American League Roundup : Candiotti One-Hits Yankees

If he was having a better year, pitcher Tom Candiotti of the Cleveland Indians might have been more disappointed when he lost his bid for a no-hitter Monday night at Cleveland on Mike Easler’s bloop single in the eighth inning. Under the circumstances, though, he’ll take the 2-0 victory over the New York Yankees without a second thought.

“If I had 10 or 15 wins right now, maybe I’d have been shook up,” he said. “But I only had three wins. I just needed the win.

Candiotti (4-11) struck out five and walked one, Dave Winfield, on a 3-and-2 pitch to lead off the second inning. Easler was the only other batter to reach base, that coming on a soft liner between second baseman Tommy Hinzo and center fielder Brett Butler to open the eighth.

“It was a 3-2 count, and I didn’t want to throw the knuckleball in that situation,” Candiotti said of Easler’s at-bat. “I threw him an inside fastball, and he just got enough of it. He couldn’t have thrown the ball out there any better. There was a little sinking feeling in my gut.”

Easler said he was expecting a fastball.

“It was a good pitch,” he said. “He cut it or something and it moved. It was kind of a handle hit. He had to throw a fastball. He couldn’t afford to walk me with (Mike) Pagliarulo coming up and (Dan) Pasqua on the bench.”

Candiotti has struggled this season after leading the league with 17 complete games in 1986. Monday’s performance lowered his earned-run average to 4.93.

New York pitcher Steve Trout (0-3) gave up two runs, five walks and had three wild pitches in 3 and took the loss.

Kansas City 4, Detroit 2--Jack Morris’ troubles continued at Detroit as Danny Tartabull hit a two-run home run off him in the 10th inning to lift the Royals to their third straight win.

Morris (12-6), who hasn’t won since the All-Star break, also yielded solo homers to Steve Balboni and Frank White to run his league-leading total to 29. Morris also threw five wild pitches to tie the American League record, set by Charles Wheatley of Detroit in 1912.

Toronto 14, Chicago 5--The Blue Jays’ eighth win in 11 games moved them to within 1 1/2 games of the Yankees, the highlight coming in a 10-run sixth as George Bell and Kelly Gruber had two hits each at Chicago.

Gruber, who double and singled in the inning, also hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Cecil Fielder hit a two-run shot for Toronto in the second inning.

Reliever Jeff Musselman, who replaced starter Jose Nunez in the fourth, picked up his 10th win against four losses.

Boston 11, Texas 2--Rookies Sam Horn and John Marzano hit home runs and Bruce Hurst pitched a three-hitter to lead the Red Sox at Arlington, Tex.

Marzano, playing in his third game since being called up from Triple-A Pawtucket, drove in four runs. The home run was his first major league hit.

In addition to his fifth home run, Horn also had a double and two singles and scored three runs.

Seattle 4, Oakland 3--Jim Presley hit a three-run homer in the first inning at Oakland and the Mariners held on to beat the A’s.

Mike Morgan (9-11) got the win, with Edwin Nunez earning his 11th save.