American League Roundup : Piniella a Winner in Debut

After winning in his debut as manager of the New York Yankees, Lou Piniella didn’t get a phone call from President Reagan. However, the two calls he did get may have made up for it.

Not long after Butch Wynegar’s three-run home run and sparkling relief pitching by Rod Scurry and Dave Righetti enabled the Yankees to beat the World Series champion Kansas City Royals, 4-2, Tuesday before a record opening-day Yankee Stadium crowd of 55,260, the phone started ringing.

The first call was from Piniella’s predecessor, Billy Martin, and the second was from principal owner George Steinbrenner. Piniella told United Press International that Steinbrenner said, “You’ve got the first one out of the way.”

Wynegar’s three-run home run in the second inning made a winner of Ron Guidry in Guidry’s seventh bid for an opening-day victory. The pitcher couldn’t fully enjoy this one. One inning after giving up a two-run home run to 39-year-old Hal McRae in the fourth, Guidry departed because of a strained left calf.

The bullpen took over. Scurry gave up one hit in 2 innings, and Righetti gave up two hits in 1 to earn the save.

Wynegar and Scurry were not expected to be around this season. Wynegar became a free agent last November, and the Yankees didn’t decide to re-sign him until January.

Scurry, who has an outstanding curveball, was not impressive late last season after being purchased from the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, he won a job as a middle-innings reliever with some sharp pitching in the spring.

“It’s real nice to win the first one,” Piniella said. “I’m managing a team I played for and an organization I have enjoyed. Now, we’ll see if we can get a picture of a 1986 championship team to hang up with all those others.”

Texas 6, Toronto 3--Larry Parrish, upset when his role as Ranger cleanup hitter was given to rookie Pete Incaviglia, took it out on the Blue Jays at Arlington, Tex.

Parrish singled and scored the first run and hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning to help Jose Guzman become the first rookie to win a season opener since Fernando Valenzuela did it for the Dodgers in 1981.

Guzman had a shutout until the sixth, when the Blue Jays scored all their runs. Greg Harris pitched a scoreless ninth to get the save.

The Rangers jumped all over Dave Stieb, last season’s earned-run-average leader. Stieb gave up six hits and five runs in 4 innings.

Just before the game, the Blue Jays put reliever Bill Caudill, suffering from arm trouble, on the 15-day disabled list.

Minnesota 3, Oakland 2--Frank Viola pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning and reliever Ron Davis started a double play with the bases loaded to end the game as the Twins beat the A’s at Oakland.

Davis came out of the bullpen to face Dusty Baker after Roy Smith, the Twins’ second pitcher, intentionally walked Dwayne Murphy to load the bases in the bottom of the ninth. A walk to Bruce Bochte and Tony Phillips’ double had started the threat.

Davis speared a hard grounder and threw to the plate to start the 1-2-3 double play.

Oakland’s rookie Jose Canseco was 1 for 3 with a walk.