Red Sox Split Two, Gain No Ground

Dwight Evans cost his old team a chance to move up in the AL East, drawing a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the ninth inning that gave the Baltimore Orioles a 6-5 victory yesterday and a doubleheader split that stung the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox were within one out of closing within 1.5 games of idle Toronto before blowing it when Baltimore rallied for two runs. Cal Ripken's RBI single tied the score and Evans, who left Boston this year after 19 seasons with the Red Sox, walked on four pitches from Greg Harris(11-12).

The split left Boston exactly where it started the day, 2.5 games behind the Blue Jays. The Red Sox won the opener 2-1 behind Roger Clemens' seven-hitter. Clemens (18-8) struck out 10, raising his major-league leading total to 227 and did not walk a batter and lowered his ERA to 2.38, the best in the majors.

In the second game, Harris preserved a 5-4 lead in the seventh by getting Randy Milligan to ground into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning. But in the ninth, Chris Hoiles singled with one out and moved to third on a two-out single by Mike Devareaux.

With relief ace Jeff Reardon unable to pitch because of a stiff neck, Harris stayed in the game and gave up Ripken's tying single. Harris walked Milligan, loading the bases, and then walked Evans, losing the game.

Todd Fronwirth (7-3) was the winner.

Boston took a 4-0 lead when Bob Milacki walked Clark and then gave up four straight singles and a sacrifice fly. Steve Lyons drove in two runs with a bases-loaded blooper and Tony Pena followed with an RBI single before Wade Boggs capped the uprising with a run-scoring sacrifice fly.

Devereaux's RBI double off Joe Hesketh made it 4-1 in the third, and Milacki forced home a run by walking Pena with the bases loaded in the sixth.