American League Roundup : Juan Nieves, Bamberger’s Prize Pupil, Defeats Orioles, 1-0

George Bamberger, as pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles, was given much of the credit for developing some outstanding staffs. One season (1971), he had four 20-game winners.

So, this season, when Bamberger, the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, decided to dump his veteran pitchers and rely on talented youngsters, he didn’t worry about being second-guessed.

Although the Brewers have had trouble staying out of the cellar in the tough American League West, Bamberger’s decision to go with youth has paid off.

One of his prize pupils is Juan Nieves, a 21-year-old left-hander, who was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Connecticut. There were many who thought that Nieves, with less than three years of professional experience, was not ready for the majors.

They were wrong. Nieves improved his record to 7-2 Wednesday night at Baltimore when he beat the Orioles, 1-0, pitching a five-hitter for his second shutout.

Nieves struck out eight and walked four, defeating Ken Dixon, who pitched a four-hitter but was beaten on an unearned run. First baseman Eddie Murray let a ball hit by Rich Manning go through him for an error to open the fourth inning, and Manning eventually scored the only run.

“That was a super game,” Bamberger said. “He has pitched some really outstanding games, but this is the best game we’ve had pitched all year, by anyone, considering the score and all.

“He is young and inexperienced, but by the time this season is over, we not only will show an improvement in our record, but our young pitchers will have pitched about 250 innings. They will only get better.”

Cleveland 7, Oakland 3--Andre Thornton hit a grand slam in the first inning at Oakland and sent the Indians home happy after a successful trip (8-4).

Thornton said he was just trying to hit a sacrifice fly to get the Indians on the board. The ball kept right on going for the veteran slugger’s sixth career home run with the bases loaded.

The surprising Indians have a 40-35 record in the division considered the most competitive in the majors. They are in third place, just 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Yankees.

“I’ll take 8-4 on the road any time,” said Manager Pat Corrales, apparently fully recovered from the knockdown punch delivered by A’s pitcher Dave Stewart in Tuesday’s altercation.

Texas 10, Minnesota 2--Mike Mason (5-2) had a no-hitter until the fifth inning at Arlington, Tex., and gave up only two hits in six innings before giving way to the Ranger bullpen.

Oddibe McDowell and Larry Parrish each drove in three runs as the Rangers built an early lead and coasted.

Detroit 8, New York 3--If Ron Guidry had a choice, he would rather have Billy Martin as his manager. The stylish left-hander has always had good seasons when Martin was managing the New York Yankees.

With Lou Piniella at the helm, Guidry is having the worst year of his career. Although he gave up only three runs in seven innings at New York, Guidry (4-8) lost his seventh in a row.

Alex Trammell and Darrell Evans each drove in two runs to spark the Tigers’ 16-hit attack. Dave LaPoint, starting in place of injured Randy O’Neal, pitched five strong innings to improve his record to 3-6.

Seattle 5, Kansas City 3--Ken Phelps and Scott Bradley hit home runs at Seattle to give the Mariners a sweep of the three-game series and hand the World Series champion Royals their sixth loss in a row.

Mike Morgan (6-7) pitched eight strong innings and gained the victory with ninth-inning help from Matt Young.