AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Mark Leiter Makes Difference for Tigers

Most teams contending for pennants have a five-man starting rotation.

At the All-Star break, Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson had only three starters--Bill Gullickson, Frank Tanana and Walt Terrell.

Anderson would settle for a fourth. Among those he tried and found wanting were Dan Gakeler, Rusty Meacham, Steve Searcy, Scott Aldred and John Cerutti.

In desperation, Anderson dug deep into his bullpen and came up with Mark Leiter, a big right-hander who had spent most of seven years as a professional in the minors.

On July 16 after 22 relief appearances, Leiter made his first start.

In five starts in August, he pitched adequately, but he brought out the best in the Tiger hitters and he won all five.

Leiter held the Athletics to five hits in eight innings Sunday at Oakland, and the Tigers won, 5-2, to move to within 2 1/2 games of Toronto.

“That’s the most impressive he’s been,” Anderson said of Leiter, obtained from the New York Yankees before the season. “He’s pitched really well. Getting him for Tony Lovullo has turned out to be a pretty good trade.”

Travis Fryman hit a two-run home run, and Cecil Fielder drove in his major league-leading 112th run.

Leiter (8-2) retired 21 of the first 23 batters and had a shutout until he the eighth, when he gave gave up three hits and both runs.

“The whole game I had been thinking one hitter at a time,” he said. “But after the seventh I started thinking about going nine and getting the shutout. So, they get three hits in a row and I barely made it.”

He struck out Dave Henderson with the potential tying run on third to end the inning. After Fryman’s homer in the ninth restored the three-run lead, Jerry Don Gleaton pitched the ninth for the save.

New York 4, Toronto 2--At New York, the Blue Jays held a 2-1 lead in the eighth inning, but Matt Nokes singled in the tying run and Kevin Maas doubled in two more to give the Yankees a split in the four-game series.

Before getting his clutch hit, Nokes had made three infield outs. Maas was in an 0-for-15 slump before he tagged Bob MacDonald for the game-winning hit.

The Blue Jays lost rookie Juan Guzman, who has pitched well, hurt his thumb fielding Nokes’ grounder in the sixth inning and had to leave the game. X-rays were negative.

Minnesota 14, Baltimore 3--Jack Morris, after winning his 16th game, said the Twins remind him of the winners he played with at Detroit.

“I think we sense it,” Morris said at Minneapolis after the Twins stretched their lead in the West to eight games with 30 games left. “I’ve really enjoyed watching this team come together.”

Morris gave up six hits, but all three runs were unearned. He left after seven innings with an 11-3 lead.

Boston 13, Seattle 2--Wade Boggs had four hits at Seattle and moved in front of Julio Franco of Texas in the batting race. Boggs is hitting .338, Franco .335.

Tom Brunansky hit a grand slam and drove in six runs as the Red Sox moved to within five games of Toronto in the East.

Texas 6, Kansas City 4--Kevin Reimer homered in the second inning at Arlington, Tex.

Bret Saberhagen, who pitched a no-hitter against Chicago Monday, gave up all six runs and nine hits in 7 2/3 innings and fell to 10-7.

Chicago 6, Cleveland 1--Rookie Wilson Alvarez pitched a four-hitter at Chicago for his first victory since he pitched a no-hitter at Baltimore Aug. 11.

Frank Thomas hit his 29th homer and went over the 100-RBI mark in his first full season for the White Sox.