AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Baltimore Is More Than Toronto Can Handle

Although he will be 40 in November, Dwight Evans can still hit. It is surprising that one of the division contenders didn’t obtain the veteran outfielder before the trading deadline last Sunday.

The Toronto Blue Jays might be sorry they didn’t get him.

Evans had a three-run home run and his first four-hit game of the season Tuesday night at Toronto to lead the Baltimore Orioles to an 8-4 victory.

“I don’t have any control over the situation,” Evans said, “but I heard that Minnesota was interested. If they do move me, it would be nice to go to a contender.

“I love it here at the SkyDome. It’s a park that’s so conducive to baseball. The turf is good, and the park is fair.”

Glenn Davis, who has missed most of the season with injuries, also hammered the Blue Jays, hitting his sixth home run, a double and a single.

They dealt a blow to the Blue Jays’ hopes of building a solid lead in the American League East before finishing the last four weeks of the season against tough Western Division teams.

Injuries have limited Evans to 75 games this season, but he is hitting .284 and has six home runs and 35 runs batted in.

Evans’ three-run home run capped a four-run seventh that put the game out of reach. It made a winner of Ben McDonald (6-8), one of the Orioles’ many disappointments this season. Mike Flanagan pitched three scoreless innings for the save.

David Wells (13-10) whose late-season slump is one reason the Blue Jays are having problems building a lead, gave up nine hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Seattle 1, Detroit 0--Brian Holman gave up five hits in eight innings at Seattle, and the Tigers missed a chance to close to within 1 1/2 games of Toronto in the East.

Bill Swift pitched a hitless ninth to complete only the fifth shutout against the Tigers this season.

The only run that made a loser of Scott Aldred (0-3) was unearned. Aldred, who had an ERA of 9.70 in six previous games, gave up four hits.

A passed ball by Mickey Tettleton with two out in the third put Dave Valle on second base. He scored on Harold Reynolds’ single.

The Tigers, who lead the major leagues with 180 home runs, didn’t even get a runner to second base.

Milwaukee 5, Oakland 3--It was determined weeks ago that Dave Stewart would not win 20 games for the fifth consecutive year.

The hard-throwing right-hander would be the first to admit he hasn’t pitched as well as in previous seasons. Another factor, though, is luck.

In this game at Milwaukee, Robin Yount hit a three-run home run against bullpen ace Dennis Eckserley in the ninth inning to beat the Athletics.

It marked the eighth time this season that Stewart had left a game with a lead and the A’s wound up losing. He is 10-8, so if all those games had been saved, Stewart would again have a shot at 20 victories.

More important, the A’s would still be in the pennant race. With the defeat the A’s fell nine games behind Minnesota in the West with only 29 left.

One of the Milwaukee runs was a home run by Jim Gantner. It was his first home run in 1,762 at-bats since June 14, 1987.

The fans wanted Gantner to take a curtain call, but he refused.

Kansas City 8, Chicago 0--Bo Jackson went hitless in four at-bats at Chicago in the second game of his comeback with the White Sox.

A former teammate of Bo’s took the limelight. Danny Tartabull, expected to be in demand when he becomes a free agent after the season, hit two two-run home runs.

Tartabull made it a breeze for Kevin Appier (11-9). Appier pitched a five-hitter to stop the White Sox’s three-game winning streak and drop them nine games back in the West.

Jackson struck out twice and grounded out twice.

“I’m searching for my first hit,” Jackson said, “but I feel good. I’m just rusty.”

Texas 5, New York 1--The Yankees would be happy if they didn’t have to go to Texas.

Jose Guzman (10-5) pitched a five-hitter, and the Rangers beat the Yankees for the 15th consecutive time at home. The last time the Yankees won in Texas was May 4, 1989.

Guzman, just recovering from shoulder surgery, had not won a game since 1988. He pitched his third complete game.

Ruben Sierra hit his 20th home run and his 34th double to lead the Texas attack. Julio Franco went one for four and leads the league with a .337 average.