Today's AL action

At the start of the day, the Yankees were clinging to a 0.5-game lead as they arrived in Baltimore to play the second-place Orioles, and Seattle was 4.5 games back as they began a big three-game set hosting first-place Cleveland.

Yankees 4, Orioles 3: Joe Gordon started off the Yankees right, hitting his 25th home run (leading the Yanks) in the 2nd inning, though Dave McNally escaped further damage by inducing an inning-ending grounder by Charlie "King Kong" Keller with the bases loaded. Gordon continued his hot hitting in the 3rd, driving in Bill Dickey before Babe Dahlgren drove Gordon and DiMaggio in with a triple. New York then hoped to wait out Baltimore. The Orioles scored in the 6th on a single by Davey Johnson, and added another on an 8th inning home run by Don Buford when with two out and men on first and third, manager Rivkin made the call to the bullpen for Johnny "Fireman" Murphy. Murphy's had an awful year, much worse than in real life, so this was not a clear call... (There's a digression into whether teams should be managed as they really were or whether hindsight should be used, but that's for another time). A single by Merv Rettenmund off of Murphy shaved the score to 4-3, but Murphy had a relatively easy 9th for his 9th save. Steve Sundra, starter for the Yankees, improved his record to 10-1, McNally fell to 15-15. Gordon finished the day with 3 hits. The Yankees got some much-needed breathing room.

Indians 8, Mariners 1: For my other AL team, though, it's looking like the pennant race may be over. Seattle was down 4-0 by the time they batted in the 5th, and in the end Freddy Garcia (13-9) gave up home runs to Paul Sorrento and Manny Ramirez and John Olerud made a critical error that led to two unearned runs. Meanwhile Dennis Martinez (15-9) cruised through seven scoreless innings. Reliever Paul Assenmacher gave up a home run to Edgar Martinez, but it was way too late for the M's. Ryan Franklin giving up hits to all three Indians he faced didn't help. In the end, Cleveland's lead in the division swelled to 5.5 games and their magic number dropped to 10, the lowest in the Cloverland Leagues. Seattle's put up a good run, but Cleveland is just too good this season. Barring a miracle finish, they'll be headed to the playoffs.

In other action:
Tigers 7, Red Sox 1: A four-run 7th, keyed by Dick Bartell's bases-clearing double, powered Detroit to victory. Bobo Newsom (14-16) held Boston to one run in a complete game victory, while Smokey Joe Wood (20-14) was victimized by three unearned runs. McCosky, Higgins, and Sullivan (as well as Bartell) all had two-hit days for the Tigers. Bartell and Boston's Tris Speaker had two doubles. Boston fell to 3.5 games behind New York.

White Sox 5, Browns 2: Swede Risberg and Buck Weaver had three-hit days for Chicago, which took an early 5-0 lead against Elam Vangilder (10-17) and held on to win. In return, Vangilder, along with Jack Tobin, had three-hit days against White Sox pitcher Lefty Williams, who evened his record at 18-18 and is second in the league in innings pitched. Much of Chicago's damage was done by Risberg, who had a double and triple among his hits. George Sisler went 2-5, dropping his average to .425. Happy Felsch was injured when hit by a pitch, and is expected to be out at least two days.

Nationals 10, Athletics 1: A perfect 4-4 day by Sam Rice helped Washington overwhelm Philadelphia. A five-run first inning gave Stan Coveleski (16-12) all he needed and more, but the Nats continued to pour it on. Muddy Ruel added three hits, Everett Scott drove in three runs. George Earnshaw (18-16) lasted six innings before giving way to George Quinn to finish. With the Browns loss, the Athletics' hold on 5th place remains 0.5 game.

Twins 13, Rangers 2: A six-run first knocked John Poloni (0-1) out of the box after only 1/3 of an inning, and three relievers gave up seven more runs over the rst of the game. Minnesota knocked four home runs, by Cesar Tovar, Harmon Killebrew, Brant Alyea, and George Mitterwald. Mitterwald added three more hits, driving in four and scoring three times. Jim Perry (15-18) cruised for seven innings, with relievers Pete Hamm and Stever Barber finishing out the game. Toby Harrah had a home run in a losing cause, with Mike Hargrove adding three hits for Texas.

Angels 9, Royals 2: I was complaining about the last set of games being pitching duels? The top third of California's lineup hit .500, scoring 4 runs and driving in 7, four by Fred Lynn. Bob Boone added two hits and two runs. Mike Witt (9-10) pitched effectively, giving up only one extra-bae hit. Bud Black (8-13)? Not so effective. But Larry Gura's relief was more problematic, giving up three runs in the 9th before himself being relieved by Mike LaCoss.

Blue Jays 3, A's 0: Oakland's hitting woes continue. Hitting just .220 as a team, and scoring just 3.2 runs per game (a full run lower thant the league average), Oakland could only manage four hits against Toronto starter Jim Clancy (9-12). Toronto also managed only four hits against Bob Welch (6-16), but made them count, with home runs by Lloyd Moseby and Willie Upshaw, the latter a two-run shot. Both pitchers went the distance. Oakland has the worst record in the Cloverland Leagues.