AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Tigers Knock Back Blue Jays, 5-3

Lou Whitaker went three for three and the Detroit Tigers increased their lead in the American League East to two games with a 5-3 victory over the second-place Toronto Blue Jays Thursday night at Detroit.

The Blue Jays entered the four-game series having won nine of 11 games. They will have to win the next three if they are to knock Detroit out of first place for the first time since April 22.

John Doherty (6-2) won for the third consecutive time.

“This is an important game with an important rival, and I’m glad we won,” Doherty said. “Still, we’ve got four months left in the season.”

Bob McDonald, the fourth Detroit pitcher, got the final out for his third save, striking out batting leader John Olerud with two on in the ninth.

Juan Guzman (5-1) took his first loss of the season, giving up five runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Detroit broke a 2-2 tie in the fifth on consecutive run-scoring doubles by Cecil Fielder and Kirk Gibson. The Tigers went ahead, 5-2, in the sixth when a run scored from third on a wild pitch by Guzman during an intentional walk.

Toronto rallied in the eighth, getting a home run from Olerud--his 14th of the season. A single by Ed Sprague and a walk to Darnell Coles followed, but Henneman relieved and struck out Darrin Jackson and pinch-hitter Turner Ward to end the rally.

New York 3, Milwaukee 1--Bob Wickman returned to his home state and improved to 7-0, combining with two relievers to lead the Yankees at Milwaukee.

Wickman, who is from Abrams, Wis., 140 miles north of Milwaukee, has won 10 consecutive decisions dating to last season and is 13-1 in his major league career.

Steve Farr pitched the ninth for his 14th save. He has saved 10 of Wickman’s 13 career victories.

Baltimore 2, Boston 1--Jamie Moyer got his first major league victory since 1990 and the Orioles won their eighth consecutive game--the longest streak this year in the American League--by beating the Red Sox at Boston.

Moyer (1-3), who started the season in the minors, gave up six hits in 5 2/3 innings. His last major league victory came on Sept. 15, 1990, as a relief pitcher for the Texas Rangers.

Minnesota 6, Texas 5--Pedro Munoz had two bases-empty homers and the Twins took advantage of two Ranger errors to score three unearned runs in the fifth inning at Arlington, Tex.

Munoz’s homers in the third and sixth, his sixth and seventh of the season, gave him home runs in three consecutive official at-bats. Munoz’s solo homer in the 10th inning on Tuesday lifted Minnesota to a 3-2 victory over Texas.

Munoz was a late addition to the Twins’ lineup, taking the place of Gene Larkin, who sat out with a leg injury.

Twin starter Kevin Tapani (3-6) struggled in the early going, giving up four runs and eight hits and allowing 11 batters to reach base in the first three innings. He settled down, however, and gave up only two hits in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings to earn his first victory since May 12.