David Cone and Catfish Hunter dueled to a 2-2 tie in the 8th before the Boston Splinters’ big inning saw them pull ahead to top the Detroit Rockets and move closer in the American League. Detroit’s Cone allowed solo home runs to Lou Gehrig and Charlie Gehringer in the 4th and 5th. The Rockets responded against Hunter, with Lou Whitaker scoring on Kenny Lofton’s RBI double in the 5th, and Ichiro Suzuki’s RBI triple in the 7th. Rickey Henderson led off the 8th for Boston with a double, and Tony Oliva singled before Luis Tiant replaced Cone for the Rockets. Ted Williams doubled home both runners to give the Splinters the lead, and Lou Gehrig followed two batters later with his 2nd homer of the game to add some insurance. The 6-2 win pulls Boston back to within 1 1/2 games of Detroit in the American League. The teams finish their 4-game series tomorrow.