American League Roundup : Morgan Runs Record to 10-0 as Red Sox Defeat White Sox

Boston Red Sox Manager Joe Morgan said he often gets autograph requests in the mail from fans confusing him with the former All-Star second baseman of the same name.

Pretty soon, Manager Joe Morgan could become a household name.

The Red Sox won their 10th straight game under Morgan Saturday, beating the Chicago White Sox, 11-5, at Boston.

The Red Sox collected 20 hits on the way to their 15th consecutive victory at Fenway Park, the longest home winning streak in club history. The third-place Red Sox are 2 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Detroit Tigers.

Ellis Burks had four hits, and Rick Cerone drove in four runs for the Red Sox. Mike Smithson (6-3), who pitched 6 hitless innings as a starter against the Minnesota Twins last Tuesday, claimed the win with 6 innings of work in relief of starter Steve Curry.

The White Sox sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the third inning to take a 5-1 lead.

Cerone’s two-run single in the bottom of the third made it 5-3, and Todd Benzinger’s two-run double capped a four-run fourth inning that put the Red Sox to stay.

Oakland 4, Detroit 1--Mark McGwire hit a three-run home run, and rookie Todd Burns (3-0) allowed five hits in seven innings to lead the Athletics to their second straight 4-1 win over the Tigers at Oakland.

Dave Henderson led off the sixth with a double, and Jose Canseco reached first base on an error. McGwire hit a towering shot to left field for his 19th home run.

Burns, making his fifth start since joining Oakland from the minors on May 31, pitched seven scoreless innings, striking out five and lowering his earned-run average to 1.79. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 16 innings.

Detroit starter Frank Tanana (11-5) took the loss.

The Tigers, who came into Oakland Friday for the 3-game series having scored 30 runs in 4 games, have managed 2 runs in 2 games.

Oakland got a run in the third when Canseco singled home Walt Weiss from third base. Detroit’s run came in the ninth when Gary Pettis singled off reliever Greg Cadaret to score Luis Salazar.

Eric Plunk relieved Cadaret and got his third save by striking out Larry Herndon to end the game.

Kansas City 6, New York 5--George Brett hit a two-out, two-run homer off Yankee reliever Dave Righetti in the eighth inning, his second homer of the night, giving the Royals a win at Kansas City, and spoiling a big performance by Yankee Dave Winfield.

Winfield accounted for all of New York’s runs with a grand slam and a solo home run, and added a double, but it wasn’t enough. The Yankees missed a chance to move into a tie for first place with Detroit.

Winfield’s grand slam staked Ron Guidry to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, and the Yankee outfielder’s second shot, his 17th, made it 5-1 in the third.

The Royals closed the deficit when Brett stretched his hitting streak to 11 games with his 15th home run leading off the fourth. Bo Jackson added a two-run home run, his 13th, to make it 5-4.

Rick Anderson (2-0) was the winner in relief, while Steve Farr gained his 10th save by pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth, striking out Jack Clark and Winfield to end the game.

Baltimore 11, Minnesota 8--Eddie Murray broke out of a 1-for-19 slump with two home runs and 5 RBIs to lead the Orioles to victory at Minnesota.

Murray hit a two-run homer in the first inning and capped a six-run second with a three-run shot, his 16th, to make it 8-3.

Jim Traber added a two-run homer in the fourth inning and Rick Schu had three hits as Baltimore hammered out 16 hits off six Minnesota pitchers.

Texas 7, Milwaukee 4--Oddibe McDowell’s two-run triple in the ninth inning broke a 4-4 tie and powered the Rangers to victory at Milwaukee.

The Rangers erased a four-run deficit with three runs in the sixth, and a solo home run by Pete Incaviglia off of Brewer reliever Chuck Crim (3-5) in the eighth tied the score.

Bobby Witt (2-6) beat the Brewers for the second time in a week despite committing three errors.

Toronto 5, Seattle 2--George Bell hit a 450-foot home run, and Jeff Musselman (2-0) allowed four hits in seven innings to lead the Blue Jays past the Mariners at Seattle.

Musselman earned his second win in as many starts since returning to the majors after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder in the off-season.