In an otherwise gloomy season, Bill Gullickson continues to provide the Detroit Tigers with a ray of light.
Gullickson scattered five hits over 6 1-3 innings and Mickey Tettleton drove home three runs Tuesday night, leading the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays."He's one guy that I can truthfully say - and we're 11 games out of first place - deserves to be on the All-Star team," Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson said of Gullickson. "When you have 20 wins the year before, and he should have 10 wins at the All-Star break - you can't keep a guy like that off the team."
Gullickson, 8-4, left the game leading 4-2 after walking Greg Myers with one out in the seventh. He threw 85 pitches.
"The last couple of games I've been struggling with my mecahanics," said the right-hander, who walked three and struck out two. "I keep rushing a little bit and getting the ball up."
Kurt Knudsen gave up Devon White's eighth homer to lead off the eighth before Mike Henneman pitched the final 1 2-3 innings for his 10th save.
Toronto's Jimmy Key, 4-5, went down to defeat for the fourth time in his last five decisions. He worked 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs and nine hits, striking out four and walking three.
"My mom called me the other night and she said it looked like I was pitching good," said Key, who owns a respectable 3.12 ERA. "I said yeah, I'm pitching good enough to lose."
Tettleton slugged a two-run homer and Cecil Fielder added an RBI single as part of a three-run sixth inning for Detroit. Tettleton also drove a run with a fielder's choice in the first.
Travis Fryman opened with a double and scored when Fielder followed with a 400-foot single off the center-field fence. Tettleton then drilled Key's 2-1 delivery into the second tier of stands in left field for his 15th homer.
"He gave me a fastball up after throwing me fastballs down the rest of the game," Tettleton said. "I knew I hit the ball well enough to get out. I just didn't know if it would hook foul."
Detroit opened a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tony Phillips scored from third on Tettleton's bases-loaded fielder's choice. Toronto evened it 1-1 in the bottom of the inning on Joe Carter's sacrifice fly, his 800th career RBI.
Toronto went ahead 2-1 in the fifth. Derek Bell opened with a walk and went to second on a Greg Myers single. The runners moved up a base on Manuel Lee's sacrifice bunt and White followed with a sacrifice fly.
Red Sox 4, Yankees 3
At Boston, Ellis Burks stroked a bases-loaded single with two out in the 10th inning for the Red Sox. Burks drove a looping liner that fell just in front of diving right fielder Dion James as Jody Reed crossed the plate.
Indians 7, Orioles 5
At Cleveland, Kenny Lofton collected four hits and Jack Armstrong posted his first victory since May 5. Armstrong, 2-7, got help from Steve Olin, who recorded his 13th save as Cleveland snapped a three-game losing streak. The Indians scored four times in the seventh against Ben McDonald, 7-4.
Royals 7, Twins 5
At Minneapolis, Kevin McReynolds drove home three runs to lead the Royals. Kevin Appier, 6-3, earned the win with five innings of work and Jeff Montgomery got the last six outs for his 15th save. Mike Macfarlane and Brian McRae hit back-to-back homers in the sixth against Bob Kipper, 2-3.
Brewers 10, Athletics 0
At Oakland, Calif., Ron Robinson scattered three hits over seven innings as Milwaukee snapped the Athletics' six-game winning streak. The Brewers took advantage of four Oakland errors to give Robinson, 1-2, his first win in more than a year. Ron Darling, 6-4, gave up eight runs over five innings.
Angels 4, Rangers 1
At Anaheim, Calif., Bert Blyleven pitched a two-hitter over six innings and Ron Tingley hit a two-run homer for the Angels. Blyleven, 3-0, has allowed just six earned runs in 32 1-3 innings. Joe Grahe earned his second save, as Texas' Jose Guzman, 6-4, lost for the first time in his last five decisions.
Mariners 9, White Sox 6
At Seattle, Tino Martinez followed Jay Buhner's two-run triple with a two-run homer as the Mariners scored six times in the eighth. Martinez belted a 2-0 pitch from Scott Radinsky, 2-4, for his sixth homer as Seattle wiped out a five-run deficit. Eric Gunderson, 1-1, got the win and Mike Schooler earned his 12th save.