American League Roundup : Red Sox Remain Unbeaten Under Morgan, 4-3

When the Boston Red Sox, won the American League pennant in 1967, it was called “the impossible dream.”

If they continue their recent surge and win the American League East this year, it will be “the Morgan miracle.”

Joe Morgan, who took over as Boston’s manager last week, may not really be perfect, but his record is.

The Red Sox came from behind Friday night at Boston to beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, giving them a 9-0 record under Morgan. No longer merely an interim manager, Morgan may be around for a while.

When John McNamara was fired after the All-Star break, the Red Sox seemed to be going nowhere. They trailed the Detroit Tigers by nine games in the East.

The turnaround has moved the Red Sox within 3 1/2 games of first-place Detroit, and they are once again talking pennant in Boston.

Larry Parrish, one of the keys to Boston’s recent success, doubled home two runs in the sixth inning to get the Red Sox even, and they won it in the seventh.

Wade Boggs opened with a walk and went all the way to third base when White Sox second baseman Donnie Hill misplayed Marty Barrett’s hit-and-run grounder. Boggs crossed the plate as Dwight Evans grounded into a double play.

Not only have they won nine in a row, the Red Sox have set a club record with 14 straight wins at Fenway Park.

Parrish, who was released by the Texas Rangers a couple of weeks ago, has played the last five games at first base, a position he had never played before. Since joining the Red Sox, Parrish is 6 for 14, including 2 home runs and 6 runs batted in.

Except for Parrish, the players are the same ones who were going nowhere with McNamara. Now there is a renewed spirit on the team, in part because Morgan, unlike McNamara, uses all his players.

The only mistake Morgan has made so far didn’t hurt his team. When making out his lineup card, he listed pitcher Bruce Hurst, who is on the disabled list. A Chicago reporter pointed out the error to Morgan, who discovered he had omitted John Trautwein.

Oakland 4, Detroit 1--In the battle of division leaders at Oakland, it was the Athletics, despite being held hitless for five innings by Jeff Robinson, who prevailed.

Dave Henderson and Jose Canseco hit consecutive home runs for the first hits by the Athletics, and they went on to win and stay 5 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota in the West.

When Dennis Eckersley pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 30th save, the Tigers’ lead in the East was cut to one game over New York.

Canseco’s home run was his 26th, and Henderson’s was his 13th.

Minnesota 6, Baltimore 1--With Frank Viola pitching at the Metrodome, the Twins are almost guaranteed to win.

The left-handed star of the 1987 World Series shut out the Orioles on five hits for eight innings to become the first 16-game winner in the major leagues. In the Metrodome, he has won 19 in a row since May 1987.

Viola has won seven straight and 16 of his last 17 decisions after losing his first start of the season.

Kirby Puckett had three hits, including his 14th home run.

Juan Berenguer pitched the ninth for the Twins. When Larry Sheets hit a home run, it was the first given up by Berenguer in 68 innings this season.

New York 9, Kansas City 8--Rickey Henderson reached base five times, stole three bases and scored three runs at Kansas City to set the stage for a big output by the Yankees.

There were 29 hits in the slugfest, including a home run by Danny Tartabull, and five doubles. One of the doubles was by Kansas City’s Pat Tabler that cleared the bases in the second when the Royals took a 4-1 lead.

In his career, Tabler is 34 for 61 with the bases loaded (.557) and has 80 runs batted in.

Although he gave up four runs in four innings, Neil Allen was the winner. Dave Righetti, although he put two runners on base, survived the ninth to get his 12th save.

Seattle 10, Toronto 9--John Rabb singled home Mickey Brantley from third base with one out in the 10th inning at Seattle to give the Mariners the victory.

The Mariners held a 9-7 lead going into the ninth, but Kelly Gruber led off with his ninth homer, and one out later, Fred McGriff hit his 21st to send the game into extra innings. McGriff has 6 home runs and 15 RBIs since the All-Star game.

Milwaukee 2, Texas 1--Jeff Russell held the Brewers to three hits in eight innings and had a 1-0 lead at Milwaukee. But when Billy Jo Robidoux opened the ninth with a single, Mitch Williams relieved Russell.

Dale Sveum greeted Williams with a game-tying triple, then scored the winning run on B. J. Surhoff’s single. The rally prevented Chris Bosio from losing his ninth in a row. He gave up seven hits and a run in eight innings. Bosio has not won since May 16.