American League Roundup : Weiss Gets in on the Act, Hitting Home Run for A’s in a 7-4 Victory

Anybody who hits a home run for the Oakland Athletics becomes a member of the Bash Club and gives an elbow bash to teammates.

Rookie shortstop Walter Weiss joined the organization Sunday by hitting his first major league homer in the fifth inning of the Athletics’ 7-4 victory over Baltimore.

Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, charter members of the Bash Club, say they will continue to call Weiss “Judy,” as in Punch-and-Judy hitter. That’s an old tag given to hitters lacking power. Rogers Hornsby, one of baseball’s all-time best hitters, is believed to have coined the phrase.

McGwire and Canseco, who certainly aren’t Punch-and-Judy hitters, both hit their 10th home runs of the season to help Curt Young beat the Orioles and improve his record to 3-1.

Oakland now leads the West by 7 games.

The home run by Weiss was just inside the right-field foul pole, a much shorter poke than the ones McGwire and Canseco usually hit.

“He enters the Bash Club and all the writers fawn over him,” McGwire told the Associated Press. “I’ll give him one (Bash).”

Canseco was not impressed. “He’s not going to get too many of these. I think I’ll still call him Judy.”

Weiss tried to retrieve the ball and it was a humbling experience.

“The lady wanted a Mark McGwire autograph,” Weiss said. “It brought me back to earth.

“I’ve been on the receiving end a lot. It was nice to give one for once.”

Canseco and McGwire are tied for second in home runs in the American League, one behind Kent Hrbek of Minnesota.

The Orioles (5-31) are 1-14 against left-handers. Young gave up two runs and four hits and departed with only a 3-2 lead. Rick Honeycutt took over in the seventh, but Dennis Eckersley had to get the last five outs and picked up his major league-leading 13th save.

In his previous appearance, Wednesday against Detroit, Eckersley gave up 5 earned runs in 1 innings and failed to get a save for the first time all season.

Minnesota 10, Detroit 2--The Twins, who have had so much trouble winning on the road the last two seasons, are more at home at Tiger Stadium than Tiger ace Jack Morris.

The Twins, in winning their second in a row at Detroit, hit five home runs, two of them by Kent Hrbek, to enable Frank Viola (6-1) to breeze to his fifth straight victory.

Morris, who has won more games in the last five years (94) than any other pitcher, yielded 8 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings. He is winless in his last 6 starts in the hitters’ park, 4 of them this year. He hasn’t won at home since last Sept. 16.

After Randy Bush homered leading off the fourth, Morris hit Gene Larkin, the next batter, in the side of the head. Although he was carried off on a stretcher, Larkin remained conscious.

Viola is sizzling. He gave up 2 runs in 6 innings and has yielded only 7 earned runs in his last 38 innings.

Guillermo Hernandez, pitching the way he did when he was Willie, served up successive home runs to Tommy Herr and Kirby Puckett in the eighth. It was Herr’s first home run in the American League.

Kansas City 5, Texas 4--Danny Tartabull hit a grand slam and Willie Wilson went 4 for 4, including a home run, at Arlington, Tex., and the Royals prevented the Rangers from breaking their club record for consecutive victories.

The Rangers, who had won eight in a row, made a valiant effort. A balk by reliever Bud Black enabled them to cut the lead to 5-4 in the seventh. But, with the bases loaded and nobody out, veteran Gene Garber shut the door.

Larry Parrish grounded into a forceout at the plate and Geno Petralli hit into a double play. Garber went on to get his fifth save.

The Royals, who had lost eight of their previous nine, jumped on Charlie Hough (4-5) for a 5-0 lead in the first three innings.

Seattle 11, Boston 7--The Mariners scored four runs in the ninth at Boston to end a four-game losing streak, but the loss and the ineffectiveness of bullpen ace Lee Smith was of only mild concern.

The big problem is the health of Roger Clemens. Clemens, who hurt his knee while pitching his second consecutive three-hitter Saturday, was limping badly. His knee has swollen and he may miss his next turn on Friday.

Milwaukee 9, Cleveland 5--Joey Meyer’s two-run home run capped a four-run fourth inning at Milwaukee that enabled the Brewers, a team of streaks, to end another.

After winning 10 in a row, the Brewers had lost five in a row until beating the Indians.

Joe Carter hit two home runs and a triple for the Indians.

Chicago 6, Toronto 5--Dave Gallagher, brought up from the minors just two days ago, picked a perfect time to hit his first major league home run. He hit it in the 11th inning at Chicago to win the game for the White Sox.

Gallagher, 27, has been a minor league outfielder since 1980, except for 15 games with Cleveland last season.

Two rain delays probably deprived Jerry Reuss of a victory. He led, 2-1, having given up only three hits in seven innings when rain halted play for the second time. He didn’t return.