s_ _3 At Arlington, Texas, Ruben Sierra singled, tripled and homered to lead Texas. Brad Arnsberg, 2-0, threw 5 2-3 innings of scoreless relief and Jeff Russell recorded his 35th save. Jerry Reed, 6-7, gave up a go-ahead homer by Pete Incaviglia in the sixth.