AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Blue Jays’ Wells Loses Argument and Ballgame

After the Toronto Blue Jays took two of three from the Detroit Tigers, their only serious challenger in the American League East, the Toronto Blue Jays should have been happy.

But they were anything but that during a 12-7 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Friday night at Toronto.

Manager Cito Gaston and pitcher David Wells had an argument on the mound in the fifth inning. Wells, ineffective lately, obviously was upset after giving up nine hits and five runs. He said something and Gaston chastised him. Wells then threw the ball away.

After the game, Gaston wouldn’t discuss the situation.

“I’m not saying anything about that,” he said. “That’s between Boomer and me. But you don’t think about the pain when you want to go out to the mound in that situation.”

The Red Sox, ending a string of 19 scoreless innings, had 21 hits. Everyone in the lineup had at least two hits except catcher Tony Pena, who was one for five.

Carlos Quintana hit two home runs and drove in four runs and Jack Clark had three hits, including his 20th home run. He also scored four runs and drove in two.

Toronto’s Joe Carter hit two home runs and drove in five runs. He has 82 runs batted in.

Joe Hesketh improved to 6-2, though he faltered in the sixth when the Blue Jays pulled within 5-4.

Manager Joe Morgan wasn’t at all disappointed in the effort by Hesketh.

“I thought Joe pitched well,” Morgan said. “They started to get to him in the fifth, but he did his job. Sometimes pitching with a lead that big can make you relax more than you want to.”

It was the fourth consecutive loss for Wells (12-7). He has been hit hard in the past three games, giving up 22 hits and 16 runs in 15 innings.

Chicago 7, Baltimore 4--On a rainy night in Baltimore, Charlie Hough’s knuckleball didn’t do much dancing, but the White Sox still kept the pressure on the Minnesota Twins.

With Robin Ventura and Lance Johnson each driving in two runs, the White Sox built a 5-0 lead in four innings on their way to victory.

But Hough couldn’t make it through the bottom of the fourth.

The White Sox bullpen is going strong, though. Three relievers shut down the Orioles the rest of the way, extending the bullpen’s string to 28 scoreless innings.

Brian Drahman (2-1) got the victory and Bobby Thigpen picked up his 25th save.

“This is just a carryover from last year,” Thigpen said. “Without these guys pitching in front of me, I probably don’t get all those opportunities or we might not be winning at all.”

Carlton Fisk drove in two Chicago runs in the top of the ninth and the White Sox have won 15 of their last 18.

Tim Raines had four hits for the White Sox, who remained two games behind the Twins.

Minnesota 5, Seattle 2--David West held the Mariners to five hits for eight innings at Seattle and the Twins maintained their two-game lead in the West.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for the Mariners, who gave the Twins two unearned runs in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie.

Rick Aguilera got the last two outs for his 30th save.

The Twins are 19-8 since the All-Star break.

Kansas City 4, Cleveland 2--One of the surprising things about the Royals’ surge out of the cellar in the West was that they stayed hot without Danny Tartabull.

Until he suffered a bruised heel and missed eight games, Tartabull had provided most of the Kansas City offense.

Tartabull returned to the lineup with a bang at Kansas City. He hit his 23rd home run and a double to help Mark Gubicza (7-5) win his fourth in a row.

The home run, off Greg Swindell (7-10) broke a 2-2 tie leading off the fourth inning.

Gubicza, in beating the Indians for the first time in three years, retired 20 of 21 batters after a rocky start.

Jeff Montgomery pitched the ninth and picked up his 23rd save.

It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Royals, who are five games above .500.

Milwaukee 10, Texas 8--Paul Molitor had four hits, scored four runs and drove in another at Arlington, Tex., to lead a 16-hit attack on five Texas pitchers.

It was Milwaukee’s third consecutive road victory.

The Rangers had 11 hits, including home runs by Rafael Palmeiro and Ruben Sierra.

Palmeiro, baseball’s hottest hitter, went three for five to raise his average to .355, best in the majors.