American League Roundup : Brewers’ Vuckovich Finds Niche After a Slow Start, Mows Down Yankees, 9-4

Milwaukee starter Pete Vuckovich gave up a home run to leadoff hitter Rickey Henderson Sunday and then Don Mattingly, the next New York Yankee hitter, doubled. At the time, it didn’t seem likely the struggling veteran would be around long.

But suddenly Vuckovich started pitching like a Cy Young candidate and was the winning pitcher in the Brewers’ 9-4 victory over the Yankees at Milwaukee. Until he was removed with two out in the seventh, he gave up only one other hit. With Jim Gantner and Ben Oglivie each hitting two-run home runs, the Brewers had long since foiled Phil Niekro’s bid for his 292nd victory.

Through one stretch Vuckovich retired 12 batters in a row in improving his record to 2-3.

The 32-year-old right-hander is trying to make a comeback after missing most of two seasons because of a rotator cuff injury. He recently spent three weeks on the disabled list with a strained shoulder and had a 6.29 earned-run average prior to Sunday’s game.

“Despite the shaky start, my results weren’t half bad,” he said. “I just hope that I can duplicate it the next time out. That’s the big test--whether I can develop some consistency. I feel good and my shoulder doesn’t hurt.”

Vuckovich won the Cy Young Award in 1982 when he had an 18-6 record. Late in that season the shoulder problem developed and he was largely ineffective in the playoffs. The next year he appeared in only three games and last season in none at all. This was his eighth start this season.

“I thought we were going to get him early,” Yankee catcher Butch Wynegar said. “But he’s always been the type that gets better as the game progresses.

“He did a good job. He threw a lot of off-speed stuff and moved the ball around. He kept us off balance.”

If Vuckovich can take a regular turn and pitch effectively, the Brewers may be headed for a good season. They were 10-14 early in the season, but this win put them above .500 (26-25). At home, though, they are only one game below .500 (14-15). They are in sixth place in the East, but only one-half-game behind the Yankees, who are talking pennant.

The Brewers were without Manager George Bamberger, who was absent because of a death in his family. Bamberger is expected back for the Baltimore series next weekend. Until then, Frank Howard is acting as the manager.

Boston 12, Baltimore 0--The Red Sox banged out 17 hits at Baltimore and stretched their winning streak to seven games, but the big story was Oil Can Boyd.

Boyd, who may be the most effective pitcher in the league, held the Orioles to three hits and pitched his eighth complete game to improve his record to 7-4. The Orioles, the last major league team to be shut out this season, hadn’t been blanked since last Sept. 21 when Boyd shut them out.

Boyd has been sensational in four of his last five starts. Two of them were shutouts, but the other two he lost, 1-0 and 2-1. Last week against Cleveland he won, 6-5, so he has pitched five consecutive complete games.

“It wasn’t our hitting that fired me up, it was the Orioles. I love facing them,” Boyd said. “Some of their guys come to bat against me gritting their teeth.

“In this one I didn’t have any flaws. Control was my biggest asset. I didn’t care if the score was 11-10, I just wanted to win.”

Mike Easler, hitting .450 in his last 10 games, had two doubles and a single, each figuring in a rally, and Jim Rice, hitting .464 in his last seven games, hit his 11th homer to lead the Boston attack.

Chicago 5, Minnesota 1--Tom Seaver moves resolutely toward the 300-victory mark. In improving this season’s record to 6-4, Tom Terrific recorded his 294th victory. He went 7 innings at Minneapolis, giving up a run and only five hits.

“My philosophy is using what you have to work with on any one day,” Seaver said. “Today, I had everything working.”

The Twins’ only run came on a third-inning home run by Tim Teufel. It was not nearly enough to prevent the faltering Twins from losing for the 14th time in the last 16 games.

Detroit 8, Toronto 3--As far as the Blue Jays were concerned, it was an ill wind blowing gusts up to 34 m.p.h. at Toronto.

While the Eastern Division leaders were hitting mostly ground balls off Doug Bair, brought out of the Tiger bullpen because of an acute pitching shortage, the Tigers were getting the ball in the air.

Lou Whitaker and Nelson Simmons hit towering fly balls that the wind carried into the seats for the home runs that enabled the Tigers to split the four-game series.

Texas 8-5, Oakland 4-6--Dave Kingman hit his 14th home run in the bottom of the eighth inning of the second game of a doubleheader at Oakland to break a 5-5 tie and gain a split with the Rangers.

In the opener, Gary Ward and Cliff Johnson had run-scoring singles in a five-run fifth inning which lifted Texas to victory.

Kingman hit a 3-2 pitch off Chris Welsh to make a winner out of bullpen ace Jay Howell.

Seattle 10, Cleveland 6--Phil Bradley, Ken Phelps and Jim Presley each drove in three runs at Cleveland to help the Mariners salvage a split in the four-game series. Although he gave up five runs in six innings, Frank Willis, brought up Wednesday from Calgary of the Pacific Coast League, was the winner.