American League Roundup : Yankees Are Catching Up With Pitching

Once again Billy Martin is reveling in the role of a miracle worker. With a pitching staff composed mostly of former National Leaguers, his New York Yankees are closing in on Toronto in the American League East.

Despite the best run-producing potential in the majors, the Yankee pitching was so suspect that hardly anybody, except possibly owner George Steinbrenner, gave them a chance to win the division.

It was conceded that in Ron Guidry and in bullpen ace Dave Righetti the Yankees had two solid performers. The rest were not too highly regarded.

But Martin has maneuvered a group of pitchers mostly unwanted when they left the National League into a staff that may be good enough to make it to the World Series.

Except for Guidry, Righetti and rookie reliever Brian Fisher, all the Yankee pitchers spent most of their careers in the other league. And Fisher came up through the Atlanta organization.

The Yankees completed a sweep of the three-game series Sunday at Seattle with an 8-5 victory that cut the Blue Jays’ lead in the East to three games. Significantly, all three Yankee victories went to former National League pitchers. Ed Whitson went 6 innings to improve his record to 8-7 and Fisher, although he gave up six hits in 2 innings, blanked the Mariners the rest of the way for his ninth save.

Saturday night Marty Bystrom went six innings to improve his record to 3-1. Friday night, it was the ageless wonder, Phil Niekro, who went six innings to raise his record to 12-9, amazing for a 46 year old.

Six innings is all the Yankees need, because they score runs in bunches. The top three hitters in the lineup may be the best ever assembled in the top three spots in a lineup.

In this game, Rickey Henderson, the lead-off man went 3 for 5, while Don Mattingly went 2-for-4, including a two-run home run that increased his major league-leading RBI total to 104. Dave Winfield was merely 1-for-3 with a run scored.

There is other hitting in the lineup, too. In this game Dan Pasqua had three hits and drove in four runs.

It is the pitching, though that is amazing. Take Whitson. He has a 4.53 ERA. It figures. Until last season when he was 14-8 with San Diego, he had not had a winning season in the National League in six years.

Bystrom, who has had a sore arm most of his career, won 24 games for Philadelphia from 1980 until June 30, 1984 when he was traded to the Yankees. He is now 5-3 for the Yankees.

After an 11-10 record in 1983 when he was 44, the Braves released Niekro and the Yankees signed him. He was 16-8 last season and now needs only four more victories to reach 300. That’s pretty good for a fellow who was 28 before he was able to stick in the majors.

Other Ex-National League players contributing to Martin’s miracle are Joe Cowley (10-5), Rich Bordi (4-5) and Bob Shirley (3-3). Neil Allen, the former Cardinal and Met who faced two batters Sunday, is 0-0, while Fisher is 4-3. Waiting for the right spot is still another, John Montefusco (0-0 with an ERA of 10.29). Martin’s sure to find a spot for him.

Chicago 5, Toronto 3--Although George Bell hit another monstrous home run at Chicago, none of the other Blue Jays could do anything against a pitcher who had not won in 2 1/2 months.

Floyd Bannister, who had lost seven games and had no-decision in six others since winning June 10, had a three-hit shutout until Bell hit his three-run home run in the sixth. By going 5 innings, Bannister improved his record to 6-11.

It was Bell’s third prodigious home run in the three-game series. It was the second in a row to land on the roof in left at Comiskey Park, a feat now accomplished 38 times. The other home run was one of the few ever to reach the bleacher seats in center.

Bell and Jimmie Foxx, a Hall of Famer, are the only visiting players to put two on the roof.

Harold Baines’ three-run homer in the first got Bannister off to a fast start.

Texas 7, Kansas City 3--Once again, former Dodger Charlie Hough gave the Royals trouble in this game at Kansas City and dropped them 2 1/2 games behind the Angels in the West.

Hough (13-12) is 8-4 against the Royals. George Brett and Lonnie Smith hit home runs off the knuckleball specialist, but he gave up only three other hits.

Oakland 10, Baltimore 4--Rookie Tim Birtsas (10-4) pitched a five-hitter at Oakland and Dave Kingman and Steve Henderson hit homers for the A’s. Three of the Orioles’ hits were homers, two by Lee Lacy and a two-run shot by Floyd Rayford.

Kingman’s home run, his 26th, came after a Dusty Baker single. Henderson’s was his first.

Cleveland 6-2, Milwaukee 2-0--Tom Waddell gave up only two runs in seven innings in the opener at Cleveland and Ramon Romero and Bryan Clark combined for a six-hit shutout in the nightcap. George Vukovich hit a two-run homer in the fifth for the only runs in the second game.

Minnesota at Boston--The league’s leading hitter, Wade Boggs, was 2 for 2 and the Red Sox were leading, 4-2, when rain wiped out the game at Boston in the third inning.