The Week (aug. 24-30)

AL EAST

Two banjo hitters—Rich Dauer and Jose Morales of the Orioles (4-2) came through like bongo drummers as they walloped homers that twice beat the Mariners. Dauer, who has averaged one home run per 23 games during the last five seasons, hit two and drove across five runs as the O's beat Seattle 12-8. Morales, who has averaged one homer per 28 games during eight seasons, jolted the Mariners 6-5 with a three-run shot as a pinch hitter. Also helping to boost Baltimore up to second place were Al Bumbry, who hit .407; Scott McGregor, whose eighth consecutive triumph over California made him 9-3 for the season; and Dennis Martinez, who stopped the Angels 4-3 for his 10th victory.

Detroit (2-5) and Milwaukee (3-3) had trouble scoring. The little oomph in the division-leading Tiger attack was supplied by Kirk Gibson, who batted .500, and by Lance Parrish, whose single in the 10th decked Kansas City 4-3. Jack Morris improved his record to 10-4 by cooling off the Twins 6-1 on Sunday. Cecil Cooper had three RBIs as the Brewers defeated the White Sox 5-4, three more as they downed the Rangers 6-3. Two wins by Pete Vuckovich made him 10-3, and two saves by Rollie Fingers gave him 19.

Until they pummeled the White Sox 12-2 Saturday, the Yankees (4-3) didn't generate much offense either. Bobby Murcer was off his rocker—the one he keeps in the clubhouse. Murcer came through with two pinch hits, a homer in that 12-2 romp and a single in the eighth that beat the Twins 3-2. Ron Guidry (9-3) broke the little finger on his (non-pitching) right hand but continued his superb hurling with six strong innings during a 6-1 triumph over Chicago—eight strikeouts, three hits and one run, which ended his scoreless-inning streak at 23. In 24⅓ innings during Part II, Guidry has given up just the one run and 12 hits while fanning 30 and going 4-0.

Boston (3-3) extended its two-season string of Fenway Park victories over Oakland to 10 by beating the A's three times. Dwight Evans climaxed a comeback from a 5-1 deficit with a two-run homer in the eighth that stunned the A's 6-5 and made a winner of Bob Stanley, who hurled six innings of shutout relief; rookie lefthander Bob Ojeda coasted to his third win in four starts with a 12-5 victory; and Carney Lansford's four RBIs led to a 7-6 win.

Cleveland (5-1) also found a patsy, beating Seattle four times. Bert Blyleven's pitching and Jorge Orta's four RBIs scuttled the Mariners 12-2, and then John Denny won 1-0 with the aid of an RBI single in the ninth by Rick Manning, who hit .410. Manning also had two hits, scored twice, drove in a run and stole a base as the Indians won again, 7-3. Making it four straight on Sunday was no easy task, for the Indians were outhit 20-16 by the Mariners and trailed 10-4 in the seventh inning before they got into the swing of this slugfest. It took a 10-run eighth-inning uprising to put the Tribe in front for keeps and on the way to a rousing 17-11 triumph. Manning had two hits and Duane Kuiper two runs batted in as Len Barker's three-hitter stopped Oakland 2-0.

It took some help from the opposition for the Blue Jays (1-4) to snap their five-game losing streak. The decisive run in a 4-3 victory over the Royals came when Jorge Bell, who went in to run after Otto Velez had doubled in the eighth inning, scored from third on a passed ball.

DET 12-8 BALT 11-8 MIL 12-9 BOS 10-9 NY 10-10 CLEV 10-11 TOR 8-10

AL WEST

For the past few years the Twins (5-2) have had good reason to believe the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. Last week, however, they found that some pretty good blades had sprouted in their own backyard: First Baseman Kent Hrbek, 21, who grew up right there in Bloomington, and Catcher Tim Laudner, 23, who's from the Twin Cities suburb of Brooklyn Center. Both homered in their first big league games. Hrbek hit his in the 12th to defeat New York 3-2 at Yankee Stadium; Laudner went Hrbek one better, becoming the third player ever to homer in each of his first two contests. (The other two: Joe Cunningham for the Cardinals in 1954, and Joe Lefebvre for the Yankees last season.) Hrbek was the Class A California League's MVP this year, batting .380 and slugging 27 homers; Laudner led the AA Southern League with 42 home runs, the most by anyone in organized baseball. The Twins started a three-game sweep of the Tigers with a 4-3 win on four runs in the bottom of the ninth, the final pair on Pete Mackanin's two-out single.