American League Roundup : The Earl’s Return Is No Miracle; Neither Is Mike Flanagan’s, 7-5

First, the return of Earl Weaver was going to straighten out the Baltimore Orioles. It didn’t happen. Even the great manager couldn’t do anything about the pitching.

Next, the return of pitching star Mike Flanagan would do it. Maybe later, but not yet.

With much fanfare, Flanagan, the 1979 Cy Young Award winner, made his 1985 debut Saturday at Baltimore. He ran afoul of probably the best hitter in baseball--George Brett--and was hammered out in the fourth inning as the Kansas City Royals beat the fading Orioles, 7-5.

Brett hit his 13th home run and drove in four runs. His three-run double in the third started the left-hander’s downfall. Flanagan, a 13-game winner last season when hobbled by a knee problem, suffered an Achilles tendon injury playing basketball last winter. He appears to be healthy again, but it may take a while for him to regain his best form.

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ problems grow. When Weaver replaced Joe Altobelli June 14, the Orioles were in fourth place in the East, 6 games out. The second loss in a row to the Royals left them 15-17 under Weaver, still in fourth place, but now 7 1/2 games back.

The pitching, considered the best in baseball as recently as 1983, is ineffective. The staff earned-run average of 4.44 is 10th in the league and the worst for an Oriole staff since 1956.

The concerned Weaver held a team meeting for 40 minutes after the latest loss. Weaver described the meeting as amicable.

“We think it was productive,” he told the Associated Press, “but we really won’t know until we see some results. There was no chewing out. We’re trying to find out what we can do to improve ourselves. Points were brought up and discussed.

“We’ve got to find something to keep us in the games. They (the pitchers) know what they have to do, and it was agreed upon.”

Flanagan, who said later that he felt fine, pitched two scoreless innings and was holding a 2-0 lead going into the third. With one out in the inning he gave up three singles to load the bases.

Brett, who has made life unbearable for pitchers for the last month, lashed his double off the right-field wall to clear the bases.

“I knew Flanagan would throw me a curve because that’s his bread-and-butter pitch,” Brett told UPI. “He had to throw it to me sometime, and I was looking for it.”

It’s only what Brett’s been doing to all the pitchers. In the last 11 games he is 20 for 39 with 11 RBI. While hitting safely in 19 of his last 20 games, he is 36 for 73 with 21 runs batted in.

In the last two games against the Orioles the Royals have scored 17 runs and hammered 24 hits, including four home runs, a triple and five doubles.

Oakland 5, Toronto 1--Michigan and Michigan State are bitter rivals, but Tim Birtsas, a Spartan, and Steve Ontiveros, a Wolverine, became friends as opposing pitchers.

Since becoming teammates, the two rookie Oakland pitchers have developed a strong friendship. Moreover, they are complementing each other with the A’s in the majors.

Birtsas, a 6-6 left-hander, went five innings at Toronto, and Ontiveros, a 6-foot right-hander, pitched four scoreless innings of relief to enable Birtsas to improve his record to 6-2.

Since being called up from Tacoma last month, Ontiveros has given up only two earned runs in 17 innings. Twice in the last two weeks, Ontiveros has saved a win for Birtsas.

The rookies outpitched one of the league’s best, Dave Stieb (9-6), who entered the game with the best ERA in the league, 1.87. But the A’s jumped on him for seven hits, including consecutive doubles by Dave Kingman and Mike Davis for four runs in the second inning.

Detroit 6, Texas 5--Barbaro Garbey singled in Alan Trammell from second base with one out in the 15th inning at Detroit to break up the game.

Rookie Steve Buechele, the replacement at third base for Buddy Bell, singled in a run in the top of the 13th to give the Rangers a 5-4 lead. But Garbey singled in the tying run in the bottom of the inning.

Oddibe McDowell, who tied a major league record with 12 putouts in center field, sent the game into extra innings with a run-scoring single. Each team scored in the 10th.

Tom Brookens, usually a third baseman, made his major league catching debut for the Tigers in the 11th.

New York 8, Minnesota 3--Ron Guidry pitched a seven-hitter at Minneapolis to win his 12th game in a row, and Don Mattingly drove in four runs to move the Yankees within 1 1/2 games of first place in the East.

Guidry, who has not lost since April 29, has a 13-3 record and the longest winning streak in the majors this season.

Mattingly hit a two-run homer in the sixth and doubled in two more in the seventh. He leads the league in doubles with 28 and runs batted in with 74.

Chicago 8, Cleveland 6--Two streaks were about to end in this game at Chicago, but Harold Baines hit a three-run home run with one out in the ninth to extend them both. It was the fifth win in a row for the White Sox and fifth loss in a row for the Indians.

Carlton Fisk hit his 25th home run and two run-scoring doubles to pace the White Sox attack.

Seattle 13, Milwaukee 10--Gorman Thomas hit two home runs, and Al Cowens had two triples, one of them with the bases loaded in a five-run sixth inning at Milwaukee.

The Mariners were trailing, 9-5, when they erupted in the sixth. Cowens’ three-run triple tied the score, and he scored the go-ahead run on Jim Pressley’s single.