Rangers Stop Mattingly and Steal the Show : They Rout the Yankees, 20-3; His Homer Streak Ends at Eight

He has promised to send the bat to the Hall of Fame, but not until it breaks. The bat survived Sunday night. It was Don Mattingly’s home run streak that was broken.

In a characteristic performance, the New York Yankee first baseman merely singled and doubled in four at bats as the Texas Rangers provided most of the power en route to an 20-3 victory that seemed to turn the Mattingly showcase into a sideshow.

The Rangers collected 22 hits and were leading 18-3 when exasperated Yankee Manager Lou Pinilla asked catcher Rick Cerone to make his major-league pitching debut with the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth inning.

Cerone got a pop up and run-scoring ground out before balking in yet another run after the Rangers had contributed to the circus by employing pitcher Bobby Witt as a pinch-hitter for Pete Incaviglia, who had doubled and singled twice.

Only the second Texas pitcher to bat since the designated hitter rule was adopted in 1973, Witt eventually struck out as Cerone finished with a flourish.

Mattingly would have liked to have finished with a similar flourish, but “who’s to say I won’t get another chance,” he said with a small smile. “I’d like to do it again. I like this. I like hitting the ball in the seats.”

He had homered in eight straight games, tying the major-league record, set by Dale Long, then of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in 1956.

Dale Long?

“I never even knew of Mr. Long,” a sheepish Mattingly said before going to work Sunday. “Somebody asked me about him and said he played in the 50s. I wasn’t even born until 1961.”

Mattingly may approach history from something of a narrow time frame, but he was definitely trying to write a little of his own.

Particularly in his final at bat against Texas reliever Jeff Russell in the eighth inning.

The Yankees already trailed 15-2. There was nothing to be concerned with except the record.

Mattingly had two big swings, fouling off the first and missing the second, before riding an outside fastball into the left-field corner for his double, at which point a crowd of 30,875 gave him a standing ovation.

He had previously batted three times against Greg Harris, grounding out in the first, singling in the third and lining out in the fifth. Harris came in with a 3-8 record and 5.17 earned-run average but restricted the Yankees to five hits in seven innings, retiring the last 11 in order.

Harris, who has allowed only one home run in eight starts since leaving the bullpen, said he worked Mattingly with his best pitch, the curveball.

“I kept telling myself that if he was going to hit it out, he was going to have it my best pitch,” the right-hander said. “The big thing was that I was able to keep the guys ahead of him off base and just concentrate on him. He seems to be more aggressive with guys on base.”

Mattingly, surrounded by reporters at his locker, said he missed his best opportunity when he fouled off a high curve on Harris’ first pitch to him in the third.

“It was hard for me not to think about the record when you come to Texas and have this much media,” Mattingly said. “But there wasn’t any pressure. When you hit a home run in six or seven straight games and are swinging the bat as well as I’ve been, there’s no pressure. When you hit 11 homers in 8 games, that’s got to be enjoyable.

“Besides, I knew it was going to be over one way or another tonight. I was either going to break it or I wasn’t. The only disappointment is that we lost. I would have liked to set a record, but the only time I was really going for it was on my last at bat. Russell showed me something because he came at me with hard stuff. He didn’t lay it in. That’s the way it should be done.”

Mattingly remains as hot as the Texas summer. The first pitch temperature was 94 degrees. Mattingly emerged with a .415 average for his last 44 games, a .429 average for 22 games since returning from the disabled list, a .478 average during a 10-game hitting streak that he now takes to Minnesota and an overall average of .342.

He has recovered from a bad start and a bad back to post numbers that seem similar to those of a remarkable 1986. Mattingly batted .352 last year with 238 hits, including 53 doubles, 31 homers and 113 runs batted in.

“I’m seeing the ball and hitting it hard just about every time,” he said, agreeing with the comparison to 1986. “My concentration is good and I’m making adjustments. I don’t think that 11 homers in 8 games is quite me, but anytime you’re hot, you can hit some. A lot of times during the season I’ll go into a game with the feeling that I’m swinging so well that I know I’ll hit one. It doesn’t always happen, but this time it did.”

When Long homered in eight straight games, he immediately received a $2,200 raise to $14,700. Mattingly, who makes $1.975 million, doesn’t expect to be compensated for his share of the record.

In the meantime, emerging briefly from his anonymity, Long had hoped the streak would end as it did. Now 61 and a field representative for the National Assn. of Professional Baseball Leagues, he had said of Mattingly’s bid on Sunday: “I would like to wish him luck, but then again I wouldn’t. I’d love to see it go down in history just the way it is--Mattingly and Long.”