Toronto’s Stand-In Stands Out

The ultimate compliment on Jose Nunez’s 2-0 victory over the Angels Saturday night came when 48-year-old Phil Niekro ambled over to Nunez in the Toronto clubhouse to congratulate him.

“Nice job,” Niekro said, pumping Nunez’s hand. “Real nice job.”

Then came the ribbing.

“Hey, you haven’t done anything all year. Gimme something to drink,” yelled teammate George Bell.

The Blue Jays could laugh because Nunez had limited the Angels to two hits in 6 innings, allowing three walks. He struck out five and allowed only one Angel, right fielder Jack Howell, to second base on a sixth-inning double.

The only other hit Nunez allowed was an infield single by Wally Joyner, who hit a shot off Nunez’s leg, the ball flying to shortstop Kelly Gruber. His throw to first was just a bit late.

Nunez got help from reliever Tom Henke in improving to 2-1 and dropping his earned-run average from 5.25 to 4.79.

Niekro, of course, has seen a few well-pitched games in his 23 years in the major leagues.

None, however, have been by Nunez, who for all his brilliance Saturday night in Anaheim Stadium, has been fairly mediocre in splitting time between the Blue Jays’ starting rotation and the bullpen.

What makes it more remarkable is that Nunez didn’t know he would start until Saturday afternoon when he got off the bus. Jimmy Key, the Blue Jays’ scheduled starter couldn’t go because of a tired arm.

Key is the Blue Jays’ ace, with a 14-6 record and a 2.93 earned-run average, third in the American League.

Nunez had a 5.25 ERA in 71 innings. He had not gone more than six innings since July 9, when he pitched eight in his first start of the season.

Asked what he expected of Nunez in his starting role, Jimy Williams, the Blue Jay manager, said, “I expected him to go 6 and throw a shutout.”

Williams was being a tad facetious, but he was pleased with Nunez’s victory.

“He pitched great, though,” Williams said. “He started some games for us, but when we got Niekro we put him the bullpen.”

The Blue Jays are locked in a struggle with Detroit for first in the Eastern Division, and Williams didn’t want to take any chances forcing Key to go if he wasn’t ready.

“(Key) has pitched a lot of innings,” Williams said. “He had some soreness in his last start. Possibly he could have pitched, but he didn’t throw between starts, and maybe it’s better to hold him back until he’s 100%.”

And so Nunez, who played with Double-A Memphis last season for Kansas City before being picked up by Toronto in the December free-agent draft, filled the void for the Blue Jays.

“We watched a little of him on tape (in the clubhouse before the game), but other than that we knew nothing about him,” said Angel Manager Gene Mauch. “Evidently (he) was pretty good. We thought we’d do a little better against him.”