AMERICAN LEAGUE ROUNDUP : Brewers Greet Cone Rudely in 7-2 Victory

David Cone’s debut for the pitching-hungry Toronto Blue Jays was a flop.

Cone gave up seven hits and seven walks in 6 2/3 innings and the Milwaukee Brewers scored a 7-2 victory Saturday at Toronto.

Milwaukee, moving to within 3 1/2 games of the Blue Jays in the American League East, stole eight bases--six against Cone.

The Blue Jays, desperate for starting pitching, obtained Cone, a 13-game winner, from the New York Mets on Thursday.

The first time through the Brewer batting order, Cone was superb. But once the Brewers started putting runners on base, they ran at every opportunity. That appeared to bother him.

And, as do most pitchers, Cone had problems with Paul Molitor. Molitor singled home a run during the fourth inning and hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the second when the Brewers gave Chris Bosio a 3-0 lead in the fifth.

Bosio (12-5) retired the first 10 Blue Jays, struck out eight and gave up only five hits in eight innings. Cone said Bosio’s pitching caused him to press a bit.

“I started off OK,” Cone said. “I was throwing strikes and established a slider. But I pressed a little harder when I saw how well Bosio was throwing, and I labored a bit.”

From the time Cone arrived in Toronto on Friday, it had been hectic. He gave numerous interviews and signed many autographs.

Bosio, 6-0 in his last nine starts, was caught up in the hullabaloo.

“I came into this game thinking it was the biggest start of my career,” he said. “Not because of Cone, but because we’re chasing Toronto. This was a big win.”

Cone’s performance rekindled rumors that he is damaged goods. Since throwing 166 pitches in a shutout against the San Francisco Giants on July 17, he has not been as sharp.

Oakland 4, Cleveland 1--Dave Stewart (10-8) and four relievers held the Indians to four hits, but the reserves continued to lead the Athletics at Oakland.

Jerry Browne and Lance Blankenship, playing because of injuries to regulars, were key players. Browne hit his second home run and drove in three runs and Blankenship scored twice.

Stewart gave up three hits in 6 1/3 innings. The other hit was given up by Dennis Eckersley in the ninth as he earned his 42nd save. Vince Horsman, Jeff Parrett and Rick Honeycutt didn’t give up a hit.

Detroit 12, Kansas City 1--Lou Whitaker led the Tigers at Detroit with a grand slam in the fourth inning.

Cecil Fielder, Rob Deer and Gary Pettis also homered behind Bill Gullickson (14-8). The Tigers lead the major leagues with 151 home runs.

Gullickson had a perfect game for 4 2/3 innings, making only 28 pitches to retire the first 12 Royals.

With two out in the fifth, Gullickson gave up singles to Juan Samuel, Jeff Conine and Kevin Koslofski, resulting in Kansas City’s run. They were the only baserunners against Gullickson.

Baltimore 4, Seattle 0--Rookie Arthur Rhodes pitched eight strong innings at Seattle to move the Orioles to within one game of first place in the East.

When Rhodes faltered in the ninth, Gregg Olson came in to get his 30th save and preserve the shutout.

Randy Milligan had four hits, including two doubles, as the Orioles got their fifth victory in 13 games.

Chicago 6, Texas 4--The White Sox came out of their batting slump long enough to help Jack McDowell become the league’s first 18-game winner.

McDowell gave up six hits in 6 2/3 innings to win his third in a row.

The White Sox, held to one run in the previous 18 innings, had six runs on nine hits.

The Rangers lost despite two home runs by Juan Gonzalez, who has 36, two behind Mark McGwire, who is on the disabled list.

New York 6, Minnesota 3--The unexpected collapse of the Twins continued at Minneapolis.

Rookie Bob Wickman gave up five hits in eight innings for his first major victory and Danny Tartabull hit a three-run home run to hand the Twins their 10th loss in 14 games.

The Twins opened August leading the West but are 7 1/2 games out with 32 games to play.