Hoyt Leaves Pittsburgh in the Dark, 3-0

The sun finally shined in Pittsburgh on Sunday, a relief to Pirate officials who had been worried that “Sunglasses Day” would be ruined by clouds. And LaMarr Hoyt, the Padre pitcher, also was glad to at last see the sun, for he says pitching is a great way to improve his tan.

But Hoyt (11-4) improved only his record on Sunday because the Padres defeated the Pirates, 3-0, in just 1 hour and 59 minutes. Hoyt’s time of possession was minimal. He’d get it, throw it and the Pirates would swing at it. He didn’t walk a batter. Consequently, he spent most of his time in the dark dugout, which just wasn’t helping the tan.

Meanwhile, the Padre hitters, who didn’t spend too much time on base themselves, scored their three runs in the seventh inning, led by Tim Flannery’s two-run double over a pulled in outfield. Flannery also had the catch of the day, fielding a line drive by Jason Thompson with two Pirates on base in the sixth.

Flannery, doing a decent Pete Rose imitation, spiked the ball.

But perhaps no one does more to a baseball than Hoyt, who has won his last nine decisions. He is remarkable on days such as this, his mind always working two pitches ahead.

Example:

Tony Pena bats in the ninth. Instantly, it’s 0 and 2. Hoyt, setting up Pena to be a sucker for an outside pitch, then throws a hard slider inside. It’s way inside, but Pena is paranoid about Hoyt’s control and swings anyway. He fouls it off.

Hoyt comes back outside with a slow curveball, but it’s way outside, and Pena holds back. It’s 1 and 2. Pena confirms later he thinks the next pitch will also be inside. But, again, Hoyt throws outside.

Pena grounds out to second.

“A lot of times I go out there and I’m a little tired and I’m just throwing pitches,” Hoyt said. “I’m not thinking like I should be. But, today, everything was pretty well thought out. I was thinking two pitches ahead.”

Ideally, Hoyt wants every count to get to 1 and 2. He’ll waste one pitch, but that’s to set up the hitter for the out. He said that majority of his outs on Sunday came on 1 and 2 pitches.

Only a pitcher with control can accomplish such a feat. Hoyt hasn’t walked a batter in 25 innings and has issued just one in 34 innings, four in his last eight starts. Sunday’s was the ninth game of the season where he hasn’t walked anyone.

Also, it was his eighth complete game of the season.

“See what good pitching will do for you?” said Manager Dick Williams, whose Padres have a four-game lead over the Dodgers in the National League West.

And, suddenly, shouldn’t Hoyt be on the all-star team? He says he wouldn’t mind doing without it, but he has equalled Andy Hawkins in victories. Williams, who will manage the National League, says he’d like for Hawkins, Hoyt and Goose Gossage to all make the team, but that it might be impossible considering there will be just eight pitchers overall.

“I’d also like to add (Dave) Dravecky,” Williams said. “But our league president (Chub Feeney) says we have too many guys as it is.”

It looks as if Steve Garvey, Tony Gwynn and Graig Nettles will start.

One of the Pittsburgh sportswriters then asked Williams about Rick Reuschel’s chances, and Williams shook his head and said no. But Reuschel, who started and lost Sunday, has had a remarkable season, considering he spent part of this season with a minor league team in Hawaii and has a 7-2 record with the Pirates.

Actually, Reuschel almost didn’t play baseball this season. The Cubs had released him over the winter, and he’d become a free agent. But no one was interested. Finally, Pittsburgh Manager Chuck Tanner, one of the all-time great guys, gave him a try out.

They sent to the minors, where he went 6-2 with a 2.50 ERA. They eventually called him up and the rest is history.

And he can hit, too. Sunday, with the score, 0-0, he led off the sixth with a ground rule double to left center. Marvelle Wynne followed with a bunt single, moving Reuschel to third. Yet, the Padres made two important defensive plays to end the rally. Lee Mazzilli grounded to Garvey, who threw out Reuschel at the plate. Just as the Dodgers had tried and failed to beat Garvey’s weak throwing arm, so had the Pirates.

Then, after Johnny Ray flew out, Flannery made his big catch of Thompson’s ball. Flannery had been shifted toward right anyway, considering Thompson is a pull hitter, yet he still had to make a quick move to his left to catch it.

The Padres rallied the following inning. Nettles and Terry Kennedy singled, and Carmelo Martinez made his first successful sacrifice bunt of the season, moving the runners to second and third.

“I know it’s my first. That’s bad,” Martinez said. “I’ve had three or four tries. It’s important. Sometimes, when they give you the bunt (sign), you want to hit. But it’s your job. You’ve got to do it.”

Kevin McReynolds, who had been in a recent 0-for-25 slump and was moved for the first time Sunday to seventh in the batting order, singled to score the Padres’ first run.

“Probably my most prolonged slump,” McReynolds said. “Maybe I’ve had my (slump) quota for the year.”

Eventually, the bases were loaded when Reuschel walked Hoyt, a .105 hitter who hadn’t been walked all season. Flannery, with left fielder Lee Mazzilli pulled in, hit it off the wall in left, scoring two runs.

It was 3-0 and barely 3 o’clock Eastern time (the game started at 1:36 p.m.). Hoyt walked out and kept getting the outs. It ended at 3:35 on yet another 1-2 pitch.

“Is it still sunny?” he asked later, his day in the sun much too brief.

Padre Notes In the four weekend Pirate-Padre games (including July 4), Pittsburgh’s average attendence was 10,244, which shows the sad state of Pirate baseball. “We won the World Series and drew just 1.4 million and 1.6 the next,” said Pirate Manager Chuck Tanner. “If we lose, we don’t draw a million. It just seems to be basically what the area bears. One reason is the fact that there’s a lot of unemployment around here. And when people get back on their feet, sun of a gun, they have to be paying off the bills from when they weren’t working. When the time finally comes that they make a couple of bucks, they probably ration it out and say ‘We have to save the money for a rainy day.’ The unemployment rate in the country is like 11 or 12 percent. In Pittsburgh, it’s like 25 percent.” . . . In hopes to draw some interest, the Pirates brought back Willie Stargell to be their first base coach. They actually thought this would put people in the seats, but it hasn’t helped all that much. “It’s been difficult,” Tanner said. . . . Shortstop Garry Templeton, who may not make the All-Star team, leaves Pittsburgh with an 11-game hitting streak and a .301 batting average. Templeton was not voted onto the all-star team as a starter, and Padre Manager Dick Williams said a rule that says each National League team requires one all-star representative may keep Templeton off. This doesn’t sound right, but Templeton’s best chance is if Graig Nettles, who isn’t having an all-star season, loses his lead as the starting third baseman. As of now, there might be just too many Padres on the all-star team for Templeton to make it.

PADRES AT A GLANCE SEVENTH INNING

Padres--Nettles singled to right. Kennedy singled up the middle, Nettles taking second. Martinez sacrificed, Nettles taking third, Kennedy taking second. McReynolds singled to left, Nettles scoring, Kennedy taking third. Templeton reached on a fielder’s choice, Kennedy out in rundown, McReynolds taking second. Hoyt walked, loading the bases. Flannery doubled to left, McReynolds and Templeton scoring. Gwynn was walked intentionally. Garvey flew to right. Three runs, four hits, three left.