Spring Training Roundup : Sutton Changes His Tune, Will Join the A’s Monday

Don Sutton, the veteran right-hander with 280 major league victories, decided Saturday to join the Oakland A’s and drop his demand to be traded. He is scheduled to report to spring training camp at Phoenix Monday.

Sutton, acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in a December trade, told the A’s soon afterward that he planned to retire unless they dealt him to a team near his home in Orange County.

Another veteran pitcher, Mike Norris, went through his first spring workout Saturday, one day after being released from a drug treatment program in San Diego.

Notes Veteran left-hander Vida Blue pitched three strong innings in his first major league performance since 1983 for the San Francisco Giants in a 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Phoenix. Blue, 35, released by the Kansas City Royals because of drug problems, allowed one run on an infield single and a bloop single. . . . Floyd Rayford’s three-run homer with one out in the ninth inning lifted the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees at Fort Lauderdale, Fla. . . . The highlight for the Yankees was 46-year-old Phil Niekro’s three innings of no-hit pitching in his first start. . . . Rookie left-hander Randy Myers was the talk of the New York Mets’ camp at St. Petersburg, Fla., after striking out five of the six batters in an intra-squad game. Ex-Dodger Sid Fernandez gave up five runs and six hits in two innings. . . . Jeff Burroughs and Kelly Gruber hit two-run home runs to boost the Toronto Blue Jays to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox at Sarasota, Fla. . . . Toronto’s Dave Stieb, who signed an 11-year contract for a reported $25 million Friday, pitched three innings for the Blue Jays, allowing one hit and striking out three. . . . Steve Rogers, trying to bounce back from a 6-15 season, pitched three shutout innings as the Montreal Expos blanked the Atlanta Braves, 4-0, at West Palm Beach, Fla.